Because Always, Even In The Darkest Moments,

Let Us Pray For Peace: Peace In The World And In Each Of Our Hearts.

In These Times Of Suffering Prayer Is Of Even More Help.

A Delicate Balance Is Required To Combat Violence Perpetrated In The Name Of A Religion, An Ideology Or An Economic System, While Also Safeguarding Religious Freedom, Intellectual Freedom And Individual Freedoms. But There Is Another Temptation Which We Must Especially Guard Against: The Simplistic Reductionism Which Sees Only Good Or Evil; Or, If You Will, The Righteous And Sinners.

The Church Is Likewise Conscious Of The Responsibility Which All Of Us Have For Our World, For The Whole Of Creation, Which We Must Love And Protect. There Is Much That We Can Do To Benefit The Poor, The Needy And Those Who Suffer, And To Favour Justice, Promote Reconciliation And Build Peace. But Before All Else We Need To Keep Alive In Our World The Thirst For The Absolute, And To Counter The Dominance Of A One-dimensional Vision Of The Human Person, A Vision Which Reduces Human Beings To What They Produce And To What They Consume: This Is One Of The Most Insidious Temptations Of Our Time.

Jesus Speaks In The Silence Of The Mystery Of The Eucharist And Reminds Us Each Time That Following Him Means Going Out Of Ourselves And Making Our Lives Not Something We 'possess,' But A Gift To Him And To Others.