When Jesus drew his picture of the vine, he knew what he was talking about. The vine was grown all over Palestine as it still is. It is a plant which needs a great deal of attention if the best fruit is to be got out of it. The ground has to be perfectly clean. It is commonly grown on terraces. It is sometimes trained on trellises; at times, it is allowed to creep over the ground upheld by low forked sticks. Wherever it grows, careful preparation of the soil is essential. It grows luxuriantly, and drastic pruning is necessary. It is so luxuriant sticks are set in the ground at least twelve feet apart, for it will creep over the ground at speed. A young vine is not allowed to fruit for the first three years; each year, it is drastically cut back in order to develop and conserve its life and energy. When mature, it is pruned in December and January. It bears two kinds of branches, only one of which bears fruits. The branches that don’t bear fruit are drastically pruned back, so that they won’t drain away any of the plant’s strength. The vine can’t produce the crop of which it is capable without drastic pruning – and Jesus knew that. That’s a little extensive background of the vine that Jesus was using in the Gospel this weekend, but the more important question now is: What does this vine analogy has to do with my life and my Christian vocation?
In virtue of our baptism, we have been grafted into the Vine, Christ himself. Jesus says that we are the branches of the Vine and, just like the vines during the times of Jesus, we can either be a branch that yields fruits or a branch that doesn’t bear fruit. It’s not sufficient that we become branches of the vine; it’s not enough that we abide in Christ or be identified with Him, but rather, we have to be that kind of branch that yields fruits. This means that we have to be productive, that our seriousness and dedication to the call of Christian discipleship must be seen by the way we live our lives. This is where the rubber hits the road. It’s so easy to say – “I abide in him, I remain in God – I go to Mass, I pray my rosary—I go to confession” – but, is that visible in my own lifestyle, moral choices and deepest desires? The second reading today echoes this so profoundly: “Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth.” Just like the branches of the vine during Jesus’ time, many times we have to be pruned so that we will bear fruit. Pruning is like being shaped up by landscapers in order to realize their desired designs and output; it’s necessary to cut out some parts of the plants. Spiritual pruning is not easy—
it hurts, it’s uncomfortable. But, for us to realize that ultimate design and plan of God for us, it’s necessary to undergo spiritual pruning – to cut off those things that make us barren and fruitless in our relationship with the Lord. The sad thing about not being willing to be pruned is that one becomes a wild branch – and, just like the vine of Jesus’ time, one can become so wild that we are creeping and choking other branches that are fruitful. How many times have we witnessed or heard about the wild branch of addiction of any kind if not pruned right away – significant and meaningful relationships could be choked and eventually killed. How about the wild branch of excessive desire to accumulate material things that leads to the destruction of the self and reducing people to commodities? Jesus said that those kinds of wild branches need to be pruned so that they won’t grow again; they eventually have to be burned. Listen to these words again of Jesus in the Gospel, “Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.” I don’t know about you, but I would rather choose pruning, which no doubt hurts and is very uncomfortable, rather than to be burnt later on. There are many things in my own life that need pruning. My only prayer is that when the time comes when I have to see God face to face and give an account of my own discipleship, I will already be in-shape because I don’t want to spend some time pruning with a little fire in the background in purgatory or, much worse, somewhere else. It may sound incompatible with a God who is all-merciful and loving, but when we choose darkness, we can’t be at the light at the same time. In the end, God can’t put us where we didn’t want to be in the first place. So, while we still have time, what aspects in our lives need some major pruning? If there’s no major pruning needed, good for you; how about a little trim from that side or this side? We are all a work in progress – some are shaped up a little better than the rest. Happy Pruning! – Fr. Cary