Pope Francis drew a detail from one of the appearances of the Risen Christ to reflect on the value of sharing our experiences of faith.
Before praying the midday Regina Caeli on April 14, the Pope noted that the Gospel of the day recounts how Jesus arrived in the Upper Room as the two Emmaus disciples were sharing their experience of seeing him.
“Jesus arrives precisely while they are sharing the story of the encounter with Him. This makes me think that it is good to share, it is important to share faith. This account makes us reflect on the importance of sharing faith in the risen Jesus,” the Holy Father said.
A useful message
Considering how our society is “bombarded with a thousand messages,” many of which are “useless” or worse, the Pope reminded that there is “also good news, positive and constructive, and we all know how good it is for us to hear good things, and how much better we are when this happens.”
And yet there is something we often struggle to talk about. What do we struggle to talk about? The most beautiful thing we have to tell: our encounter with Jesus. Every one of us has encountered the Lord and we struggle to speak about it. Each one of us could say so much about this: seeing how the Lord has touched us, and sharing this, not by being a lecturer to others, but by sharing the unique moments in which we perceived the Lord alive and close, who kindled joy in our hearts or dried our tears, who transmitted confidence and consolation, strength and enthusiasm, or forgiveness, tenderness. These encounters, that every one of us has had with Jesus — share them and transmit them.
It is important to do this in the family, in the community, with friends. Just as it does good to talk about the good inspirations that have guided us in life, the good thoughts and feelings that help us so much to go forward, and also about our efforts and labours to understand and to progress in the life of faith, perhaps even to repent and retrace our steps. If we do this, Jesus, just as He did with the disciples of Emmaus on the evening of Passover, will surprise us and make our encounters and our environments even more beautiful.
Let Mary help
The Pope suggested calling to mind one of these powerful moments of faith and encounter.
Let us take a moment’s silence and think: When did I find the Lord? When has the Lord been close to me? Let us think in silence. And this encounter with the Lord, did I share it to give glory to the Lord? And also, have I listened to others, when they have told me about this encounter with Jesus?
May Our Lady help us to share the faith to make our communities ever greater places of encounter with the Lord.
And today we celebrate...