Only with Christ Can We Bear Good and Imperishable Fruit

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

CHRIST himself said so. “Remain in me, as I remain in you, says the Lord; whoever remains in me will bear much fruit,” he said. (Jn 15,4a.5b) We need to take these words more seriously so we can begin to act and to live according to those divine words.

We have to remember that since our life is always a shared life with God in Christ through the Holy Spirit, there should be no moment where we are not aware of what Christ wants us to do and to be. Otherwise, we would just be at the mercy of our wounded human condition, prone to all sorts of weaknesses, limitations, failures and the like.

We have to be careful with what is now popularly known as a “me-time,” which is supposed to give us time for relaxation, self-reflection and personal activities that supposedly promote well-being and enjoyment.

While it can offer us a lot of advantages, it can turn out to be a sweet poison if it is spent only with oneself, and not with Christ who is actually everything to us, the one who gives us “the way, the truth and the life” in any situation we might find ourselves in, and the one who clearly said that he will give us the proper rest if we get overburdened by whatever.

The proper “me-time” is for us to be with Christ. Let’s never forget that at the very core of our identity is Christ. We are all children of God, created in his image and likeness. Let’s cast out the idea that we are just by ourselves, that our identity is simply uniquely ours, and that everything depends solely on us, on our thinking and decisions.

The “me-time” without Christ would simply isolate us from others, first of whom would be Christ himself. We may appear to be doing well for a time because of our innate talents and skills. But without Christ, we cannot last long, and in time we cannot handle well the inevitable decline that we are all subject to.

That “me-time” can only lead us to a perishable goal, and not the imperishable one that we are all meant for. There is need to acquire the skill of how to convert the perishable condition of our earthly life into the imperishable quality of our definitive life in heaven.

Converting the perishable to the imperishable can happen if we see and understand things in a theological way, that is, with faith, hope and charity. We need to realize that our thinking would not work in its most proper way if it is not enlightened and guided by faith, hope and charity.

It would be like saying that we can simply be on our own. It’s tantamount to saying that we don’t need God from whom we come and to whom we belong. Or that we may need him only from time to time, but not always, and that he is not truly indispensable in our life.

We have to cultivate this theological mind, which is actually necessary for us but which we have to do freely. Theological thinking is actually not an optional thing. With this theological thinking, we would be able to see Christ in everything. This finds basis on the fact that God is everywhere. He is our creator who gives us and the whole world our existence and keeps it.

Yes, only with God in Christ through the Holy Spirit can we bear the proper and imperishable fruit meant for us!

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com