Wednesday, May 1 : Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus

“I have chosen you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit, and fruit that abides. » (Jn 15:16) This declaration of Jesus in the sermon after the Last Supper comes following his affirmations on the close ties which now unite him with his apostles. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. » (Jn 15:5) The branch lives on the sap that rises from the vine. Its function is to transform the sap into fruit. This is its reason for being. So if the branch does not bear fruit, it is normal for it to be cut off and thrown into the fire. This is the order of things. Jesus underlines this to indicate that fertility is the reason for the choice of his apostles and his action on them. They are to go into the world and bear fruit for the glory of the Father. This world he sends them to is bad, dangerous, and will persecute them. So he prays for them, but not “that they may be removed from the world, but that living in the world, they may be preserved from the evil that reigns there. » (Jn 17:15) After his resurrection, Jesus again declares: “As my Father has sent me, I also send you. » (Jn 20:21) There is therefore no doubt; the work of sanctification carried out by Jesus in his apostles, the mysterious links of grace which he created between them and himself, in the same way as the astonishing powers which he gave them, are ordered to their mission in the world . The fullness of grace and the fullness of the powers conferred are intended to provide Jesus with apostles who continue his mission. They were chosen by Jesus, they will be transformed by his Spirit to become other Christs here on earth and to bear fruit in the world.

Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team