Weekly Reflection - 5th Sunday of Easter

"Without me you can do nothing." (Jn. 15:5)

Jesus reminds us in the Gospel this Sunday that he is the vine and we are the branches.  He wants to use us and therefore will prune us so that he will shine more and more through me.  The Easter season is the season of grace.  By our Baptism we actually share in Christ's life.  We belong to him.

However, we can correspond to grace or build our lives apart from him.  We all have a tendency to self sufficiency which instead of depending on God, we depend on ourselves and our own efforts.  Christ wants us to lean on him.  We can say that for our lives to be fruitful, we must pray as if everything depends on God and work as if everything depends on us.  If we only do one, his grace can't produce fruit in our lives.

Questions for Reflection: 

• How often do I pray? 
• Do I realize that only by being united to Christ will my efforts bear fruit according to God's plan? 
• Am I convinced that without him I can do nothing?