“Abide in me as I abide in you, says the Lord.
Whoever abides in me and I in them will bear much fruit.” Jn 15: 4a & 5b
Sulpician priest, Richard Gula, P.S.S., asked the question, “What does it mean to remain in Christ?” Then he went on to ask: “Which Christ?” That two-word question got me going.
We have the Christ who tipped over tables in the Temple. This Jesus is presented in all four gospels. Unhappy with what was going on in his Father’s house, meant to be a place of prayer, Jesus took dramatic action. He made a whip. He chased out the animals. He spilled the coins of the moneychangers on the floor. He overturned tables. He accused the sellers and the buyers of being robbers and thieves.
What does it mean, then, for us to abide in this zealous Christ? It will, at the least, require of us an audacious way of life that does not hold back timidly from the need to right what is wrong.
We have another Christ – the one who fed over 5,000 people. He’s also in all four gospels. In each of them, he is presented as a compassionate person. He felt the longings of the crowd. He accompanied them in their search for that which would satisfy their pangs of hunger. He had compassion for those with nothing to eat. He challenged his disciples to not send them away. He took what little they had and made it work.
Is this the Christ who abides in us and we in him? If so, this requires of us an empathic relationship with all those who are searching for and longing to fill up whatever emptiness they experience in life.
And then there’s Christ the storyteller. Over 40 parables are scattered throughout the gospels. 40 stories! The mustard seed, the tiniest of them all. The lost coin eventually found. The weeds in the wheat that remain until harvest time. The marvelous stories of the prodigal son who finally wakes up and returns home; the good Samaritan who took care of his neighbor, beaten and left half dead on the highway of life.
Is it the Storyteller Christ in whom we abide? If so, the Storyteller himself, who abides in us, will want us to discover creative expressions for passing on to others the wonders of God’s gracious kingdom in which we experience love.
Let’s look at one more of the many Christs we discover in the gospels. Jesus was a guest at the wedding feast of Cana. They ran out of wine. Horror of horrors! The common wisdom of his time and everyone at the feast knew it: without wine, there is no joy.
Jesus took six stone water jars. Each held 20 to 30 gallons. He had them filled to the brim. When the servants took a cupful to the steward, we are told that the steward was surprised to be sipping the finest of wine.
Jesus saved the day. More than water turned to wine, Jesus turned the complete failure of a wedding disaster into joy. Abide in me as I remain in you.
The Christ, who is revealed through this first of signs in the gospel of John, flows into and out of us as one who brings joy when it is most needed – not superficial, giggling, joy: rather a deep down, rich, and full-bodied joy that will last. Is this the Christ in whom we abide? To abide in him must mean that, as the Constitutions of Holy Cross, proclaim: “We must be (people) with hope to bring. There is no failure the Lord’s love cannot reverse.”
Each of the gospels portrays slightly different aspects of Jesus, the Christ. They reveal the Christ as multi-faceted. He was bold. He was compassionate. He was forgiving. He was grateful. He was kind. He wept. He taught creatively. He challenged, especially his closest friends. He shared meals with the marginalized. He gave of himself – unto death. He loved everyone and continues to do so.
It is no small thing, then, to abide in him. In fact, it can be daunting. So much so that we back off.
About this great concern – that we tend to minimize the vine and the branches “flow” of Jesus abiding in us and we in Him, – Fr. Albert Nolan, a priest from South Africa, had this to say. “On the whole, we don’t take Jesus seriously – whether we call ourselves Christians or not. … We have our excuses. I am no saint. It’s not meant for everybody, surely? It’s a great ideal, but it’s not very practical in this day and age. My proposal will be that we learn to take Jesus seriously … .” (Jesus Today, A spirituality of Radical Freedom, p xvii).
Learn to take Jesus seriously. That describes the mission of The Cross & Anchors Guild. Thank you for the ways in which you take Jesus seriously. Your generous participation in the Guild is one manner that manifests how you abide in Christ and that he abides in you. As the summer comes to an end, as we begin a new school year, and as we come to the season of the harvest, we have yet another opportunity to embrace with great fervor what initiated this reflection. “Whoever abides in me and I in them will bear much fruit.” (John 15: 5b)
Fr. Thomas K. Zurcher, C.S.C.
Author: Rev. Thomas K. Zurcher, C.S.C.
Published: August 3, 2024
