Church of the
Annunciation

Have you noticed that in the Gospels, Jesus uses very familiar imagery to bring a point home. Last week Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd.” This week Jesus tells His disciples, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.” Unlike the shepherd imagery, we can probably relate more to vineyards since we are in the midst of wine country and vineyards are quite visible as we travel toward Silver Creek and through Chautaqua County.

In both Gospels Jesus reminds us of the intimacy He seeks with each of us. He knows His sheep and He calls us each by name. A vine grower is committed and dedicated to the tender care of the vineyard.

Through the imagery and words of these past two weeks we can certainly understand how Jesus deeply cares for us and seeks a very personal relationship with each of us.

Jesus, the vine, draws life and energy from God. Just as the branches cannot survive, grow and produce leaves and grapes, neither can we grow, develop and mature as disci- ples unless we are connected to Jesus. As Jesus draws His life from God, so we in turn draw our life from Him. We cannot grow in our daily and spiritual life without being closely linked and connected to Jesus. Jesus says to each of us; “Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it is connected to the vine, neither can you unless you live in me...because apart from me you can do noth- ing.”

However, there is a consequence of us being connected to Jesus as the branches are connected to the vine; it im- plies that we are connected to each other as well. We are called by Jesus to be concerned about each other: in our homes and families, in our places of work, our neighbor- hoods and within our Family of Parishes. We are not alone. We cannot isolate ourselves from others.

Through the Eucharist may we remain close to Jesus the vine. Nourished by the Eucharist may we also reach out and provide support for others. In turn, may we draw life from our friends, family and parish community.

Family Update

I am happy to share with you that a skeleton website for the family has been published. The site currently contains contact information, mass and confession schedules, and a link to each parish’s web site.

The website’s address is: www.wheatss.org

Please check back with the site as new content is added to it.