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God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.
... St. Augustine (354-430)
(What needs doing? Just do it!)
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Acts 15:1-6; Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5
Jn 15:1-8
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.
Remain in me, as I remain in you.
Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own
unless it remains on the vine,
so neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing.
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.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
By this is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”
Praying the Daily Gospels: A Guide to Meditation, by Philip St. Romain, 2018 (3rd ed.)
John 15:1-8 (Jesus, the true vine)
The parable of the vine and the vinegrower expresses the nature of our relationship with God and with one another. Like branches, we are dependent on the vine for life and nourishment. If we arc not pruned or disciplined, we shall squander our lives, just as unpruned vines do.
• Do you really believe that without God you can do nothing meaningful? • How do you experience the trimming and pruning described in the parable? Does this help you to grow?
• Spend time thanking God for the growth you are experiencing at this time in your life.
Treatise on the Love of God, by St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
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BOOK II: THE HISTORY OF THE GENERATION AND HEAVENLY BIRTH OF DIVINE LOVE
Chapter 9
I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore have I drawn thee, taking pity on thee. And I will build thee again, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel. These are the words of God, by which he promises that the Saviour coming into the world shall establish a new kingdom in his Church, which shall be his virgin-spouse, and true spiritual Israelite.
Now as you see, Theotimus, it was not by the works of justice, which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by that ancient, yea, eternal, charity which moved his divine Providence to draw us unto him. No man can come to me except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him. For if the Father had not drawn us we had never come to the Son, our Saviour, nor consequently to salvation.
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