Dear Fathers, Friends in Christ,
Acts 15:1-6
Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5
John 15:1-8
If you have ever seen a vineyard, you would be impressed with how well laid out the vines are, and at harvest time, how beautiful they appear. Few of us would realize, though, that a lot of work went into the vineyard’s array and making it beautiful. How often did those vines need to be cut away or pruned?
The same will be true when we appear before God in heaven. In this life, we will experience a lot of things being cut away, or pruned away, from us. At the time, this will all be very painful, but when we appear before God, we will see ourselves in God’s beauty, and God will see Himself in us in His beauty as St. John of the Cross says.
In the meantime, the challenge remains to trust that God knows what He is about when He cuts away something or someone that is very dear to us, or when He prunes away something or some activity that we felt we needed in our lives or even in our relationship with God.
Father Ed Bakker
Anglican Catholic Church / Original Province
Mission of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne
Bendigo
Australia
