Wednesday, April 24 : John Tauler

The vinegrower goes to his vineyard to cut the wild shoots. If he didn’t do this and left them on the good branches, his vine would only produce sour, bad wine. This is what a nobleman or a noblewoman must do: they must prune themselves of all that is out of order, uproot entirely all their ways of being and inclinations, whether they be those of joy or suffering, that is to say, they must cut off their bad faults. This will not break either head or arm or leg! But hold back your knife until you have seen what you have to cut. If the vinegrower didn’t know the art of pruning, he would cut everything, both the good branch, which will soon give raisins, and the bad branch, and he would ruin the vineyard. That is what certain people do. They don’t know their job. They leave the vices, the bad inclinations, which are deeply rooted in nature, and they prune and trim poor nature itself. Nature in itself is good and noble: what do want to cut away from it? When the time comes for the fruit, that is to say, for divine life, you won’t have anything left but nature in ruins.
Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team