A reading from the Letter to the Galatians
2:19-20
Brothers and sisters:
Through the law I died to the law,
that I might live for God.
I have been crucified with Christ;
yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me;
insofar as I now live in the flesh,
I live by faith in the Son of God
who has loved me and given himself up for me.
From the Gospel according to 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."
The branches are joined to the vine and draw nourishment from it, so that the ‘fruit’ may sprout and grow. In the same way, the disciples are united to the Lord and, thanks to this existential union, can act spiritually and bear fruit: “As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (Jn 15:4). The branches have no life of their own: they live only if they remain united to the vine that brought them into being. Their life is one and the same as that of the vine. A single sap flows between the vine and the branches; the vine and the branches bear the same fruit. There is therefore an unbreakable bond between them, which aptly symbolises that which exists between Jesus and His disciples: “Abide in me, and I in you” (Jn 15:4). If the branches all share the same sap with the vine, they are also bound to one another by mutual communion. From this communion of life springs the need for communion in love: “Love one another, as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12). A strong love, which knows no limitations or boundaries, and which Jesus links to His own painful death to redeem His ‘friends’, the disciples who believed in Him: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). (John Paul II, General Audience, 25 January 1995)
Gospel and Word of the Day – 23 July 2026 –
A reading from the Letter to the Galatians
2:19-20
Brothers and sisters:
Through the law I died to the law,
that I might live for God.
I have been crucified with Christ;
yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me;
insofar as I now live in the flesh,
I live by faith in the Son of God
who has loved me and given himself up for me.
From the Gospel according to 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."
The branches are joined to the vine and draw nourishment from it, so that the ‘fruit’ may sprout and grow. In the same way, the disciples are united to the Lord and, thanks to this existential union, can act spiritually and bear fruit: “As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (Jn 15:4). The branches have no life of their own: they live only if they remain united to the vine that brought them into being. Their life is one and the same as that of the vine. A single sap flows between the vine and the branches; the vine and the branches bear the same fruit. There is therefore an unbreakable bond between them, which aptly symbolises that which exists between Jesus and His disciples: “Abide in me, and I in you” (Jn 15:4). If the branches all share the same sap with the vine, they are also bound to one another by mutual communion. From this communion of life springs the need for communion in love: “Love one another, as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12). A strong love, which knows no limitations or boundaries, and which Jesus links to His own painful death to redeem His ‘friends’, the disciples who believed in Him: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). (John Paul II, General Audience, 25 January 1995)
A reading from the Letter to the Galatians
2:19-20
Brothers and sisters:
Through the law I died to the law,
that I might live for God.
I have been crucified with Christ;
yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me;
insofar as I now live in the flesh,
I live by faith in the Son of God
who has loved me and given himself up for me.
From the Gospel according to 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."
The branches are joined to the vine and draw nourishment from it, so that the ‘fruit’ may sprout and grow. In the same way, the disciples are united to the Lord and, thanks to this existential union, can act spiritually and bear fruit: “As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (Jn 15:4). The branches have no life of their own: they live only if they remain united to the vine that brought them into being. Their life is one and the same as that of the vine. A single sap flows between the vine and the branches; the vine and the branches bear the same fruit. There is therefore an unbreakable bond between them, which aptly symbolises that which exists between Jesus and His disciples: “Abide in me, and I in you” (Jn 15:4). If the branches all share the same sap with the vine, they are also bound to one another by mutual communion. From this communion of life springs the need for communion in love: “Love one another, as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12). A strong love, which knows no limitations or boundaries, and which Jesus links to His own painful death to redeem His ‘friends’, the disciples who believed in Him: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). (John Paul II, General Audience, 25 January 1995)