Bearing Fruit

BEARING FRUIT

“Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.” John’s words come to us on this day when the Gospel passage presents us with the great image of the vine and the branches. Jesus uses the image as a warning to those who have begun to distance themselves from the way of the Lord. One of the ways this happens is when we love God and others “in word or speech” instead of “in deed and truth.” What does it mean for us to “remain in Christ”? In an extension of the metaphor, the Lord gives us an example. If we remain in him, we will bear much fruit. As the branches, we draw strength from Christ who is the vine. This strength enables us to bear fruit—to do the work of true discipleship.

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