Jesus came, as He said, so that we might have life and have it abundantly. The life He came to give us is infused into our natural life, but it has characteristics very different from natural life. When a child is born, it has life in independence from its mother. True, it needs a great deal of support, but the life it has and the growth it undergoes is its own and not directly flowing from its parents, and it grows and develops from within itself.
The life Jesus has given us has to develop and grow, and we have to produce fruit, as He said, but this life has to flow from Him all the time and forever. Cut off from Him we wither away as far as true life is concerned.
Among the images Our Lord uses to give us an idea of the relationship that we have with Him if we are in the state of grace is that of the vine and the branches; and if we are alive with true life, He lives in us and we live in Him. What is more, without Him we can do nothing. Yet Our Lord has told us many things we are to do not only to please Him but to remain alive in Him, to be saved. Christian life is life in Christ and . . . He cannot live in us if the life we live is not one that He can live. . .
To live in Christ is to live in truth and to practice love. If we remain in Christ we bear fruit in plenty, whether it is known to us or not.
It is easy to think that we are not doing anything worthwhile, especially when old age or illness makes us rather inactive, but if we are doing God’s will and accepting our condition and keeping up our prayers, we are doing a great deal. God is so great that it hardly makes any difference to Him whether something is a grain of sand or a great mountain, and one single act of love for God in our heart may be of more value in His sight than many external works. Our love for other people may be shown by good deeds and must e when these are called for, but to pray for someone is an eminently good deed as long as it is not just an excuse for not giving practical help that we can give.
St. John sums up God’s commands to us as believing in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and loving one another. Whoever keeps His commandments lives in God and God lives in him. That is the life that Jesus came to infuse into us . . .
“I am the true vine,” Jesus said, “and My Father is the vinedresser.” Our Father in heaven takes a very active part in our spiritual life and growth, and this involves a good deal of pruning to make us more fruitful. It is a great mistake to think that the troubles God permits to come to us are tragedies or signs of His disapproval. Rightly accepted, accepted in the right spirit, in the Holy Spirit of Christ, they make us grow in holiness. God lives in us and we in Him more and more.
