Pope General Audience: English-language summary

Pope General Audience: English-language summary

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday focused once again on the theme of Christian Hope at his General Audience.

The Holy Father based his reflections on the Gospel account of the two disciples who met the Risen Lord on the way to Emmaus:

Luke 24:28-32: As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.

Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?”

Below please find the English-language summary of the Pope’s catechesis at the Wednesday General Audience:

Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our continuing catechesis on Christian hope, we now consider the Risen Jesus’ encounter with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Unrecognized, the Lord walks with them and listens as they tell of how their hopes were shattered by the tragedy of the cross. Jesus then slowly opens their hearts to a new and greater hope by explaining how the Scriptures were fulfilled in the suffering and death of the Messiah. Only later, in the breaking of the bread, is he revealed as the Risen Lord, present in their midst. He then disappears and the disciples return to Jerusalem to bring back the good news. The Emmaus account shows us Jesus’ “therapy of hope”, based on a patient accompaniment that gradually opens us to trust in God’s promises. It also shows us the importance of the Eucharist, in which, like bread, Jesus “breaks” our lives and offers them to others. Like the disciples, we too are sent forth to encounter others, to hear their joys and sorrows, and to offer them words of life and hope based on God’s unfailing love, which accompanies us at every step of life’s journey.

Greetings

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from England, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Guam, Zimbabwe, Canada and the United States of America. In the joy of the Risen Christ, I invoke upon you and your families the loving mercy of our Father. Today I would like to greet especially the pilgrims from Hong Kong on the day of the Madonna of Sheshan. May the Lord bless you all!

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