By Deacon Robert Fangio
Holy Family Church
“REMAIN IN ME, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches.” (John 15:4-5)
Many years ago, my wife Mary and I moved our young family to a rather old brick home with great curbside appeal. I was especially fond of all the ivy that was growing so beautifully on the brick. It was plentiful and covered the entire two stories of the front of the house. It even produced little fruit berries just like the branches in this gospel verse from St. John. Even though I liked it very much, I was told it might be a problem for the house later on. I dragged my feet taking it down, mainly because I liked it and thought it would be very difficult to get all the high extensive branches down. One day, I returned from work and there was the entire pile of ivy right in the middle of our driveway, the seemingly huge task quickly completed by my wife. Totally amazed, I asked her how she accomplished it. She smiled at me and said, “It was pretty easy. I just pulled on the one big main vine on the bottom, and all the branches came with it.”
So, I can say I truly appreciate the words of Jesus when he says in this gospel verse that we, the branches of the vine, can do nothing without him. Jesus was like that one big main vine on the bottom! If Jesus can be the vine for us, the branches, surely we can thrive and be the bearers of that good fruit. The biblical image of a vine conveys a deep sense of the connectedness of our lives.
The real measure of our lives is not just what we believe, but to whom we are connected. The better we are connected, the more we are transformed. And the image of the vine and the branches indicate our relationship with Christ is greater than that of merely a teacher to his students. So, we are connected to him on all levels of our existence. In short, we really can’t live fully without him!
Thomas Merton, the well known Trappist monk and author, had this to say about remaining or abiding in Christ: “It’s like you’re trying to catch a plane. You’re late. You hop in your car and speed to the airport. Every delay gives you ulcers. You reach the parking lot, grab your stuff and race down the corridor to get to the right gate. You rush onto the plane, flop down in your seat, and heave a sigh of relief. You made it. In one sense you’ve reached your destination. Then the plane takes off, and you’re on your way to other places, going higher, faster than ever before, but now you are not frantic or worried.” Thomas Merton says that’s what it means to abide in Christ.
