Divine Intimacies

By Clinton R. LeFort

Bearing Fruit in Christ

He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.(Jn. 15:2)

What is the fruit that we are called to keep in Christ? It is the fruit of grace: “without me, you can do nothing,” but “all things are possible to the one who believes.” The Father gives to us his Son and the grace to live in him. Everything we do in Christ is the fruit of his grace. Not only our acts of worship and praise, but also our joys and sorrows, our labors and our socializing, our collaboration with others in good works as well as our struggles we face in the world. St. Paul encouraged his early Christian communities with the words “all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his will.”

The Father is careful to not spoil the work of his Son, and Jesus tells us “he takes away every branch that does not bear fruit.” Today we are surrounded by the multiple works of every human being. It would be very nice for us to believe that all are done to please God in Christ. We must be careful that when we acknowledge the works of others that we give to God what belongs to God and Caesar what belongs to Caesar. No doubt God works in every person since our very existence comes from him, yet not all life is consciously united with God in grace. Grace is a wonderful gift, but often the working of grace remains hidden from the eyes of others. Jesus cautions us to keep our works hidden else we will lose the reward of doing them for him and receive the reward that comes from the false praises of others.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Clinton LeFort
• Release date: Aug 4, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386536956

Clinton R. LeFort

Clinton R. LeFort was born in Lake Arthur Louisiana, a small rural town in Southwest Louisiana in the United States. He began creative writing at age 6, in the form of poems, songs and news broadcast. After high school he attended USL, LSU and USC, where he continued his writing on philosophical, academic and religious topics. He began his own publishing company in 2006 after successfully writing 6 books which received Imprimaturs from the Archdiocese of St. Louis,Mo. Today Mr. LeFort has over 300 titles available for Kindle. He continues to read and write with a great interest in spirituality and mysticism of Catholic Saints.

Book preview

Introduction

Divine Intimacies are a collection of ten of our best titles published to date on the life of prayer in Christ. The volumes contained are :

Volume One, Abide in Me;

Volume 2, A Day with Jesus;

Volume 3, Eternal Weight of Glory;

Volume 4, Growing in Prayer;

Volume 5, In Prayer;

Volume 6, Last Things;

Volume 7, The Narrow Way;

Volume 8, Purity of Heart;

Volume 9, Searching For God; lastly,

Volume 10, Participation in the divine Nature.

Each volume presents the teachings of Jesus, according to the Catholic faith, on the practice of prayer and union with God, while avoiding those things which disrupt the union of love between the soul and God.

These volumes have been previously published during the Summer of 2014, but I have placed them together as a collection of reflections and contemplations on the principles of prayer and the spiritual life leading to the life of prayer and remaining in the divine presence.

Abide in Me

Live in Me

By

Clinton R. LeFort

MelatiaeTrade Publishing

2014©

Abiding in Christ

I am the true vine and my Father is the vine grower. (Jn. 15:1)

Jesus became man in order to have us share his Divine life. When we give ourselves to grace and faith we remain united with him in love, thru the Holy Spirit. What does it mean, as we sit before the Eucharist, sit in our homes alone, walk among our contemporaries or persevere in trials with our adversaries, to abide in me? It means to experience, comprehend and live those life experiences with the whole fiber of our being in him.

True, no one knows how each of us experiences abiding in Christ, or remaining in Christ. Yet, no one would deny that it is the Christ that we live and move and have our being. That is the Father’s gift to us in Christ he has given us the wisdom to understand fully the  Mystery, the plan he was pleased to reveal in Christ.

The Father is the vine grower: I believe in one God, the Father the Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. This Creator, Our Father, creates us to be in his Son, before the world began.

What more could the Father want for us than to have us in his Son for all eternity, yet that is what we are the children of God. Even though the world does not recognize us the Father’s promise is eternal and he will carry out his promises for those he foreknew he predestined to share the image of his Son; those he predestined he called, those he called he justified and those he justified he glorified. There is only one thing we should fear the most and that is not believing in the words the Father gave to us in Christ. Our faith is our eternal life and that is the work that we have been given to believe in the one he has sent, Jesus Christ.

Bearing Fruit in Christ

He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.(Jn. 15:2)

What is the fruit that we are called in bear in Christ? It is the fruit of grace: without me you can do nothing, but all things are possible to the one who believes. The Father gives to us his Son and the grace to live in him. Everything we do in Christ is the fruit of his grace. Not only our acts of worship and praise, but also our joys and sorrows, our labors and our socializing, our collaboration with others in good works as well as our struggles we face in the world. St. Paul encouraged his early Christian communities with the words all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his will.

