Mother's Day and Christian Loving

On Mother’s Day, we thank and honour our mums for loving us; for the generosity and sacrifice that their love demands; for so often putting our needs before their own.

The love of our mums so often exemplifies the love that Jesus asks of his disciples. In the first half of chapter fifteen of St John’s gospel last Sunday, Jesus used the image of the vine to describe the intimacy with which God desires to love us. If we choose to “abide” as “branches” in Jesus, “the true vine”, we bear fruit in our lives which fulfils us, empowers others, affirms Jesus and honours God, the “vinedresser”. We share in the divine love between Jesus and his Father. But how do we “abide” in Jesus?