6 May 2026 (Wednesday) | Wednesday of the 5th week of Eastertide | Easter Weekday | Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

6 May 2026 (Wednesday)

Wednesday of the 5th week of Eastertide.

Easter Weekday.
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter.

First Reading: Acts 15: 1-6
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5 ℟. 1 or: ℟. Alleluia.
Gospel acclamation: Alleluia: John 15: 4a, 5b
Gospel: John 15: 1-8
Liturgical year 2026 (Cycle A/II)
Liturgical color: White or Gold.

The Word of the day is a daily podcast featuring the readings in the Vatican liturgical calendar accompanied by a commentary from one of the Popes of recent times.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading : Acts 15:1‐6

(Reader) A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

Some men came down from Judaea and taught the brothers, ‘Unless you have yourselves circumcised in the tradition of Moses you cannot be saved.’ This led to disagreement, and after Paul and Barnabas had had a long argument with these men it was arranged that Paul and Barnabas and others of the church should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the problem with the apostles and elders.
  All the members of the church saw them off, and as they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria they told how the pagans had been converted, and this news was received with the greatest satisfaction by the brothers. When they arrived in Jerusalem they were welcomed by the church and by the apostles and elders, and gave an account of all that God had done with them.
  But certain members of the Pharisees’ party who had become believers objected, insisting that the pagans should be circumcised and instructed to keep the Law of Moses. The apostles and elders met to look into the matter.

(Reader) The Word of the Lord.
(All) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5 ℟. 1 or: ℟. Alleluia.

I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
or
Alleluia!
I rejoiced when I heard them say:
  ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
And now our feet are standing
  within your gates, O Jerusalem.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
or
Alleluia!
Jerusalem is built as a city
  strongly compact.
It is there that the tribes go up,
  the tribes of the Lord.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
or
Alleluia!
For Israel’s law it is,
  there to praise the Lord’s name.
There were set the thrones of judgement
  of the house of David.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
or
Alleluia!

Gospel acclamation: Alleluia: John 15: 4a, 5b
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
4a, 5b Remain in me as I remain in you, says the Lord. Whoever remains in me will bear much fruit.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
(1. I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2. Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes to make it bear even more.3. You are clean already, by means of the word that I have spoken to you. 4. Remain in me, as I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself, unless it remains part of the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 5. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing. 6. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a branch -- and withers; these branches are collected and thrown on the fire and are burnt. 7. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for whatever you please and you will get it.)

Gospel : John 15:1‐8

(Reader) A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.
(All) Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I am the true vine,
and my Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in me that bears no fruit
he cuts away,
and every branch that does bear fruit
he prunes to make it bear even more.
You are pruned already,
by means of the word that I have spoken to you.
Make your home in me, as I make mine in you.
As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself,
but must remain part of the vine,
neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine,
you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me, with me in him,
bears fruit in plenty;
for cut off from me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me
is like a branch that has been thrown away – he withers;
these branches are collected and thrown on the fire,
and they are burnt.
If you remain in me
and my words remain in you,
you may ask what you will
and you shall get it.
It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit,
and then you will be my disciples.’

(Reader) The Gospel of the Lord.
(All) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

For our reflection today:

The words of the Popes.

Today the Gospel offers us the moment in which Jesus introduces himself as the true vine and invites us to abide in him so as to bear much fruit (cf. Jn 15:1-8). The vine is a plant whose branches form the whole; and the branches are only fruitful insofar as they are joined with the vine. This relationship is the secret of Christian life and John the Evangelist expresses this with the word ‘abide’, which is repeated seven times in today’s passage. “Abide in me”, says the Lord; abide in the Lord. It means abiding in the Lord in order to find the courage to step outside of ourselves, from our comfort zone, from our limited and protected spaces, in order to cast ourselves into the open sea of the needs of others and to give a wide range to our Christian witness in the world. This courage to step outside ourselves and to advance the needs of others is born from faith in the Risen Lord and from the certainty that his Spirit accompanies our history. One of the ripest fruits that springs from communion with Christ is, in fact, the commitment to charity for our neighbour, loving brothers and sisters with self-sacrifice, to the point of the final consequences, as Jesus loved us. (Pope Francis, Regina Caeli, 29 April 2018)

MORNING MASS IN THE CHAPEL OF THEDOMUS SANCTAE MARTHAE
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
"The mutual remaining between the vine and the branches"
Wednesday, 13 May 2020

Introduction

We pray today for students, the boys and girls who study, and for their teachers who need to find new ways to continue educating. May the Lord help them on this path and grant them courage and success.

