Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Staying Connected to Christ

In today’s readings, we hear both a teaching from Jesus and a real struggle in the early Church. In the Gospel, John 15:1-8, Jesus says, “I am the vine… you are the branches.” A branch does not have life in itself. It does not produce fruit by effort or by doing more. It simply stays connected. And if it stays connected, life flows—and fruit comes. In the first reading, Acts 15:1-6, the Church is facing an argument. Some were saying that faith in Christ was not enough, that additional requirements had to be followed in order to be saved. Beneath that debate is a deeper question: where does life really come from? Does it come from what we do, or from staying connected to Him?

Jesus answers that clearly. “Remain in me.” The Christian life is not first about adding more or getting everything exactly right. It begins with a relationship. It begins with remaining in Him. It is easy, even in a faithful life, to begin relying mostly on ourselves—trying to manage everything, figure everything out, and keep everything in place. But when that happens, something begins to feel unsettled or a little off. Jesus brings us back to something much simpler: stay with Him. Not just at the beginning of the day, but throughout it—in the difficult moments, in the unclear moments, even when prayer feels quiet.

“Without me you can do nothing,” Jesus says—not to discourage us, but to remind us where life comes from. The early Church had to learn that as well: not to place burdens where they do not belong, but to remain rooted in Christ and let everything flow from Him. When we stay connected to Him, His life begins to take shape within us, and real fruit appears in steady, ordinary ways.

As we come forward to receive Him in the Eucharist, we do so not just for a moment, but to remain in Him. And we ask for the grace that this communion does not stay here, but continues with us throughout the rest of the day.