Pope Benedict's final engagement on the first day of his state visit to Germany was
the celebration of an open-air mass at the city's Olympic Stadium. Here is the English
translation of the full text of his homily at the mass:
"Dear Brother Bishops, Dear
Brothers and Sisters, As I look around the vast arena of the Olympic Stadium, where
you have gathered today in such large numbers, my heart is filled with great joy and
confidence. I greet all of you most warmly – the faithful from the Archdiocese of
Berlin and the Dioceses of Germany as well as the many pilgrims from neighbouring
countries. It was fifteen years ago that Berlin, the capital of Germany, was first
visited by a Pope. We all remember vividly the visit of my venerable predecessor,
Blessed John Paul II, and the beatification of the Berlin Cathedral Provost Bernhard
Lichtenberg – together with Karl Leisner – here in this very place. If we consider
these beati and the great throng of those who have been canonized and beatified, we
can understand what it means to live as branches of Christ, the true vine, and to
bring forth rich fruit. Today’s Gospel puts before us once more the image of this
climbing plant, that spreads so luxuriantly in the east, a symbol of vitality and
a metaphor for the beauty and dynamism of Jesus’ fellowship with his disciples and
friends. In the parable of the vine, Jesus does not say: “You are the vine”, but:
“I am the vine, you are the branches” (Jn 15:5). In other words: “As the branches
are joined to the vine, so you belong to me! But inasmuch as you belong to me,
you also belong to one another.” This belonging to each other and to him is not some
ideal, imaginary, symbolic relationship, but – I would almost want to say – a biological,
life-transmitting state of belonging to Jesus Christ. Such is the Church, this communion
of life with him and for the sake of one another, a communion that is rooted in baptism
and is deepened and given more and more vitality in the Eucharist. “I am the true
vine” actually means: “I am you and you are I” – an unprecedented identification of
the Lord with us, his Church. On the road to Damascus, Christ himself asked Saul,
the persecutor of the Church: “Why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). With these words
the Lord expresses the common destiny that arises from his Church’s inner communion
of life with himself, the risen Christ. He continues to live in his Church in this
world. He is present among us, and we are with him. “Why do you persecute me?”
It is Jesus, then, who is on the receiving end of the persecutions of his Church.
At the same time, when we are oppressed for the sake of our faith, we are not alone:
Jesus is with us. Jesus says in the parable: “I am the true vine, and my Father
is the vinedresser” (Jn 15:1), and he goes on to explain that the vinedresser reaches
for his knife, cuts off the withered branches and prunes the fruit-bearing ones, so
that they bring forth more fruit. Expressed in terms of the image from the prophet
Ezekiel that we heard in the first reading, God wants to take the dead heart of stone
out of our breast in order to give us a living heart of flesh (cf. Ez 36:26). He
wants to bestow new life upon us, full of vitality. Christ came to call sinners.
It is they who need the doctor, not the healthy (cf. Lk 5:31f.). Hence, as the Second
Vatican Council expresses it, the Church is the “universal sacrament of salvation”
(Lumen Gentium, 48), existing for sinners in order to open up to them the path of
conversion, healing and life. That is the Church’s true and great mission, entrusted
to her by Christ. Many people see only the outward form of the Church. This makes
the Church appear as merely one of the many organizations within a democratic society,
whose criteria and laws are then applied to the task of evaluating and dealing with
such a complex entity as the “Church”. If to this is added the sad experience that
the Church contains both good and bad fish, wheat and darnel, and if only these negative
aspects are taken into account, then the great and deep mystery of the Church is no
longer seen. It follows that belonging to this vine, the “Church”, is no longer
a source of joy. Dissatisfaction and discontent begin to spread, when people’s superficial
and mistaken notions of “Church”, their “dream Church”, fail to materialize! Then
we no longer hear the glad song “Thanks be to God who in his grace has called me into
his Church” that generations of Catholics have sung with conviction. The Lord’s
discourse continues: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me ...
for apart from me [i.e. separated from me, or outside me] you can do nothing” (Jn
15:4f.). Every one of us is faced with this choice. The Lord reminds us how much
is at stake as he continues his parable: “If a man does not abide in me, he is cast
forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire
and burned” (Jn 15:6). In this regard, Saint Augustine says: “The branch is suitable
only for one of two things, either the vine or the fire: if it is not in the vine,
its place will be in the fire; and that it may escape the latter, may it have its
place in the vine” (In Ioan. Ev. Tract. 81:3 [PL 35, 1842]). The decision that
is required of us here makes us keenly aware of the existential significance of our
life choices. At the same time, the image of the vine is a sign of hope and confidence.
Christ himself came into this world through his incarnation, to be our root. Whatever
hardship or drought befall us, he is the source that offers us the water of life,
that feeds and strengthens us. He takes upon himself all our sins, anxieties and
sufferings and he purifies and transforms us, in a way that is ultimately mysterious,
into good wine. In such times of hardship we can sometimes feel as if we ourselves
were in the wine-press, like grapes being utterly crushed. But we know that if we
are joined to Christ we become mature wine. God can transform into love even the
burdensome and oppressive aspects of our lives. It is important that we “abide” in
Christ, in the vine. The evangelist uses the word “abide” a dozen times in this brief
passage. This “abiding in Christ” characterizes the whole of the parable. In our
era of restlessness and lack of commitment, when so many people lose their way and
their grounding, when loving fidelity in marriage and friendship has become so fragile
and short-lived, when in our need we cry out like the disciples on the road to Emmaus:
“Lord, stay with us, for it is almost evening and darkness is all around us!” (cf.
Lk 24:29), then the risen Lord gives us a place of refuge, a place of light, hope
and confidence, a place of rest and security. When drought and death loom over the
branches, then future, life and joy are to be found in Christ. To abide in Christ
means, as we saw earlier, to abide in the Church as well. The whole communion of
the faithful has been firmly incorporated into the vine, into Christ. In Christ we
belong together. Within this communion he supports us, and at the same time all the
members support one another. They stand firm together against the storm and they
offer one another protection. Those who believe are not alone. We do not believe
alone, but we believe with the whole Church. The Church, as the herald of God’s
word and dispenser of the sacraments, joins us to Christ, the true vine. The Church
as “fullness and completion of the Redeemer” (Pius XII, Mystici Corporis, AAS 35 [1943]
p. 230: “plenitudo et complementum Redemptoris”) is to us a pledge of divine life
and mediator of those fruits of which the parable of the vine speaks. The Church
is God’s most beautiful gift. Therefore Saint Augustine also says: “as much as any
man loves the Church of Christ, so much has he the Holy Spirit” (In Ioan. Ev. Tract.
32:8 [PL 35:1646]). With and in the Church we may proclaim to all people that Christ
is the source of life, that he exists, that he is the one for whom we long so much.
He gives himself. Whoever believes in Christ has a future. For God has no desire
for what is withered, dead, ersatz, and finally discarded: he wants what is fruitful
and alive, he wants life in its fullness. Dear Brothers and Sisters! My wish for
all of you is that you may discover ever more deeply the joy of being joined to Christ
in the Church, that you may find comfort and redemption in your time of need and that
you may increasingly become the precious wine of Christ’s joy and love for this world.
Amen."