The Father is careful to not spoil the work of his Son and Jesus tells us he takes away every branch that does not bear fruit. Today we are surrounded by the multiple works of every human being. It would be very nice for us to believe that all are done to please God in Christ. We must be careful that when we acknowledge the works of others that we give to God what belongs to God and to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. No doubt God works in every person, since our very existence comes from him, yet not all existence is consciously united with God in grace. Grace is a wonderful gift, but often the working of grace remains hidden from the eyes of others. Jesus cautions us to keep our works hidden else we will lose the reward of doing them for him and receive the reward that comes from the false praises of others.

I Spoke to You

You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. (Jn. 15:3)

Jesus detaches his disciples form the world by his word and he transforms their hearts and minds with the truth of his word and the love of his Spirit. There is only one thing for his disciples to do to persevere in running the race that he has placed before them. Jesus’ pruning his disciples is both interior and exterior. It is interior because his word abides in their hearts, but it is also exterior because they are called to shake the dust from their feet from those who do not accept the Gospel message. It is neither easy to keep his word in our hearts when we are tempted by the things of the world nor shake the dust from our feet when we are not accepted by the worldly-minded society we live in. On the other hand, it is not impossible for all things are possible in him. Jesus promises us an eternal reward after we carry our Cross in this life, yet even when we carry our Cross his yoke is easy and his burden is light. His word is never discouraging for his Spirit of encouragement is with us. It is because I spoke to you (Jn. 15:3) that we follow the Master along this way and it is because the spirit of truth who leads us to all truth is with us bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God that we struggle forward and strain forward toward the prize. If that were not enough he has even given us his Mother who cares for us as her children along the way.

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. (Jn. 15:4)

Jesus wants us to remain in Him and he gives to us all the necessary means to do so. From the first moment of our coming into existence, he has guided us along the way of faith. He brought us to the providential fount of grace of Baptism thru his dive in power working in our family and friends. He gave us a desire to receive him in the Confirming gifts of his Spirit and the Eucharistic gifts of his presence. Daily he showers us with many blessings of prayer and grace, leading us along paths of faith, hope and love, which only each of us can understand in our heart of hearts. Jesus wants us to be a fruitful branch of grace for all eternity and you know and believe in his active involvement in your life and the life of others. There is none thing he asks each of us and that is not to stop before the end. His power us sure and he will bring us to a happy end if we only trust fully in his care. Though I walk in the valley of death I fear no evil for you are at my side to comfort me. (Ps. 23)

May the Mother of Jesus, guide us along the path that he has chosen for each of us and keep us faithful so that by entering into eternal glory, by his merciful gift, we may continue to do our part with him until all his children-given to him by the Father- are brought together under the one roof of love.

I am the Vine

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.  (Jn. 15:5)

Our Home: God

God is our home and we are made for him. We were made in his image (LG, Ch. V, 40)to do the good things that his Son, Jesus Christ would show us. We were made in his likeness (LG, Ch. II, 24) to show to the world his goodness and truth and become worshippers in spirit and in truth.  My Aunt and Uncle on my Father’s side used to raise grapes in their backyard-he used to make homemade wine out of them. Our family would often visit them and I was always curious if they had fresh grapes, since they were delicious and beautiful. My Uncle took very good crd of his grape vines, since he looked forward to making his homemade wine from them. I believe that God is the same way with his children since he looks forward to us being with him for all eternity. For us, it is the work, but for God it is a work of love: My Father is at work until now, so I am at work. (Jn. 5:17)

Achievement

I don’t say that we are not to attain anything or reach a certain status in life, since we need to establish ourselves in the world, but we are to be in the world but not of the world. The purpose of our life is caught up in the divine life the Father planned for us from all eternity. Listen to what the Vatican Council II Fathers say about this work:

The eternal Father, by a free an children plan of His own wisdom and goodness, created the whole world. His plan was  to raise men to a participation of the divine life. Fallen in Adam, God the Father did not leave men to themselves, but ceaselessly offered helps to salvation, in view, of Christ, the Redeemer who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. All the elect, before time began, the Father foreknew and pre-destined to  become conformed to the image of His Son, that he should be the firstborn among many brethren." (Lumen Gentium, Ch. 1, par. 2)

In other words, all of our actions should be conformed to the Son so that the Son will receive the glory he deserves for redeeming us.  Our achievement should be to remain in Christ. This is our most important work as those who are called to become conformed to the image of His Son, and that we could become one of Christ brothers & sisters among many brethren.

Like a branch and wither

Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. (Jn. 15:6)

The Bad News about disobedience to God’s will in our life is that those who do so will not enjoy eternal life. Perhaps some want