Hope begins when we meet one another.
To encounter someone is to open ourselves to a life beyond our own. It asks us to be curious, to listen and to make room for another person’s story.
Across differences of language, culture and belief, a connection can grow. Sometimes brief, sometimes lasting, it can change how we see one another and our place in the world.
Encounter is a recurring theme in Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium, meaning The Joy of the Gospel. In this 2013 document, he sets out his vision for a Church that goes out into the world and draws closer to people. Meeting others with love and openness deepens faith, enriches the life of the Church and helps us discover God through the lives of those we meet.
“Often it is better simply to slow down, to put aside our eagerness in order to see and listen to others, to stop rushing from one thing to another and to remain with someone who has faltered along the way.”
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 46.
