In giving us this allegory of the vine and the vineyard in today’s Gospel, Jesus spreads out for me the divine plan of salvation. He is the vine and he is dependent on the one who cultivates the vineyard. That is, the Father.
The Father works over each branch of the vine to make it healthy, fruitful. Prayer means that I offer myself to doing what the grower judges is best for me now, and for the whole vineyard, the Church, at this time when gathering storm clouds threaten growth.
So, just as it is essential that the branch be attached to the vine in order to produce grapes, so it is essential that I be attached to Christ in order fulfill what I was created to be and to do, right now, today.
No matter what my dreams of doing good are, if I am separated from the stem, the fruit that may have sprouted will soon wither and die.
With that in mind, I’ll turn to the 1st reading in today’s mass. There, I’ll read events that took place about 15 years after the Resurrection. Some idealistic men confronted Paul over how the Mosaic Law should be implemented by newly converted Christians. How flighty such reasoning seems today; yet then, many thought it to be God’s will.
This first controversary within the Church was solved by the decision of the first pope. So, what’s new in the vineyard with the vine grower, the vine and the branches? I’ll pray today for a greater insight, a stronger faith, and especially for Pope Francis and my local bishop. And I’ll consign everything to Our Lady of Fatima.