The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person—every person—needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need. The Church is one of those living forces.

The cross reminds us that there is no true love without suffering, there is no gift of life without pain.

I am consoled by the fact that the Lord knows how to work and how to act, even with insufficient tools.

Only if there is love, if hearts are opened, can one person truly know the other.

Do not be afraid of Christ. He takes nothing away and he gives you everything.

It is when we attempt to avoid suffering by withdrawing from anything that might involve hurt, when we try to spare ourselves the effort and pain of pursuing truth, love, and goodness, that we drift into a life of emptiness, in which there may be almost no pain, but the dark sensation of meaninglessness and abandonment is all the greater.

The closer a person is to God, the closer he is to people.