Christians need to rely on grace offered by Jesus' resurrection, says South Carolina priest
"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" (John 15:5).
This verse comes from the Gospel of John, one of the four gospel narratives in the New Testament. While the exact authorship of this gospel is unknown, it is most commonly attributed to the Apostle John, says the website Catholic Answers.
The lesson in this verse, South Carolina-based Fr. Jeffrey Kirby told Fox News Digital, is that Christians need to "cling to the Risen Christ and rely on His grace."
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Kirby is host of the daily devotional podcast "The Morning Offering with Father Kirby," and is the pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish in Indian Land, South Carolina.
While Easter Sunday is just one day, Christian tradition holds that the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus is "not only a single day but an entire season," spanning from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, said Kirby.
"The resurrection is humanity’s perpetual symbol of hope," he said, and "calls us to look beyond the brokenness and sufferings of our fallen world and to see a glimpse of eternity."
With the resurrection of Christ, "darkness is scattered and our woundedness is healed. Heaven is revealed to us," said Kirby.
The resurrection is the greatest event in human history, and the glory of the resurrection "gives humanity strength, renewal, and perpetual hope beyond ourselves," he said.
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As Jesus left His tomb on that first Easter Sunday, "so He summons each of us out of the various places of spiritual death that seek to overwhelm us by disappointment, desolation and despair," said Kirby.
"Rising on the third day, the Lord Jesus calls all of us out of the tomb and into a newness of life."
If humanity decides to leave the proverbial tomb, but remain unchanged and selfish, "we will not fit in the company of the risen Lord," said Kirby, as "if someone is selfish, he will not fit among those who are selfless."
Instead, "the Risen Christ calls us to bear spiritual fruit by following a path of love and joyful service" — something that cannot happen with a "narcissistic, self-focused spirit."
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"We must leave the tomb of such darkness if we are going to excel in sharing a loving kindness with others and extending a tender service to those around us," said the priest.
"If we stay in the tomb, we cannot bear the spiritual fruit of God."
Following the Lord in the modern era is "a great challenge," Kirby told Fox News Digital.
"Our souls," he said, "are infiltrated by a contemporary spirit of self-centeredness … We are told to falsely believe that we are at the center of the world," he added.
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This way of living, though, "is at severe odds with the most excellent way of love given to us by the Risen Christ. It is foreign to the glory of the resurrection."
He continued, "It is a heavy, soul-breaking burden to bear. It is empty and devoid of any goodness. It strips our lives of its deepest meaning, value and ultimate purpose. Selfishness only leads to misery and self-hatred."
Humanity, said Kirby, was not meant for selfishness.
Rather, "we were created by love and for love, and we are called to selflessly give that love to others."
He added, "The Risen Lord is the vine, and we are the branches."
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