Abiding

"'Abide in me.' We can only abide in a place where we are already.  Jesus tells us to 'abide' in him because we have been grafted onto him....  

"Baptism is sufficient to graft us into Christ...but we should not be content with this union only.  We must show gratitude for the immense gift we have received by endeavoring to become more and more firmly grafted into Christ.  We must 'live' this union by making him the center, the sun of our interior life...The more we try to abide in Christ, the deeper our little branch will grow into him, because it will be nourished more abundantly by the sap of grace.

"'Abide in me and I in you.' The more closely we are united to Christ by faith, charity, and good works done with the intention of pleasing God, the more intensely will he live in us and bestow on us continually a new life of grace.  Thus we will become, not merely living branches, but branches laden with fruit, the fruit of sanctity destined to bring joy to the heart of God, for Jesus has said: 'In this is my Father glorified, that you bring forth much fruit.' (Jn. 15:8)"