Midweek Message: Vines and branches
The following is from Wednesday services at Three Crowns Park—A Covenant Living Community, Evanston, Illinois presided by Eld. Gerald Farinas.
Vines in front of a home outside of Wrigley Field. Photo: Gerald Farinas.
Today’s Gospel of John 15:1-8 gives us one of the most beautiful images Jesus ever shared with His disciples: “I am the vine, and you are the branches.”
It’s simple, and yet it tells us so much about what it means to follow Him.
Jesus is saying that we are not meant to live our faith alone. We are part of something bigger.
Just like branches need to stay connected to the vine to stay alive and bear fruit, we need to stay connected to Him.
That connection—our prayer life, the Sacraments, our love for one another—is what feeds our souls.
If a branch breaks off, it dries up. It can’t grow grapes anymore.
Jesus doesn’t say that to scare us. He says it because He loves us and wants us to stay close to Him so that our lives can be full—full of meaning, full of love, full of fruit that helps others.
This week, the Catholic Church begins a new chapter with the Pope Leo XIV—a bishop of Rome from our very own city of Chicago.
That’s something to give thanks for!
It reminds us that the Holy Spirit is always working—sometimes in places we might not expect.
Pope Leo knows our streets, our neighborhoods, our struggles. He knows what it means to live in a place where cultures, languages, and ideas mix every day.
And now, he brings that lived experience to the whole Catholic Church.
But even he, with all the attention and responsibility he now carries, must stay connected to the Vine.
Just like us in all our different Christian traditions.
As branches, we all have a job to do.
The pope’s role is huge—teaching, leading, shepherding the Church—but your role matters too.
Every time you show kindness, forgive someone, speak up for what’s right, feed the hungry, pray for peace—you are bearing fruit. And that brings glory to God.
So let’s pray for Pope Leo XIV. Let’s ask God to help him stay rooted in Jesus.
And let’s also ask God to help us remain in the Vine—to never forget that our faith is alive only when it flows from Jesus, through us, and into the world.
May we always stay connected to Christ.
And may we, like good branches, bear much fruit.
Amen.
