 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear
fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke
to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot
bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless
you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in
me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. One of the fruits that we experience as a result of our remaining in union with Jesus is the consolation we feel deep within our souls. Let us look for a moment at this notion of consolation. St. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits, developed a special approach to prayer in the form of a thirty-day retreat, called the Spiritual Exercises. In this time of carefully constructed prayer, those who were considering becoming Jesuits would finalize their decision. The key to this decision making through prayer was what Ignatius called the experience of the Consolation of the Holy Spirit. The person praying would make their decision, then that person would look for confirmation that their decision was the right and true decision, pleasing to God. Confirmation of their decision would be given by God through this Consolation caused by the Holy Spirit. St. Ignatius describes consolation this way. I call it consolation when an interior movement is aroused in the soul, by which it is inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord, and as a consequence, can love no creature on the face of the earth for its own sake, but only in the Creator of them all ….. I call consolation every increase of faith, hope, and love, and all interior joy that invites and attracts to what is heavenly and to the salvation of one’s soul by filling it with peace and quiet in its Creator and Lord. As these effects were being experienced, the one praying knew for certain their choice was God’s choice for them. Even though we are not thinking about joining the Jesuits, that does not mean we cannot experience the benefits of this way of prayer. We all must make important decisions in our lives and we want them to be the right decision; in harmony with God’s will. So, we too can go to God and ask for guidance; and here, Ignatius’ way of praying for guidance can be most helpful. The key here is listening for God’s Voice with our hearts. We have already worked out our decision in our heads; the pros, the cons etc.; now it is the heart’s turn to way in. Our hearts tell us by a deep and certain peace, by a strong conviction, a calm, consoling belief that the Spirit is with us, confirming our decision. With that we can now act. The final test will be in the fruits of our decision. Only good vines produce good fruit. The fruits of the Spirit are our final discernment. That brings us to today’s gospel and Jesus’ example to the vines and their fruit: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.” In his rules for discernment, St. Ignatius points out that when we get off the track of the good decisions we make in service of the Lord the Spirit withdraws the consolation we are enjoying, prunes it so that we see and understand our mistakes and correct them. It is in knowing Jesus, knowing the gospels, knowing the works and fruits of the Spirit describe in the scriptures that we learn to recognize the Voice of consolation speaking in our hearts: the VOICE of charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity. It is by these fruits that we are able to hear the Spirit’s Voice of Consolation. More on Praying Scripture . . . LINK . . . |
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 Video Commentary on this Sunday's Readings Gospel: . . . LINK . . . |
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