Solitude is the place where we can connect with profound bonds that are deeper than the emergency bonds of fear and anger.

If we want other people to give us something that only God can give, we become a demon. We say, "Love me!" and before you know it we become violent and demanding and manipulative. It's so important that we keep forgiving one another - not once in a while, but every moment of life.

Praying is no easy matter. It demands a relationship in which you allow someone other than yourself to enter into the very center of your person, to see there what you would rather leave in darkness, and to touch there what you would rather leave untouched.

While optimism makes us live as if someday soon things will soon go better for us, hope frees us from the need to predict the future and allows us to live in the present, with the deep trust that God will never leave us alone but will fulfill the deepest desires of our heart... Joy in this perspective is the fruit of hope.

Life is just a little opportunity for you during a few years to say, "I love you, too."

For many, religion has to do with what we are allowed to do and not allowed to do. In the end, that doesn't bear fruit.

I have always felt that if I am very personal and connected with what I myself am living, my writing will transcend ecclesial boundaries.