John the evangelist says in the gospel: Jesus is the true vine, we are his branches and the Father is the vine grower. The Father takes away every branch in him that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. We are already pruned because we are here, listening to the word of God. Remain in him, as he remains in us. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can we unless we remain in him. Jesus is the vine; we are the branches. Whoever remains in him and we in him will bear much fruit, because without him we can do nothing.
We are in God and God in us, just as the fish is in the sea and the sea is in the fish. What we need to do is to let God in and to let us out.
I am always struck by St. Paul’s letter to Timothy: “Remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, was raised from the dead. You can depend on this: If we have died with him we shall also live with him; if we hold out to the end we shall also reign with him. But if we deny him he will deny us. If we are unfaithful, he will still remain faithful, for he cannot deny himself” (2 Tim. 2:8-13).
Jesus still remains faithful to us because he cannot deny himself, because we are the fish in the sea and the sea is in the fish, because we are the branches in Jesus and Jesus is in the branches.
Now I have the opportunity to take a few moments of silence, of reflection, of contemplation, to allow this mystery of God to penetrate into my being.
This is my mantra: I am in the presence of God. I am in the presence of the mystery of the love of God. Here and now, before the Blessed Sacrament, I am in the presence of the mystery of the love of God.