By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo
Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will bear more fruit.” (John 15:1-2) Jesus is not referring here to Himself who needs pruning but to His people who are members of His Body the Church. Jesus is perfect God and perfect man who needs no more perfection, but we His members do very much need. And that is what pruning is for.
To prune means to cut off what is not necessary. A gardener or a vinedresser usually cuts away sick branches of a tree because it could hinder growth or hinders it from bearing fruits. God is a gardener. And He does the same thing with our life. According to Bo Sanchez, God would prune us in two ways. First is when God would ask us to remove something from our life, telling us gently through our conscience that what we are doing is a hindrance to our spiritual growth. Second, He would remove something from our life without our permission.
The first kind of pruning usually takes time not because God delays telling us but because we are often stubborn and would take a lot of time to change our ways. But God is a patient gardener who will wait to give a sick branch a chance to heal. God is patient in constantly reminding and inspiring us to get rid of sin in our life. He wants to remove lust, greed, lying, dishonesty, selfishness, bitterness, etc. God is determined to remove sinfulness in us not because He enjoys watching His children suffer, but to make us ready to receive His most precious gift, a share of His divine life. Scott Hahn would say that we are not just saved from something (sin) but are saved for something (to be sharers of the Divine life). I would often repeat this message in my articles because this is the greatest gift God is offering us. God is not giving us a material thing as a gift because He already did that when He created us and gave us the entire universe to enjoy. He offers His very self, a share of his divine life because material things don’t fully satisfy us, the gift of the divine life however makes “our joy complete.” (John 15:11)
The second kind of pruning might be considered unfair and rude by us because God would not ask our permission. He would just arrange events in our life so we would “wake up” and see more clearly our wrong doing or when He tells us that it’s time to say yes to our vocation. I’ve heard of a story of a young man who was in a shipwreck and was the bottom of the sea already about to die because he does not know how to swim. But suddenly he was brought to the surface by a mysterious force and was rescued. He entered the seminary after that event because according to him it was a sign God not just wanted him to become a priest but is determined to make him a priest. He said he had been delaying saying yes to God for some time with his calling.
Gardeners will also cut away healthy branches, if this will make the tree bear more fruit. It is usually done to increase light penetration. If the branches and leaves are crowded, very little light can enter the thick foliage. In the same way, according to Bo Sanchez, our life can be so crowded with a lot of good things that we are very busy with, that God’s light can hardly enter. The good things can sometimes distract us from the great things. Examples of these might be your work at the office. You could earn more money by working more hours or doing overtime work, but it could also take you away from your family. Remember that any money lost can be recovered but time lost with family members is beyond redemption. I know of a company consultant who regretted not spending more time with his wife and kids when he was still younger. Although his work takes him away from his family often, because the companies he renders consultation work are all over the Philippines, but he said he could have gone out of his way to be with them more often because there were days that he was free from his work. This was during the time when there was no video chat yet. It would have cost him a lot of inconvenience and money to go home and be back at the workplace again after some days, but he said it’s a price worth paying for than not having intimacy with your children now that they have all grown up. Because he was not with them often, his children who are already teenagers, could not connect with him because there’s no closeness that should have been there since childhood.
