Pope at Mass: Mutual remaining in
Jesus
At Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on Wednesday, Pope Francis
prays for students and teachers. During his homily he also emphasizes that
Christian life means "remaining" in Jesus.
By Vatican News
Pope Francis presided over Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on
the Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter. It is also the day the Church
celebrates the memorial of Our Lady of Fatima. At the beginning of the
celebration he turned his thoughts to students and teachers:
“We pray today for students, the boys and girls who
study, and for their teachers who need to find new ways to
continue educating. May the Lord help them on this path and grant them
courage and success.”
In his homily, the Pope commented on Wednesday’s Gospel (Jn
15:1-8) in which Jesus says 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.”
“Remaining” in Jesus
Christian life, explained Pope Francis, means
"remaining" in Jesus. This "remaining” he went on to say, is not
passive; it is an active and mutual "remaining".
Pope Francis emphasized that Jesus “remaining” in us is one
of the beautiful mysteries of life.
The Pope noted that what Jesus is saying is that, “branches
without life can do nothing because they need the sap to grow and bear fruit.
But the vine also needs branches: it is a reciprocal need to bear fruit.”
Christian life, underlined Pope Francis, means fulfilling
the commandments, living the beatitudes and doing works of mercy. It is more
than that, however, he said: it is this mutual "remaining".
We can do nothing without Jesus
“We can do nothing without Jesus”, stressed the Pope, “and it
seems that without us - allow me to say this – the Lord Jesus can do nothing.”
In this fruitful bond, he continued, Jesus needs our
testimony. “Jesus needs us to bear witness to His name, because the Gospel
grows by our testimony.”
The Lord is present in us
The Lord “remains in us to give us this strength of witness
with which the Church grows”, the Pope said.
“It is a relationship of intimacy, it is mystical, and
without words: it is not only for the mystics, it is for all of us.”
In that intimate dialogue, highlighted Pope Francis, “The
Lord is present, the Lord is present in us, the Father is present in us, the
Spirit is present in us; they remain in us. But I must remain in them".
May the Lord, the Pope concluded, help us to understand and
feel this mysticism of "remaining": of the branches that need to
remain on the vine, and the vine that needs the branches to bear the fruit of
testimony.
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