by Fr. John Martin Shimkus, O.S.B.

     Like many of Jesus’ parables, this Sunday’s gospel takes something from the natural world - in this case, a vine - and extracts from it a profound spiritual principle.  In nature a vine is a physical manifestation of a plant’s ability to grow and to spread its fruit over a wide area.  And so, for Jesus to describe himself as a vine is very effective image indeed.  It underscores the Christian’s dependence on God who is the source of any life worth living, any good worth doing and any hope worth having.

     Being connected to Christ the Vine shows itself in our lives in many ways.  First of all, there is a certain youthfulness that comes from our drawing life from Christ, a young heart, an openness to new things.  I remember a certain religious sister who, drawing strength from Christ well into her eighties, exercised daily, participated regularly in scripture study and even welcomed the dramatic reorganization of her community as “a good thing for our future”.

     Connection to Christ also establishes a connection with others.  It seems that the life Christ gives us is so abundant that it simply must be shared.  I think of a family with two teenage children who, despite their own busy schedules, still made time to reach out to a local nursing home.  Each spring they gathered their rakes and shovels, flower pots and riding mower, and created a beautiful landscape for the residents of that place to enjoy.
 
     And, lastly, there is the strength that we receive through our union with Christ the Vine.  When we hear Jesus say that without him we can do nothing, the corollary to that is with him we can do more than we could otherwise imagine.  I read a story of a young man in his twenties who lost one of his legs to cancer.  At first he was understandably bitter at his misfortune.  But through the healing power of God’s grace he came to see his disability as the place where God’s light shone through in a special way, and made it his mission to visit and encourage other amputees during their recuperation.

     Such is the reality of Jesus’ words, such is the power of living life “on the vine”.  The youth, the connection, the strength we experience do not come from us, but from Christ.  These are some of the fruits to which Jesus refers, the fruits that demonstrate we are healthy branches, the fruits that allow the life of Christ to grow and to spread throughout the world!

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