by David Kelly

From the very beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis has urged us all to live in the love of God.  It is a simple yet powerful message.  This love compels us to step beyond our comfortable and familiar world; we are moved out of complacency towards a greater love. 

The disciples of Jesus did not learn discipleship in the temple sanctuary.  They learned it on the road…. they learned it alongside Jesus who loved all, especially those who had been excluded and considered undeserving.  

Pope Francis calls us to this in John’s gospel. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus, after experiencing the crucifixion, the death of their beloved Jesus, meet a stranger on the road.  They are broken and defeated, but as they walk with the stranger and share their pain in community, they see they are not alone.  Their sorrow is brought into communion with the suffering of Jesus. Gathered at table and in the breaking of the bread, their eyes are opened to their new reality. 

Through Pope Francis’ call to radical love, we, too, can encounter Jesus transforming our own woundedness on the road.  It is on this road, in all our brokenness, that our hearts and soul are filled with the missionary spirit.