TODAYS REFLECTION 5TH WEEK OF EASTER, WED APRIL 27

TODAYS REFLECTION 5TH WEEK OF EASTER,  WED APRIL 27 ( Acts 15: 1-6, Jn 15 :1 - 8 ).

#WEMUSTBEPRUNEDTOBEARFRUITS#

Friends in todays first reading, the believers were rejoicing at the numbers of gentiles who had decided to join, i.e., to believe with them that Jesus was, indeed, the Messiah, the Son of God. In Jewish faith since the time of Abraham; males were to be circumcised. This was a problem, since the gentiles were not circumcised. The apostles responded by saying that  circumcision is not the most important factor that determined whether a person was a Christian, that the difference between Jews and gentiles would be based on one's faith in Jesus.

In todays gospel Jesus uses this image of pruning to teach us a similar lesson in bearing good fruit for His Kingdom. He wants our lives to be fruitful and He wants to use us as powerful instruments of His grace in the world. But unless we are willing to go through the purification of spiritual pruning from time to time, we will not be the instruments that God can use.

Spiritual pruning takes the form of letting God eliminate the vices in our lives so that the virtues can be properly nourished. This is especially done by letting Him humble us and strip away our pride. Being spiritually pruned means we actively let go of our own will and our own ideas. It means we give up control over our lives and let the master grower take over.

Beloved pray this day that you will let the Lord prune away all that is not of Him in your life. Trust in Him and his divine plan and know that this is the only path to bearing the good fruit God wants to bear through you. Be blessed as we are united in prayers.