23 July 2021

The readings today are templates for us to learn from. They are targets for us to attain. St Paul knows that the Law will no longer bear fruit . Jesus has changed everything. The crucifixion has completed the Law. Our lives are now in the Resurrection. The living lord is the life that now I can live in this body. 

St Paul's teaching seems to be stark like a Corbusier building but St John's is an abundant   Baroque image. We can see the vine and feel the life that is surging through the tangle of its branches; we can feel the brambles tugging about it trying to hold it back. This is our life that grows in Love because that is the will of the Father. Each day we need to grow in this Love and bear the fruit that is the result of Calvary.

 Supported by the Holy Spirit , St Brigid lived her exemplary life in accord with these images of our life in God. Jesus tells us that our  lives are with him and that we can bear fruit. Fruit that is holiness and the avoidance of sin. There is a penalty to pay, however, Jesus makes no bones about the fate of those cut off from the source of the Life in holiness that he wills for us.

Dear Lord let not these morning dedications to you become a source of pride .let them be an opening of my heart to you and a reparation for the sins I have committed,