Plane Root of Holy Father, when flew over India
If someone asks me, what you think about the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to Asia? My answer would be: Let there be Hope. So far His Holiness has done seven ApostolicVisits. It is remarkable that two of them were to Asia. It was a blessed moment for Indians, when the Papal plan flew over India on Jan 13. In August 2014, when His Holiness attended the 06th Asian YouthDay in South Korea, the theme was: “Asian Youth! Wake up” which substitutes to “Arise and Shine”. In January 2015, visit to Sri Lanka and Philippines were concentrated on: Reconciliation & Dialogue and Mercy & Compassion, respectively.
In the first Visit to Asia, the focus was on youth. In the concluding Holy Mass, Pope Francis challenged the youngsters to live in a Christian discipleship, “Young people of Asia: you are the heirs of a great testimony, a precious witness to Christ. He is the light of the world; he is the light of our lives! The martyrs of Korea – and innumerable others throughout Asia – handed over their bodies to their persecutors; to us they have handed on a perennial witness that the light of Christ’s truth dispels all darkness, and the love of Christ is gloriously triumphant….Let Christ turn your natural optimism into Christian hope, your energy into moral virtue, your good will into genuine self-sacrificing love! This is the path you are called to take”.
In Sri Lanka at the shrine of Our Lady of Madhu, Pope advocated the need of reconciliation, “May all people find here inspiration and strength to build a future of reconciliation, justice and peace for all the children of this beloved land”. At the same time, in Philippines, Pope Francis concentrated on Mercy Compassion: “I invite each one of you to ask yourselves, ‘Have I learned how to weep, how to cry when I see a hungry child, a child on the street who uses drugs, a homeless child, an abandoned child, an abused child, a child that society uses as a slave’?” So these statements in different corners of Asia, point towards the fact that there is a great optimism for the Universal Church on each Catholic to live a life of inspiration, reconciliation and compassion to seek and spread the Kingdom of God. And that is Hope.