The Easter Season gives us an opportunity to focus more deeply on our relationship with Jesus Christ. Through the gospels we hear about Jesus in a number of ways. In one gospel we learn of Jesus appearing to the disciples showing them the wounds in his hands and feet. On another Sunday we hear of Jesus walking with two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus. They only recognize him in the breaking of bread. In the gospel of John, Jesus is portrayed as the Good Shepherd. For the Fifth Sunday of Easter, again from John, we hear of Jesus as the vine and God as the vine grower. There are so many ways to relate to Jesus and all of them are important. If we want to deepen this relationship we might need some pruning in our lives.

To deepen our relationship we need to remove from our lives those habits that interfere with being more closely attached to Jesus who is the vine while God is the vine grower. Having a small vineyard on our property, we know that it is necessary to trim the branches that are not growing and producing fruit. It is also necessary to prune the other branches so that they can draw more life from the vine. If we see the vine as Jesus, the more we deepen our relationship with him the more we will be able to bear fruit.

Thus the original question, “Do you need pruning in your life?” It is certain that we all need to be pruned. To deepen our relationship we might want to examine our prayer life. Do we take time to meditate on the Scriptures? Do we enter into the presence of the community of believers as we participate in the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist?” Do we learn what Jesus wants of us as we go about our daily lives? To be fruitful, we need to love as Jesus did accepting all people, even if they believe differently than we do. We need to help others understand the great love God has for us. We need to be people of justice seeking out what is necessary for the common good. Relying only on our own selfish needs without being pruned will lead us away from the vine, who is Jesus, and result in a lack of fruitfulness as his disciples.

-Helen Ackermann