Parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Old Harlow, Essex CM17 0HA
Hello friend,
The orchard by my house is burdened with apples again. This beautiful sight makes me think how sometimes we long for fruitfulness. We yearn for the days of breakthrough like a child yearns for Christmas. We crave those key moments in our lives – the wedding day, the birth of a child, or that big success at work.
Does God love us more on these days of personal victory? It can feel like that. Sometimes we might even think our fruitfulness is what causes God to love us. Instead, Jesus tells us in John 15:4 that we are fruitful when we abide in Him.
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me."
Apple trees do not question their worthiness or ability to produce enough apples – they do not compare themselves to other apple trees. When we abide in Jesus, we rest as sons and daughters in the loving arms of a Father who will never let us down. It is in these moments of intimacy with the Lord that we can bear great fruit.
Like so many in the Mary’s Meals family, I have played my part in many small projects in my time as a volunteer and staff member. It is of everlasting comfort to me to know that the fruitfulness of these projects is not based on my own abilities.
We have spent decades longing for the moment of breakthrough when every child can receive a daily meal in school. And in that yearning, God keeps surprising us with little moments on the journey that we never expected. Moments such as Veronica, who was one of the first children to receive Mary’s Meals in school in Malawi, graduating from university, or when we began serving meals to children in war-torn Syria. When we abide in Christ, we can find a renewed sense of hope and joy in the unforeseen gifts, the daily breakthroughs and the victory of victories that is our salvation.
I have a new habit now in my working from home routine; whenever I have a particularly hard task to do for Mary’s Meals – a task that sometimes feels far beyond me – I put on Christian music and I remember that I am His adopted son. And while I carry out that task in my home, next to the orchard that continues to produce an abundance of fruit, I abide with Him.
God bless,
Joseph Black,
Head of Major Giving and Partnerships
Hello friend,
The orchard by my house is burdened with apples again. This beautiful sight makes me think how sometimes we long for fruitfulness. We yearn for the days of breakthrough like a child yearns for Christmas. We crave those key moments in our lives – the wedding day, the birth of a child, or that big success at work.
Does God love us more on these days of personal victory? It can feel like that. Sometimes we might even think our fruitfulness is what causes God to love us. Instead, Jesus tells us in John 15:4 that we are fruitful when we abide in Him.
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me."
Apple trees do not question their worthiness or ability to produce enough apples – they do not compare themselves to other apple trees. When we abide in Jesus, we rest as sons and daughters in the loving arms of a Father who will never let us down. It is in these moments of intimacy with the Lord that we can bear great fruit.
Like so many in the Mary’s Meals family, I have played my part in many small projects in my time as a volunteer and staff member. It is of everlasting comfort to me to know that the fruitfulness of these projects is not based on my own abilities.
We have spent decades longing for the moment of breakthrough when every child can receive a daily meal in school. And in that yearning, God keeps surprising us with little moments on the journey that we never expected. Moments such as Veronica, who was one of the first children to receive Mary’s Meals in school in Malawi, graduating from university, or when we began serving meals to children in war-torn Syria. When we abide in Christ, we can find a renewed sense of hope and joy in the unforeseen gifts, the daily breakthroughs and the victory of victories that is our salvation.
I have a new habit now in my working from home routine; whenever I have a particularly hard task to do for Mary’s Meals – a task that sometimes feels far beyond me – I put on Christian music and I remember that I am His adopted son. And while I carry out that task in my home, next to the orchard that continues to produce an abundance of fruit, I abide with Him.
God bless,
Joseph Black,
Head of Major Giving and Partnerships
