PRODUCTIVITY IS A BIG WORD
“We are named
after Christ Jesus, not because He is absent from us, but because He dwells in
us, that is, because we believe in Him and are Christ's one to another."
Productivity
is a big and important word. In this secular world of ours the pursuit of it
results in too much stress for many. World success is about what can be
measured, weighed, and evaluated monetarily. The comforting and beautiful words
of today's Gospel are about a more profound kind of productivity. We hear Jesus
Christ say that He is the Vine and we are the branches and that the Father is
the Vinedresser who prunes the vines to make them more fruitful. Moreover, He
reminds us that we can only be productive if we remain in union with Him and if
the branches continue to receive that nourishment coming from the vine itself
and its roots.
Jesus,
who calls Himself the "true Vine" makes clear that no one can claim
spiritual inheritance through association with a particular people. Jesus offers true life, the abundant life
which comes only from our heavenly Father and which results in great
fruitfulness. Jesus uses this image to describe the kind of life He produces in
those of us who are united with Him - the fruit of "righteousness, peace,
and joy in the Holy Spirit of God."
Being
productive in this way, we live a life of a true Christian. Martin Luther said
it well and calls it "the freedom of a Christian." Here is another
good line: "Faith is truly active through works, that is, it finds
expression in works of the freest service. We are named after Christ Jesus, not
because He is absent from us, but because He dwells in us, that is, because we
believe in Him and are Christ's one to another." This is a beautiful
summation of the life of a Christian!
As
we proclaim in today's Gospel Acclamation, "Remain in Me, as I remain in
you, says the Lord; whoever remains in Me will bear fruit" (Jn 15:4-5).
This
is the simple truth; we are either fruit-bearing or non fruit-bearing.