“With Grounded Hope”

In his homily at Vespers on the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul today, in the Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura (St Paul Outside the Walls), Pope Benedict XVI also found the love story at the heart of conversion, and made it big enough to encircle all Christians on this last day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity:

While experiencing these days the painful situation of our divisions, we Christians can and must look to the future with hope, because Christ’s victory means to overcome everything that keeps us from sharing the fullness of life with Him and with others. The resurrection of Jesus Christ confirms that the goodness of God overcomes evil, love overcomes death. He accompanies us in the fight against the destructive power of sin that harms humanity and all of God’s creation. The presence of the risen Christ calls all Christians to act together for the common good. United in Christ, we are called to share his mission, which is to bring hope to the places where there is injustice, hatred and despair. Our divisions diminish our witness to Christ.

Read the full homily.

Images are the author’s own.

At the Vespers on the Vigil of SS Peter and Paul in 2010, also in San Paolo fuori le Mura, my only glimpse of the Pope was as a tiny figure on a big screen, being captured on many tiny screens.