It's best to not confuse optimism with hope. Optimism is a psychological attitude toward life. Hope goes further. It is an anchor that one hurls toward the future, it's what lets you pull on the line and reach what you're aiming for and head in the right direction. Hope is also theological: God is there, too.

Like Mary, may we nurture the light born within us at Christmas. May we carry it everywhere in our daily lives.

Let us not grow tired of knocking at God's door. Let us go to the heart of God through Mary, our whole life, every day, knocking at the door of God's heart! Mary prays - prays together with the community of disciples, and teaches us to have full faith in God, in his mercy. This is the power of prayer!

None of us can think we are exempt from concerns for the poor and for social justice.

The family is a community of love where each of us learns to relate to others and to the world around us.

Gay parenting is a rejection of God's law engraved in our hearts

But always think this: do not be afraid of failure. Do not be afraid of falling. In the art of walking, what is important is not avoiding the fall but not remaining fallen.