Christ is the vine, we are the branches… if you look at a vine, you see that it is practically all branches – Jesus is wanting to give us a picture of the deep union he wants to have with us… the Church at all levels expresses the life of Jesus, living in our hearts, and expressing itself in the love that we share for one another. In Jesus, God has taken up a permanent residence in the hearts of the faithful. Jesus invites us to make our home in him. We live that invitation out through our prayer, especially when we share in the Eucharist – we are truly in communion with Him. And we live out the relationship, as the first reading reminds us, in the way we show our practical care and concern for others.