In today’s gospel, Jesus uses olive branches and grape vines to show how we are to live our lives on this earth. Jesus says to us, “I am the vine you are the branches.” God the Father is the owner of the orchard and His goal is to get the most fruit from the orchard. We are expected to obey the Ten Commandments given to us and we are expected to love others as much as we are loved by God. Jesus came down from heaven to teach us how to live our lives. In all His lessons, LOVE is right up there at the top of the list.

God the Father tends to His orchard by seeing how much fruit the vine or tree is producing. Jesus says the Father takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit and tosses it into the fire. Those branches that produce He prunes them so they will bear even more fruit. A branch by itself cannot bear fruit unless it remains on the vine. Jesus says You Need Me. Whoever remains in Me and I in Him will bear much fruit. Without Me you can do nothing. I am the vine you are the branches. In the Bible, Luke 8:18 says “To those who have, more will be given to them, those who have little will lose what they have.”

Pruning is also necessary in our spiritual lives. The Father removes sins and things that limit our fruitfulness. One of the best ways to cleanse us is to allow suffering and problems to come into our lives. God the Father uses the pruning knife on us and sometimes it hurts and we wonder if He knows what He is doing. God knows what He is doing. We can be assured that He cares about us and wants to keep us spiritually healthy. Maybe Covid 19 is supposed to make us more aware that some people on earth are suffering terribly every day. Let us not forget that Jesus suffered a terrible death on the Cross that we might live in heaven with Him some day. We need to turn to God in Prayer.

Thanks be to God
Lloyd Lapierre