If We Are Truly In Love With

Lent Is A Fitting Time For Self-denial; We Would Do Well To Ask Ourselves What We Can Give Up In Order To Help And Enrich Others By Our Own Poverty. Let Us Not Forget That Real Poverty Hurts: No Self-denial Is Real Without This Dimension Of Penance. I Distrust A Charity That Costs Nothing And Does Not Hurt.

Instead Of Seeming To Impose New Obligations, They Should Appear As People Who Wish To Share Their Joy, Who Point To A Horizon Of Beauty And Who Invite Others To A Delicious Banquet. It Is Not By Proselytizing That The Church Grows, But By Attraction.

Our Life Is Made Up Of Time, And Time Is A Gift From God, So It Is Important That It Be Used In Good And Fruitful Actions.

My Choices, Including Those Related To The Day-to-day Aspects Of Life, Like The Use Of A Modest Car, Are Related To A Spiritual Discernment That Responds To A Need That Arises From Looking At Things, At People And From Reading The Signs Of The Times. Discernment In The Lord Guides Me In My Way Of Governing.

It's Best To Not Confuse Optimism With Hope. Optimism Is A Psychological Attitude Toward Life. Hope Goes Further. It Is An Anchor That One Hurls Toward The Future, It's What Lets You Pull On The Line And Reach What You're Aiming For And Head In The Right Direction. Hope Is Also Theological: God Is There, Too.