A tension or difficulty can signal the approach of a new grace of God. But it has to be looked at wisely and humanly.

To love someone is not first of all to do things for them,but to reveal to them their beauty and value, to say to them through our attitude: 'You are beautiful. You are important. I trust you. You can trust yourself.'

It is difficult to make people understand that the ideal doesn't exist, that personal equilibrium and the harmony they dream of come only after years and years of struggle, and that even then they come only as flashes of grace and peace.

Wisdom is something that comes, little by little, through a lot of listening.

Each person with his or her history of being accepted or rejected, with his or her past history of inner pain and difficulties in relationships, is different. But in each one there is a yearning for communion and belonging, but at the same time a fear of it. Love is what we most want, yet it is what we fear the most.

Every act of violence is also a message that needs to be understood. (23-24)

People are longing to rediscover true community. We have had enough of loneliness, independence and competition.