‘Be fruitful branches of the vine,’ Cardinal Tobin exhorts in latest newsletter
Christ is the vine, we are the branches.
In the latest edition of his Rejoice in the Lord newsletter, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, C.Ss.R, reflects on this biblical metaphor and exhorts the faithful to “be fruitful branches of the vine…and to love one another just as our risen Lord has commanded us.”
Cardinal Tobin writes: “In St. John’s Gospel (Jn 15:1-8), Jesus tells us that he is the true vine and his Father is the vine grower. ‘He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does, he prunes so that it bears more fruit.’ (Jn 15:2).”
This is important information because this is no ordinary vineyard, he says.
“Our Lord is speaking of the vine that is his body, and he tells us in no uncertain terms that we are the branches that are either thrown away to wither and be cast into a fire and burned, or that bear fruit and are pruned in order to be even more productive.”
Cardinal Tobin quotes from Jn 15:4 and writes: “Christ is the vine, and we are the branches. If we remain true to God’s Word, we can flourish and produce much fruit. If we refuse to listen to, or follow, God’s commandments, we wither and die. ‘Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine,’ Jesus says, ‘so neither can you unless you remain in me.’
He goes on to say: in the remaining weeks of this Easter season, let’s rejoice in the opportunities we have been given to believe in the name of God’s only Son.
“Let’s be fruitful branches of the vine that is Jesus Christ,” he writes. “And let’s love one another just as our risen Lord has commanded us.”
Cardinal Tobin’s newsletter is available in English and Spanish here.
