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Jesus tells his disciples, that is, all of us, that He is the Vine and we are the
branches. Once again He uses something familiar to His audience to explain a deeper truth.
If you ever have an opportunity to visit a vineyard, this will make more sense to you.
In the winter, the vines are completely pruned of old, dead, useless branches. That way, the main plant is able to survive because it retains its life essence and can remain alive. If the vine grower does not prune them, they will wither and die. In the same way, Jesus says that the Lord prunes the vines, even the fruitful ones, to increase their productivity.
The way to be a fruitful Christian is to remain close to Jesus. We do this by:

1. Going to Mass. The Bishop will likely lift the dispensation about Mass attendance soon. It is great to see the Masses filled again, but we need to get off the sofa and back to church. For those who can’t, we will continue to live stream.
2. Prayer: the “Energy Drink” of the Christian. No matter how you pray, keep on praying.
3. Reading God’s Word. A good place to start, or continue, is with the daily Mass readings. They can be found on the
   USCCB website, along with videos to open up the Word, or in devotional booklets.
   Finally, there are no “lone wolf” Christians. If we are not joined to the Vine with other believers, we will be cast out and burnt up as so much dead wood.
   Our life is found in Jesus in the company of believers as together we strive to be fruitful. To be fruitful is to be alive and healthy, constantly being pruned by the Master. Fr. Tony