Our glory is hidden in our pain, if we allow God to bring the gift of himself in our experience of it.

Jesus said Communion first, community comes out of that, and out of community, ministry.

Let us not underestimate how hard it is to be compassionate. Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering. What we desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it.

Every time there are losses, there are choices to be made. You choose to live your losses as passages to anger, blame, hatred, depression and resentment, or you choose to let these losses be passages to something new, something wider, and deeper.

When we break bread and give it to each other, fear vanishes and God becomes very close.

Learning to weep, learning to keep vigil, learning to wait for the dawn. Perhaps this is what it means to be human.

The real question is: how can I live so that my death will be fruitful for others?