Raising children should mean helping them to become what they already are in God’s eyes.

God does not work by only one method, paint in only one color, play in only one key, nor does he make only one star shine onto the earth.

Raising children should mean helping them to become what they already are in God’s eyes.

Only those who look with the eyes of children can lose themselves in the object of their wonder.

Brothers and sisters, love the earth. Be true to the earth, and do not believe those seducers who look longingly to the world beyond, casting suspicion on this world. Jesus is the greatest friend of the earth-Jesus who again and again, in the original spirit of Judaism, proclaimed love for the soil and love for the land. "Blessed are the peacemakers," he said, "for they shall possess the earth."

Our gifts seem so small in comparison to God’s. But our efforts count, even though like Simeon we only stretch out our arms in the patience of faith so that we may receive the Holy Gift. Even though we only wait, poor and yearning in the darkness, in fervent longing for the proclamation, we are ready, and may help bring about the fullness of time.

Every child is a thought in the mind of God, and our task is to recognize this thought and help it toward completion.