The Vine and the Branches - Jesus the True Vine - John 15

The Vine and the Branches 
Jesus the True Vine
John 15:1-10 
"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 everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit...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 and 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 uses the image of the vine and the branches to describe how "he and those united to him form the new Israel of God, the Church, whose head is Christ.  To bear fruit, people must be joined to the true, new Vine, Christ.  It is not a matter of simply belonging to a community but of living the life of Christ, the life of grace, which is the sap that gives life to believers and enables them to bear fruit of eternal life." (Commentary on today's Gospel from The Navarre Bible New Testament, p 424-425) 

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Photo of vineyard - L. A. Momboisse (Fairfield Years)