Jesus uses this imaginery of vines and bearing fruit to show how we relate to Him. There can be no fruit if we do not remain with Him, the true vine, and allow ourselves to be pruned by God, to help us bear more fruit. The key line from todays Gospel is “cut off from Me you can do nothing.†Jesus is teaching that it is only God’s initiative of grace that can save us. God is the source of all life and salvation, and, as the secong reading says, we are called to respond to that grace, to “believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and… love one another as He told us to.†Jesus calls us to allow ourselves to be “pruned†by God. So how do we let ourselves be pruned? Jesus has given the sacraments precisely to help us flourish and bear fruit. He “irrigates†us and helps us begin to grow with the sacrament of baptism. He nourishes us with His own Body and Blood in the Eucharist. He builds up the Church through the sacraments of confirmation, marriage, and holy orders. We are “pruned†by the sacraments of penance and anointing.