Reliance on God heightens man's freedom, Pope tells Sunday audience
CWN - May 07, 2012
At his midday public audience on Sunday, May 6, Pope Benedict XVI offered a meditation on Christ’s words: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.”
At Baptism “the Church grafts us as branches onto Jesus' Paschal Mystery, onto his very Person,” the Pontiff said. He stressed that just as branches cannot grow without the nourishment that comes through the vine, Christians rely on Christ “because without Him we can do nothing.”
The Pope said that this understanding of the vine and the vinedresser should not be interpreted as a limit on human freedom. He cited the explanation provided by the 5th-century monk, John the Prophet: “If man inclines his heart to goodness and asks help of God, he receives the strength necessary to achieve his task. Therefore, man's freedom and God's power go hand in hand.”
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