Tag: vine

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter

From the Gospel acclamation: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 15:18-21)

Jesus said to his disciples: “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.”

Today’s Gospel conveys Jesus’ warning to his disciples about the coming persecution they will face because of his name. Because the world rejects Jesus, it will reject the disciples. Because the disciples do not belong to the world since Jesus has chosen them out of the world for his kingdom, the world that would otherwise love them because they belong to it hates them. “And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,” Jesus tells them, “because they do not know the one who sent me.” Unaware or unbelieving of God the Father, the world rejects Jesus and his message and a true understanding of God. Have I—or, rather, how often do I—go with the world and choose it over the Kingdom of God?

God, free me from the lure of deceptions the world offers and help me trust in your kindness and faithfulness. Jesus says that the world will hate me and persecute me on account of his name. In your mercy, Lord, grant me the courage needed to face the hatred of the world when I speak your name or do anything in your name. Free from the world and its ignorance, help me know you, Father, as the one who sent your only-begotten Son “so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” Choose me out of the world, Lord, to remain in your word for the sake of your glory.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles

From the responsorial psalm: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day pours out the word to day; and night to night imparts knowledge.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 14:6-14)

Jesus said to the disciples: “How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.”

As he speaks to Thomas and Philip, Jesus teaches the disciples and anyone who hears him that a relationship with the Father begins with belief in him or belief in the works themselves. Firmly established, that belief allows us to do works greater than the works of Jesus. What does Jesus mean by that? How is that even possible? Jesus tells the disciples, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” Just as Jesus moves and lives and has his being in the Father—is consubstantial with him—so Jesus dwells in us through Baptism, through his word, and in the sacraments of the Church. We don’t do anything on our own but through the gifts that spring from the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Believe in Jesus, asking anything in his name; he will make it possible so that the Father may be glorified.

God, even as I consider your unlimited power to work all things for the good, I put to work your gift of reason to understand how it is I could do the works of your Son, and as he says, “greater ones than these.” I don’t question whether that is possible, but I question my own limitations. I believe; help my unbelief. Meet me where I am today, Lord, and give me the opportunity to strengthen my faith by asking for what is needed in the name of Jesus. Saints Philip and James, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Memorial of Saint Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

From the Gospel acclamation: “My sheep know my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 15:9-11)

Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. “I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.”

Jesus continues to speak to the disciples in the imagery of the vine and the branches. Just as he is one with the vine grower, the Father, Jesus invites the disciples to keep his commandments and remain in his love. Keeping Jesus’ commandments is not only the means of remaining in union with him but is also the way to joy in this life and the completion of joy in eternal life in the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In speaking to each of the disciples, Jesus also speaks to everyone who would hear him.

God, help me hear your voice today as I strive to keep your Son’s commandments. If I imagine that the day I have planned is all that there is, how pitiful would that be? With the gift of understanding, let me see that the rise and fall of my many plans is not a cause for celebration or despair but the constant invitation to return to you and remain in your love so that my joy in you might be complete. Give me the grace to recognize your hand in the events of the day and in your work through me as I remain in you. Saint Athanasius, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“Because without me you can do nothing.” | Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

From the Gospel acclamation: “Remain in me, as I remain in you, says the Lord; whoever remains in me will bear much fruit.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 15:4a, 5b)

Jesus said to his disciples: “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.”

In the middle of this passage, which we just heard in Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus says something astounding. Although we may have encountered these words countless times in prayer and verified through life experiences, the truth of it remains: without God we can do nothing, as withered as a dead branch only good to be thrown into a fire and burned. This is the result of not being connected to the source of life. Just as a branch that is disconnected from the vine withers and becomes worthless, failing to remain in Jesus means loss of spiritual vitality and his life-giving relationship.  Jesus invites all of us to remain connected to him, know his love, and produce the good spiritual fruit of faith, love, and a holy life.

God, help me wholeheartedly accept Jesus’ invitation to remain in him. It is my choice, and you respect my free will; yet, without you, I can do nothing. Let me choose to abide in Jesus’ love and experience the spiritual vitality that comes from being connected to him. Without a firm connection to you Lord, how can I hope to know through faith your gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, and other spiritual fruits? Remain in me, Lord, so I can remain in you and bring to others your love and mercy.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

From the Gospel acclamation: “Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead, and so enter into his glory.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 14:27-31a)

Jesus said to his disciples: “You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe. I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.”

