In today's gospel we encounter the metaphor of choice of Jesus, "I am the vine you are the branches."
Jesus speaks of the necessity of being pruned, where the dead nonproductive branches are removed so that the vibrant young sprouts can mature and bear fruit.
Jesus reminds us that he removes and prunes so that the vine can bear MORE fruit. Jesus wants more.
What is this more.
The fact of the matter is that Jesus does not settle for less, only we do. The more that he constantly is in search of must find its reflection in the words we say each day when we pray the words that Jesus taught us, "thy kingdom come."
These words must not be merely spoken from our lips but they must shape our lives; this is the more that Jesus seeks to prune forth from us. Anything less is unworthy of us, unworthy of the one who gives us new life.
We must be about more. this is what it means to have zeal, to be zealous for God is certainly about being zealous for his kingdom. This zeal bears more.
It is time to let go of the dead branches and stop dragging them through our days and nights; it is time to stop using those dead branches as weapons that keep genuine love at arms length; it is time to surrender the less in our life and embrace the more of the kingdom and truly become part of that heavenly orchard producing more of what God wants and less of what we do.
Simply put, be pruned by God's word and sacraments and allow yourself to be more.
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