Synod reminds me of the road to Emmaus, says Pope

October 13, 2012: “Synodus means “shared walk”, “walking together”, and so the word synodus makes me think of the famous walk of the Lord with the two disciples who were going to Emmaus, who are to an extent an image of the agnostic world of today. Jesus, their hope, had died: the world was empty; it seemed that either God did not exist or had no interest in us. With this despair in their hearts, but still with a little flame of faith, they walk on. The Lord walks mysteriously beside them and helps them to better understand the mystery of God, His presence in history, His silent walking with us”, said Pope Benedict XVI on Friday at the end of a lunch hosted by him in the Paul VI Hall to the Synod Fathers and other participants in the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
“In the end, at supper”, the Pope continued, “when the words of the Lord and their listening have already lit up their hearts and illuminated their minds, they recognize Him at the meal and finally their hearts start to see. Thus in the Synod we are walking together with our contemporaries.”
Appreciating the presence of Patriarch Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, and Archbishop Rowan Williams from the Anglican Communion, the Pope said that ‘this communion is a sign that we are heading towards unity and that in our hearts we are making progress. The Lord will help us to advance, in an external way as well. This joy, it seems to me, might also give us strength in the mandate of evangelization.
‘The supper - as the Lord often used lunch and supper as a symbol for the Kingdom of God - might also be for us a symbol of our walking together and an opportunity to pray to the Lord that He might accompany us and help us’, concluded the Pontiff.It's a beautiful tradition established by Blessed Pope John Paul II to crown the Synod with a common dining.