Abide With Me | John 15: 1-10

The Lord called me because he wanted / desired / liked me (Mark 3: 13). If you know that someone likes you, what would you want to do? You will want to spend time with that person (Luke 3: 14). Thus, like the apostles, we have responded to His call. Once we are with him, abide with him (John 15), he will prune us that we bear much fruit.

We often look at a calling as a list of tasks to accomplish, but the deeper truth is much simpler: we are called simply because we are wanted. When you know someone truly enjoys your company, the natural response is to want to spend time with them.

That simple closeness is where everything begins. By choosing to stay and abide in that presence, a natural transformation takes place. Just like a gardener trims a branch, gentle pruning happens so that goodness and real purpose can grow in our lives.

Think of it like the relationship in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince, where the fox explains that to "tame" someone is simply to create ties. When you are truly wanted, spending time together isn't a checklist or a duty; it is the quiet process of becoming uniquely significant to one another, much like a gardener tending to a single, cherished rose.

From the retreat talks by Fr Joe OP.

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