Homily

The Lord returns to “remain in Him”, and He tells us: “the Christian life is to remain in me”. Remain. And here He uses the image of the vine, like the branches remain on a vine (see Jn 15:1-8). And this remaining is not a passive remaining, a falling asleep in the Lord. This might be a “beatific slumber”, but that’s not what it is. This remain is an active remaining, and it is also a mutual remaining. Why? Because He says: You remain in me and I in you” (v. 4). He also remains in us, it is not only we in Him. It is a mutual remaining. In another part He says: I and the Father “we will come to him and we will make our home in him” (Jn 14:23). This is a mystery, but it is a mystery of life, a beautiful mystery. This mutual remaining. Even with this example of the vine: it is true, the branches without the vine cannot do anything because the sap would not get to them. They need the sap to grow and bear fruit; but even the tree, the vine needs the branches because the fruit is not attached to the tree, to the vine. There is a mutual need, a mutual remaining in order to bear fruit.

And this is the Christian life. It is true, the Christian life consists in fulfilling the commandments (see Ex 20:1- 11), this must be done. The Christian life means following the path of the beatitudes (see Mt 5:1-13), this must be done. The Christian life is performing the works of mercy, as the Lord taught us in the Gospel (see Mt 25:35-36), this must be done . But even more, it is this mutual remaining. Without Jesus we can do nothing, like the branches without the vine. And He – may the Lord permit me to say so – without us it seems that He can do nothing, because the branches bear the fruit, not the tree, the vine. In this community, in this intimacy of “remaining”, which bears fruit, the Father and Jesus remain me and I remain in Them.

What comes to my mind to say is: what does the vine “need” from the branches? It is to have fruit. What is the “need”, let’s say it that way, a bit daringly, what does Jesus “need” from us? Witness. When the Gospel says that we are the light, it says: “your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (Mt 5:16). That is, it is witness that Jesus needs from us. To bear witness to His name because the faith, the Gospel grow because of witness. This is a mysterious way: Jesus, even though He is glorified in heaven, after having lived through the Passion, needs our witness for growth, for proclamation, so that the Church might grow. And this is the mutual mystery of this “remaining”. He, the Father and the Spirit remain in us, and we remain in Jesus.

It is good for us to think, to reflect on this: to remain in Jesus, and Jesus remains in us. To remain in Jesus, to have the sap, the strength, to have justification, the gracious gift, to be fruitful. And He remains in us to give us the power to [bear] fruit (see Jn 5:15), to give us the strength to bear witness by which the Church grows.

And a question I ask myself: What is the relationship between Jesus who remains in me and I who remain in Him? It is a relationship of intimacy, a mystical relationship, a relationship without words. “But Father, but this is what mystics do!” No, this is for everyone one of us! Through small thoughts: “Lord, I know that You are here [in me]: grant me the strength and I will do what You will tell me”. That intimate dialogue with the Lord. The Lord is present, the Lord is present in us, the Father is present in us, the Spirit is present in us, They remain and us. But I must remain in Them…

May the Lord help us to understand, to experience this mysticism of remaining on which Jesus insisted so, so, so much. Many times, when we speak of the vine and the branches, we stop at the image, the work of the vine grower, of the Father: who prunes the one [the branch] that bears fruit, and who cuts and throws out the one that does not (see Jn 15:1-2). It is true, He does this, but that is not everything, no. There is something else. And this is the help: the trials, the difficulties of life, even the corrections that the Lord gives us. But we should not stop here. Between the vine and the branches there is this intimate remaining. We the branches need the sap, and the vine needs the fruit of our witness.

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Pelayan Atasan Tertinggi / Most High Servant,
Yesus, Maria, Yusuf Pelayanan Kasih / Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love 
(Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)

My vocation is Blessed and Saints.

"I am the most humble of all the Saints in Heaven" Mary, Mother of God."

"I am the handmaid of the Lord, said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me."

Mother Mary is the most humble Saint in Heaven and she is also the Mother of God for us all
(Luke 1:38)