THE DISCIPLINE OF PRUNING

Our Blessed Lord used a powerful simile when he talked to his apostles the night of the Last Supper. He said: 'I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. And every barren branch of mine he cuts away and every fruiting branch he cleans to make it more fruitful still.' So the heavenly Father purges us. A discipline, a trial, a handicap, or a cross comes into our life. And why is the pruning done? To make us more fruitful. That's why we've asked for this change, for more fruit. Our vines have to be pruned. We will be surprised at the richness of the harvest.