GENERAL AUDIENCE: Pope: Every Day Is a New Opportunity

Here is the Vatican-provided English-language summary of the Pope’s address at the General Audience this morning: wednesday 11 Oct 2017

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Dear Brothers and Sisters: Today I wish to speak about that dimension of hope which we can call attentive waiting. Jesus tells his disciples to be like those who await the return of their master, with lamps alight (cf. Lk 12:35-36). As Christians, therefore, we are always attentive, awaiting the Lord’s return, when God will be all in all (cf. 1 Cor 15:28). Every day is a new opportunity to be attentive to God, to welcome the day as his gift, and to live that day by offering our good works to him. Such attentiveness requires patience, however, if we are not to lose sight of God’s grace when our days are monotonous, or our difficulties many. For no night is so long, as to make us forget the joy that comes with dawn. As Christians, we know that Christ will return; that no matter what we may suffer, life has its purpose and deeper meaning, and that the merciful Lord will greet us at its end. Thus we can look upon history and our own lives with confidence and hope, knowing that the future is not guided solely by the work of our hands but by God’s providence. May we repeat everyday the words of the first disciples: “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20). And in our most difficult moments, may we hear the consoling response of Jesus: “Behold, I am coming soon” (Rev. 22:7).