John 15:1-8

Acts 9:26-31

Psalm 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32

1 John 3:18-24

John 15:1-8

Jesus said to his disciples:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.

He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,

and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.

You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.

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.

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.

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.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you,

ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.

By this is my Father glorified,

that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you invite me to share in your heavenly glory. You have willed that I be united to your Son and bear fruit for your Kingdom. Never let me be parted from you and your love. But if I fail, call me to repentance and restore me to divine sonship in your Son.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Jesus the True Vine: Although Jesus does not speak in parables in the Gospel of John, he does use powerful and profound images to convey deep spiritual truths. Today’s image is that of a vine. The Father is the vine grower who cares for and prunes the vine, which is Christ. We are the branches and can only bear fruit if we are united to the vine. On the one hand, the image speaks to us about the reality of grace and how we need to cooperate with grace. We cannot bear any fruit or do any meritorious good works if we are not united to Christ and have the grace of the Holy Spirit coursing through our body and soul. On the other hand, the reality of being united to Christ the Vine means sharing in his suffering. This is symbolized by pruning. God will cut away our stubbornness and hardheartedness. Suffering, trials, and tribulations will purify our love and enable us to bear good fruit for the kingdom of God. Christian discipleship is not an easy comfortable life, but it is a glorious life that passes through loving sacrifice and redemptive suffering.

2. Saul in Jerusalem: The First Reading tells us that the Apostles and disciples in Jerusalem were hesitant to welcome the new convert, Saul, into their community. Saul was the one who consented to the stoning of the deacon, Stephen, and had been rounding up and persecuting the followers of Jesus. Perhaps they thought that Saul was just faking his conversion and this was a plot to infiltrate their group and round them up to be killed. This is why Barnabas took charge and was instrumental in introducing Saul to the Apostles. Barnabas told them about Saul’s experience with the risen Jesus on the way to Damascus and how he boldly proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah in the synagogues of Damascus. Saul wanted to spend some time with the Apostles in Jerusalem. The Letter to the Galatians tells us he spent around two weeks with Peter and James (Galatians 1:18). But Saul wasn’t able to stay in Jerusalem for very long. Just as he was forced to flee Damascus because people wanted to kill him, so also in Jerusalem his debate with the Greek-speakers (the Hellenists) incited people to plot to kill him. Saul went from being the persecutor to the persecuted very quickly. The Christians in Jerusalem saved Saul by taking him to the seaport of Caesarea and putting him on a ship to his hometown of Tarsus in southern Asia Minor. Saul would remain there until Barnabas found him and brought him to minister to the Christian community in Antioch. Saul and Barnabas would stay in Antioch for an entire year, teaching and preaching the Gospel of God and proclaiming Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah and fulfillment of the Scriptures.

3. The Power of God’s Love: In the Second Reading, the First of John reaffirms that our love needs to become action. Once again, this speaks about the power of divine grace and charity. On our own, we can do little or nothing. But with God and his Son, Jesus Christ, we can bear fruit that lasts. God’s love gives us filial confidence and emboldens us to be witnesses to all that God has done for humanity. When we heed God’s commandments and act as children of God, we please God the Father. Faith and love are inseparable in the Christian life. “We abide in God through faith and love; God abides in us through the Holy Spirit, who graciously imparts divine power and life to us. When we keep the commandments from the heart by the power of God, we strengthen our relationship with God; we ‘remain’ in his grace and in a life-giving relationship with him. Faithful obedience cultivates our fellowship with the Trinity” (Anderson and Keating, James, First, Second, and Third John, p. 198).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the true Vine. There is no other. I can only bear fruit united to you. Help me to see how fruitless my efforts are on my own and how abundant and effective they are when I work with you and listen to your Holy Spirit.

Living the Word of God: When I think of the Christian life, what immediately comes to mind? Do I see it as union with Christ and fruitful discipleship? What kinds of fruit am I bearing united to Christ and empowered with his grace? Is the Father, the Vinedresser, pleased with this fruit?