Let us sing the wonders of God united with Jesus, the Vine from which we receive the sap of the Spirit that nourishes our Christian life. L

 

for he has done wonders! In the eyes of the nations he revealed his righteousness,

Let us sing the wonders of God united with Jesus, the Vine from which we receive the sap of the Spirit that nourishes our Christian life. Living in Christ, we become healthy branches capable of producing good fruit. Participation encourages us to keep the commandments, so that God remains in us and we in him, glorifying him with our actions. First Reading: Acts 9:26-31 The Word of God invites us to witness faith in the Resurrected One and experience fraternal love, united to Christ like branches to the vine. Reading from the Acts of the Apostles – In those days, 26Saul arrived in Jerusalem and sought to join the disciples. But everyone was afraid of him, because they didn't believe he was a disciple. 27Then Barnabas took Saul with him, brought him to the apostles, and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road, how the Lord had spoken to him, and how Saul had preached in the name of Jesus publicly in the city of Damascus. 28From then on, Saul remained with them in Jerusalem and preached firmly in the name of the Lord. 29He also spoke and argued with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30When the brothers heard about this, they took Saul to Caesarea and then sent him to Tarsus. 31But the Church lived in peace throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria. It consolidated and progressed in the fear of the Lord and increased in number with the help of the Holy Spirit. - Word of the Lord. Responsorial Psalm: 21(22) Lord, you are my praise in the midst of the great assembly! 1. You are my praise in the midst of the great assembly; / I fulfill my vows before those who fear you! / Your poor will eat and be satisfied, † and those who seek the Lord will praise him. / “May your hearts have life forever!” – R. 2. Let the ends of the whole earth remember this, / so that they may return to the Lord and be converted, / and fall down, worshiping, before him / all the peoples and families of the nations. / Only the mighty will worship him, / and those who return to the dust will praise him. – R. 3. My soul will live for him, / all my descendants will serve him; / to future generations he will announce / the power and justice of the Lord; / to the new people who are to come, she will say: / “This is the work that the Lord has done!” – R. Second Reading: 1 John 3,18-24 Reading of the first letter of Saint John – 18Little children, let us not only love with words and mouth, but with actions and in truth! 19This is the criterion for knowing that we belong to the truth and for resting our hearts before Him, 20for if our hearts accuse us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. 21Dear friends, if our hearts do not accuse us, we have confidence before God. 22And whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23This is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, according to the commandment he gave us. 24Whoever keeps his commandments remains with God, and God remains with him. That he remains with us, we know by the Spirit he gave us. - Word of the Lord. Gospel: John 15:1-8 Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Abide in me, and I will abide in you, says the Lord; / whoever remains in me bears much fruit (John 15:4s). – R. Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to John – At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 2Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he cuts off; and every branch that bears fruit he prunes, that it may bear even more fruit. 3You are now clean because of the word that I spoke to you. 4Abide in me, and I will abide in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine, and you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; because without me you can do nothing. 6Whoever does not abide in me will be thrown away like a branch and will wither. Such branches are collected, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be given to you. 8In this my Father is glorified: that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” – Word of salvation. Reflection: The discourse in John chapter 15 begins with the image of the vine and the branches. Jesus is the vine, the disciples are the branches, and the Father is the farmer. There is a verb that dominates this text from beginning to end: remain. The branches do not have an autonomous life and, disconnected from the trunk, they dry up and produce nothing. This is how Jesus compares the life of the Christian community: “I am the vine and you are the branches”. The authentic Christian is united to Christ, source of sap and life. The reason for union with Jesus is to produce fruits of the Kingdom of God. Anyone who does not produce the fruits of love, justice and solidarity does not deserve the name Christian. In this the “Father is glorified”....