For we Catholics, Easter is not a one-day event but a 50-day season of celebration! Death has been defeated by the God who went down into the muck of sin and despair and arose victoriously! 

When plucked from a vine, a fruit or vegetable will live for a short while before starting to decay. As it is with us. We can live for a short while on the fumes of God's grace when we neglect or turn away from him, but in short order we begin to falter and wither under our own strength.  

Perhaps someone we know and love has cut themselves off from God and the Church. Have we cut them off as well?  Have we doubted the power of God's grace to intervene in their lives?  The early disciples doubted and feared Saul (who became Paul) after his conversion, for he had been persecuting them and hunting them down. But they saw how the power of Christ had transformed Saul and he became one of the greatest evangelizers of the entire Gospel. 

Jesus asks that we remain close to him, for without him we can do nothing and our earthly efforts will surely fail.  "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower" (John 15).