People may come to our communities because they want to serve the poor; they will only stay once they have discovered that they themselves are poor.

A community which refuses to welcome - whether through fear, weariness, insecurity, a desire to cling to comfort, or just because it is fed up with visitors - is dying spiritually.

We work for peace every time we exercise authority with wisdom and authentic love.

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

Life is a succession of crises and moments when we have to rediscover who we are and what we really want.

Peace is the fruit of love, a love that is also justice. But to grow in love requires work -- hard work. And it can bring pain because it implies loss -- loss of the certitudes, comforts, and hurts that shelter and define us.

If we are to grow in love, the prisons of our egoism must be unlocked. This implies suffering, constant effort and repeated choices.