GPH Day 3: Cardinal Ambo David Calls on Asian Church to “Let Jesus Reappear in and Through Us”

On the third day (Nov 29) of the Great Pilgrimage of Hope in Penang, Malaysia, Filipino prelate Pablo Virgilio S. Cardinal David, Bishop of Kalookan, Vice President of the FABC, and President of the CBCP, delivered a stirring keynote address inviting the Churches of Asia to rediscover storytelling as the heart of Christian vocation and the path toward the great Jubilee of 2033.

Speaking to over 900 delegates gathered at the Ballroom of The Light Hotel in Penang, Cardinal David reflected on the theme, “Living and Sharing the Story of Jesus – Journeying Towards 2033 as Peoples of Asia.” Drawing deeply from the Emmaus narrative in Luke 24, he proposed a compelling vision of faith-sharing rooted in companionship, shared humanity, and the reappearance of Christ in the lives of His disciples.

“Why did Jesus disappear?”

Cardinal David opened his talk with a question that, he said, had fascinated him for years: Why did Jesus vanish at the very moment the two disciples recognized Him in the breaking of the bread?

Retelling the Emmaus story with pastoral warmth, he underlined that Jesus first appears as a stranger who walks with two discouraged disciples. The Lord does not lecture them immediately, he said, but “draws near, listens to their story, and enters into their conversation.”

“Our God is the model for the Synodal Way,” Cardinal David stressed. “He takes the initiative. He draws near and walks with humankind. He listens first before speaking.”

The moment of recognition, when Jesus takes, blesses, and breaks the bread, was significant not merely because of the gesture, but because He was not supposed to do it. The stranger was the guest, not the host. Yet playing host had become Jesus’ unmistakable signature of hospitality and communion.

But why did Jesus disappear precisely when the disciples finally realized who He was?

Cardinal David offered a powerful answer: “He disappeared so that He could reappear in them, and through them. And He continues to appear, disappear, and reappear through you and me.”

This, he emphasized, is the heart of our Christian calling: not pointing at Jesus from afar, but becoming His presence in the world.

Living the Story of Jesus

In the first major movement of his keynote, Cardinal David described what it means for Asian Christians to live the story of Jesus today.

Asia, he said, understands the power of storytelling more deeply than most cultures. Long before doctrine, Asian civilizations passed down truth through epics, myths, songs, rituals, and sacred narratives. “In Asia, truth comes to us not primarily as a concept,” he observed, “but as a story we enter into.”

The Emmaus account is the model: Jesus listens, receives the disciples’ narrative of disillusionment, and only then retells the same story in the light of the Resurrection. “If it is not happy, it is not yet the end,” Cardinal David said. “We retell our stories with Jesus until they reach their true ending, redemption.”

He invited the delegates to ask: Where does Jesus walk today in Asia?

According to Cardinal David, Christ walks with:

• migrants searching for new beginnings
• families broken by conflict and poverty
• the youth overwhelmed by a digital world
• victims of violence, exploitation, and addiction
• indigenous peoples defending their sacred lands
• communities rebuilding after natural disasters
• people longing to be seen, understood, and loved

Living the story of Jesus means recognizing Him in those who hunger, thirst, suffer, and struggle, not as abstract ideals but as flesh-and-blood neighbors who reveal the face of Christ. “He appears as the stranger, the wounded, the poor,” Cardinal David said. “And when we serve them, we discover that He was the one doing us a favor by awakening the best in us.”

Sharing the Story of Jesus: The Asian Way

The second movement of the keynote focused on the uniquely Asian manner of sharing the Good News. “Sharing the Good News in Asia is storytelling, not conquering,” Cardinal David said. He acknowledged the historical wounds caused when faith was spread through force or colonial patronage in the past.

In Asia today, he said, our shared journey begins with:

• relational encounter
• deep listening
• mutual storytelling
• respect for cultures and religious traditions

The keynote emphasized that the Gospel grows only in the “fertile soil of goodwill.” He urged delegates to walk with others, confronting their deepest questions with humility. Jesus Himself used parables in order to to invite participation and personal discovery.

Cardinal David linked this to the four pathways of the FABC’s synodal engagement:

1. Cultures – rooting and expressing faith through indigenous art, music, ritual, poetry, and reverence for ancestors

2. Religions – building bridges through friendship and dialogue

3. The Poor – encountering Christ by touching wounds with compassion

4. Creation – caring for the common home and hearing “the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor”

Journeying Toward 2033 – A Pilgrimage of Hope

As the Church looks ahead to 2033, the 2000th anniversary of Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection, Cardinal David reminded delegates that the Great Jubilee is not merely a commemoration of a past event.

“It is a celebration of a story still unfolding,” he said. “We are the disciples on the road. Sometimes discouraged, sometimes confused, but always searching.”

Asia, he noted, may not have monumental cathedrals like other continents, but it is rich in stories of harmony, resilience, hospitality, compassion, and hope. These gifts make Asia uniquely equipped to share the Good News in fresh and healing ways.

He concluded by offering the Emmaus narrative as the icon of the pilgrimage toward 2033:

• The God who walks with us unseen
• who listens before speaking
• who rekindles hope and opens our eyes
• who breaks bread so that we may become His Body for the world
• who disappears so that He may reappear in His disciples

“This is our mandate for 2033,” Cardinal David said. “To let Jesus reappear in our words, our gestures, our communities, and in our Asian way of telling the Good News.”