Within this memory, of the vine and the wine, it is not difficult to grasp the message of the parable of the vine and the branches: faith in Jesus, the bond with Him, does not imprison our freedom, but, on the contrary, Union with Jesus opens us to receive the sap of God’s love, which multiplies our joy, cares for us with the care of a good vinedresser and makes branches sprout even when the land of our life becomes arid. So many times, our hearts become dry.
But the metaphor that came from the heart of Jesus can also be read thinking about this city built on water, and recognized for this uniqueness as one of the most evocative places in the world. Venice is one with the waters on which it stands, and without the care and protection of this natural environment it could even cease to exist. This is also our life: we too, immersed from time immemorial in the fountains of God’s love, have been regenerated in Baptism with water, reborn to a new life by water and the Holy Spirit, and placed in Christ as branches On the vine. The sap of this love flows in us. The sap of this love flows within us, without which we become dry branches that do not bear fruit.
Blessed John Paul I, when he was Patriarch of this city, once said that Jesus “came to bring eternal life to men (…). And he continued: that life is in Him and passes from Him to his disciples, as the sap rises from the trunk to the branches of the vine. It is fresh water, which He gives to His disciples. It is the fresh water that he gives, a spring that flows without ceasing” (A. LUCIANI, Venezia 1975-1976. Opera Omnia. Discorsi, scritti, articoli, vol. VII, Padua 2011, 158).