In doing as his Father commanded, Jesus relates the joy of obedience to him and by example prepares the disciples for his ascension, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the second coming. “I am going away and I will come back to you.” Through obedience, Jesus makes clear that he loves the Father by doing what he commanded. So with joy and love, he begins by saying to the disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” Before returning to the Father, Jesus destroys the power of sin and death through his passion, death, and resurrection. His obedience brings victory over the grave, revealing the fulness of God’s love and mercy.

Father in heaven, Jesus your Son is the face of your love and mercy. Grant me the grace today to remain in your love by loving even when it feels as if love is unmerited or undeserved. In the Our Father, I express what ought to come to mind when I am challenged to love: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” In his own words, Jesus did “just as the Father has commanded me.” Help me prevail today in expressing love for you by doing what you command and serving others, understanding as the early disciples did that the demands can be great: As they said: “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena

From the responsorial psalm: “Our God is in heaven; whatever he wills, he does. Their idols are silver and gold, the handiwork of men. Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 14:21-26)

Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him, “Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.”

As Jesus speaks to the disciples, Judas questions in what particular way Jesus will reveal himself and the Father to the world. Obedience to Jesus’ commandments demonstrates love for him as it reveals love of the Father and the Son in action. The Holy Spirit would come as Jesus promised so that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwell within. Guiding their understanding of Jesus’ teachings and bringing them to recall all that he has taught them, the coming of the Holy Spirit is a promise fulfilled that ensures that the disciples—and all who believe—will have divine assistance in understanding the truths Jesus has shared with them and the grace to put them into action.

God, help me understand what Jesus was telling the disciples. What he said would happen did happen: the Holy Spirit came to give them greater understanding and strengthen their faith. Jesus spoke the words of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, expressing the will of the Trinity: As Jesus said, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” Lord, just as you sent the Holy Spirit to the disciples, help me also prepare a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit through obedience to the teachings of your Son, to the Church, and in union with the Eucharistic celebration throughout the world. Saint Catherine of Siena, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.” | Fifth Sunday of Easter

From the responsorial psalm: “To him alone shall bow down all who sleep in the earth; before him shall bend all who go down into the dust. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 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.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks his disciples and all who hear his word to remain in him. The word remain appears eight times in the passage and twice in the First Letter of John. It is vital—literally life-giving—to remain in Christ, the vine. Remaining in him bears spiritual fruit all along the branch—in this life now and as the means of obtaining eternal life. “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.” Jesus repeats what he said in yesterday’s Gospel about the glorification of the Father: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.” In remaining in Christ, we keep his commandments. And his commandment is this, John tells us: “we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us.”

God, how is it that we have free will, yet Jesus commands us to love one another? John says, “Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.” So how do I reconcile those two—free will and the command to love? When it is difficult to love another, help me recognize the futility of struggling outside of the truth so that I can quickly get back to knowing that I belong to the truth, that to you I belong. In vain, I would try any other way—judgment, avoidance, superiority—and I find out all of them are lies. In choosing to return to you, Lord, help me freely remain in your truth and ask you for whatever I need in bearing the fruit that glorifies your name.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Jesus said to his disciples: “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.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples to remain in him. In this short passage, John uses the word remain eight times. In telling the disciples to remain in him and that they can do nothing without him, Jesus is boldly declaring his divinity. Who but God has the authority to say to a person “without me you can do nothing”? The result of remaining in him is this: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.” What is it I can ask God with complete confidence to be done today?

God, show me what it means to remain in you as a branch remains on a vine. It makes me uncomfortable to hear that whatever does not bear fruit in me will be taken away, yet Jesus says that you prune that branch that does bear fruit only so that it bears more. To measure as the human mind conceives is to use numbers and percentages and units, which leads to incompleteness, but your measurements, God, are not my own faulty ones. Please, Lord, let me have less confidence in my way of measuring and more and more confidence in your superabundant grace and its effects in me.

Remain in me, Lord; take away whatever branch that does not remain on the vine. Let your words remain in me.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.