After meeting with Trump, Francis at the general audience greets the faithful of Hong Kong on the day of Our Lady of Sheshan
The Church “is not trapped inside a fortified citadel, but walks in its most vital environment, which is the road” and there “meets people with their hopes and disappointments, which are sometimes heavy.” The Pope said in the general audience.
St. Peter’s Square, 9.30 am, after receiving in audience US President Donald Trump, Francis, who, on arrival, stopped to greeting an over ninety-year-old man from Colombia, greeted in particular the faithful of Hong Kong on the day of Our Lady of Sheshan.
The Pope continued his cycle of catechesis on Christian hope by dwelling on the evangelical episode of the two disciples of Emmaus who, crushed by the Lord’s death, encounter the Risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus, yet fail to recognize him. Jesus “first asks and listens: our God is not an invasive God. Even if he already knows the reason for the disappointment, he leaves enough time for them to be able to gauge in depth the bitterness that has struck them. “We hoped ...” So much sadness, so many defeats, so many failures are in each person’s life! After all, we are all a bit like those two disciples. All of us have had some difficult moments, when would walk, sad an full of thoughts, with no horizons in sight, just a wall, yet Jesus always next to us, to give us hope, to warm our hearts and tell us go forward, I am with you, go forward.
This is the secret of the road to Emmaus: even through opposing appearances, we continue to be loved, and God will never cease to love us. God will always walk with us, always, even in the most painful moments, even in the worst moments, even in moments of defeat: there is the Lord. And this is our hope: we shall go forward with this hope, for He is beside us walking with us. Always”. For the Pope, however, “whoever reads the book of God will not hear of easy heroic stories, lightning-winning campaigns. True hope comes never cheap but always comes through defeats. The hope of those who do not suffer, might not be real. God does not like being loved as a leader who drags his people to victory by bloodily destroying his opponents. Our God is a dim light that burns on a cold and windy day, and even if his presence in this world seems to be fragile, He has chosen the place we all disdain.”
Jesus’ encounter with the disciples of Emmaus, Francis said, “is a quick meeting,” “but in it lies all the fate of the Church. He then says that the Christian community is not trapped inside a fortified city but is walking in its most vital environment, which is the road. Where people, with their hopes and disappointments, sometimes heavy are met. The Church listens to everyone’s story, as it emerges from our personal conscience, we offer the Word of Life, the testimony of God’s love, of a faithful love that never ends. People’s heart return to burning with hope. This is the secret of the road to Emmaus: even through opposing appearances, we continue to be loved, and God will never cease to love us.”
At the conclusion of the general audience, Francis addressed among others a greeting to the faithful from the earthquake areas of Valnerina. He then asked the speaker to translate, his special greeting to the “pilgrims of Hong Kong on the day of Our Lady of Sheshan: who protects you.”
