Lent is a time of grace, a time to convert and live out our baptism fully.

Let those desert places in our hearts bloom.

Since God created the world, He also created reality.

The laity are called to become a leaven of Christian living within society.

Joy cannot be held at heel: it must be let go. Joy is a pilgrim virtue. It is a gift that walks, walks on the path of life, that walks with Jesus: preaching, proclaiming Jesus, proclaiming joy, lengthens and widens that path.

The Cross of Christ bears the suffering and the sin of mankind, including our own. Jesus accepts all this with open arms, bearing on His shoulders our crosses and saying to us: 'Have courage! You do not carry your cross alone! I carry it with you. I have overcome death and I have come to give you hope, to give you life' (John 3:16).

What God cares about most is that we are His friends.