Pope's Sunday 'Regina Coeli' message

(May 7, 2012) United with Jesus will only make man’s life fruitful and meaningful, Pope Benedict XVI told pilgrims and tourists on Sunday. “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," said the Pope before praying the weekly midday ‘Regina Coeli’ prayer on the fifth Sunday of Easter. "And he who loves Jesus, the true vine, produces fruits of faith for an abundant spiritual harvest," the Pope told a large crowd in an overcast and drizzly St. Peter’s Square. He explained Sunday’s Gospel of St. John saying that just as Christ is in God the Father, so his followers "carefully pruned by the words of the Master, are united in a profound way to him, becoming fruitful branches, which produce an abundant harvest." This union with God, the Pope explained, occurs in baptism when "the Church grafts us as branches into the paschal mystery of Christ, into his own person," and the good fruit that the branches produce is not by its own virtue but because of the trunk. The Pope further explained that this unity with God does not contradict man’s freedom. If a man inclines his heart to the good and asks God’s help, he receives the necessary strength to accomplish his work. Therefore "the freedom of man and power of God go together" as the good act is "possible because the Lord is good" but "it is fulfilled, thanks to his faithfulness," the Pope added
After praying the “Regina Coeli”, Pope Benedict reminded the faithful of the 7^th World Meeting of Families, that is scheduled to take place in less than a month, from May 30-June 3 in the northern Italian city of Milan. The Pope thanked Milan archdiocese as well as other dioceses of Lombardy region for their cooperation in this Church event sponsored by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council of the Family under the chairmanship of Card Ennio Antonelli. “God willing, I too shall have the joy of participating in it, and will be in Milan from 1 to 3 June," the Pope declared. The theme of this international Church event is 'The family: work and celebration." For more information on the event, visit its website: www.family2012.com.