November 14, 2018

Our Calling to Remain in Him

24 minutes

On this podcast, we listen to the words of Jesus in the Gospel of St. John and reflect on what it means to our calling in life (vocation): "Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:4-5).

Jesus tells us that our vocation is to be an apostle - to be the light of the world (Mt 5,14). But he doesn't give us specific instructions except that we are to remain in him. What does that mean for us? It means he wants us to be constantly united to him like the vine to the branches. We are to be contemplatives in constant dialogue with him wherever we are.

Our efforts to live out our vocations and to transform the world won't work if we practice a hit or miss spirituality. "I didn't get to it today" is not the language of a saint. We need to be sincere in our desire to spend time with him, despite time constraints and the chaos and demands of daily life.Ask yourself: Am I giving my family and friends an experience of Jesus Christ?

Jesus is telling us that he is the driving force of our love, peace, strength and courage. Through contemplation we charge the batteries of our hearts and minds. We will deprive others of Christ if we neglect our spiritual lives, our lives of prayer, because none of it comes from us: I'm not the source; I'm the light fixture.

"A saying of a soul of prayer: in intentions, may Jesus be our aim; in affections, our Love; in conversation, our theme; in actions, our model" (St. Josemaria Escriva; The Way, no. 271).

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