The Prospect of Hope Restored

Pope Benedict XVI on the Emmaus Story

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This gospel passage is the famous account of the disciples of Emmaus… . The locality of Emmaus has not been identified with certainty. There are various hypotheses, and this one is not without an evocativeness of its own, for it allows us to think that Emmaus actually represents every place: The road that leads there is the road every Christian, every person, takes. The risen Jesus makes himself our traveling companion as we go on our way, to rekindle the warmth of faith and hope in our hearts and to break the bread of eternal life.

In the disciples’ conversation with the unknown wayfarer the words the evangelist Luke puts in the mouth of one of them are striking: “We had hoped” (Luke 24:21). This verb in the past tense tells all: We believed,…

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