REGINA CAELI TODAY
'Christ is the vine,
we are the branches'
May 6, 2012
In his message before for the Regina Coeli, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the Gospel for today, the Fifth Sunday of Easter. He recalled the words of Christ, who said, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine-grower.”
“On the day of our Baptism,” the Pope said, “The Church grafts us as branches into the Paschal Mystery of Christ, into His own Person.”
In English, he said:
I extend warm greetings to the English-speaking visitors present for today’s Regina Coeli, and especially to the large group of pilgrims from Indonesia. In today’s Gospel Jesus speaks of himself as the true vine and He calls us to be fruit-bearing branches.
I pray that God’s children all over the world will grow in unity and love, sustained and nourished by the divine life that he has planted deep within us. May God bless all of you!
He called upon the faithful to bear in mind that “every one of us is like a vine, which lives only if it is growing every day in prayer, participation in the Sacraments, in charity, in its union with the Lord. And he who loves Jesus, the true vine, produces fruits of faith for an abundant spiritual harvest. Let us beseech the Mother of God that we might remain firmly grafted in Jesus and that all our actions may have their beginning, and their fulfillment, in Him.”
After the Regina Coeli prayer, the Holy Father greeted pilgrims and visitors from around the world. He reminded the faithful of the VII World Meeting of Families, taking place at the beginning of next month.
The Meeting is being sponsored by the Pontifical Council of the Family, headed by Cardinal Ennio Antonelli. The Holy Father thanked the Ambrosian Diocese and other dioceses in Lombardy who are cooperating in the preparation of this ecclesial event, and noted that, “I, too, God willing, will have the joy of participating” in the Meeting.
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's words today at the Regina caeli:
Dear brothers and sisters:
The Gospel today, the fifth Sunday of Easter, opens with the image of the vine. "Jesus said to his disciples: 'I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.' (Jn 15.1)
Often, in the Bible, Israel is compared to the fruitful vine when she is faithful to God, but when she grows away from him, becomes sterile, unable to produce that "wine to gladden their hearts", as Psalm 104 sings (v 15).
The true vineyard of God, the true vine, is Jesus, who with his sacrifice of love gives us salvation, he opens for us the way to be part of this vineyard. And Just as Jesus remains in the love of God the Father, so the disciples, wisely empowered by the word of the Master (cfr Jn 2-4), if they were profoundly united to him, become fruitful branches which produce an abundant harvest.
St. Francis de Sales writes: "The branch that is united and conjoined to the trunk bears fruit not by its own virtue, but by virtue of the stock: we are united by charity to our Redeemer, like limbs to the head - and that is why... good works, tkaing their value from him, merit eternal life" (Trattato dell’amore di Dio, XI, 6, Roma 2011, 601).
On the day of our Baptism, the Church grafts us like branches to the Paschal mystery of Jesus, into his very Person. From this root, we receive the precious lymph to enable us to take part in divine life.
Like the disciples, we too, with the help of the Pastors of the Church, grow in the vineyard of the Lord bound by his love. "If the fruit that we must bear is love, its premise is precisely this 'remaining' which has to do profoundly with that faith that does not abandon the Lord" (GESU DI NAZARET, Milan 2007, p 305).
It is indispensable that we always remain united to Jesus, to depend on him, because without him, we can do nothing (cfr Jn 15,5).
In a letter written to John the Prophet, who lived in the desert of Gaza in the fifth century, a faithful follower asks him the following: How is it possible to hold together the freedom of man and the fact that he can do nothing without God?
And the monk responded: If man inclines his heart towards the good and asks God for help, he will receive the necessary strength to fulfill his own work. And that is why the freedom of man and the power of God proceed together. This is possible because good comes from the Lord, but it is fulfilled thanks to the faithful (cfr Ep. 763, SC 468, Paris 2002, 206).
Truly 'remaining' in Christ guarantees the efficacy of prayer, as the Cistercian Blessed Guerrico d'Igny noted: "Oh Lord Jesus, without you we can do nothing. Indeed you are the true gardener, creator, cultivator and guardian of your garden, who plants with your words, irrigates with your spirit, and makes us grow with your power" (Sermo ad excitandam devotionem in psalmodia, SC 202, 1973, 522).
Dear friends, each of us is like a branch, which lives only if it makes union with the Lord grow daily in prayer, in participation in the Sacraments, in charity.
Whoever loves Jesus, true vine, produces fruits of faith for an abundant spiritual harvest. Let us implore the Mother of God that we may remain firmly grafted to Jesus and that every action of ours can have its beginning and its fulfillment in him.
After the prayers, he said this:
First of all, I wish to remind you that in less than a month, the VII World Encounter of Families will take place in Milan. I thank the Ambrosian diocese and the other Lombard dioceses who are collaborating in preparing for this ecclesial event, promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Family, presided by Cardinal Ennio Antonelli.
I, too, God willing, will have the joy of participating in it, and for this, I will be in Milan from June 1-3.
After his plurilingual greetings to other language groups, he said this to the Italian-speaking faithful:
Finally, I address my heartfelt greeting to Italian-speaking pilgrims, especially the Associazione Meter ['meter' is a Greek word that means 'womb' as well as 'hospitality'], which is committed to the protection of children who are victims of abuse...
My special greeting to the new Swiss Guards and their families, on the annual feast day of this historic corps.
I wish everyone a good Sunday and a good month of May. in the spiritual company of Our Lady
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 07/05/2012 01:34]