It means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about.

The great danger in today's world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor.

I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.

Are we capable of bringing the word of God into the environment in which we live? Do we know how to speak of Christ, of what he represents for us, in our families, among the people who form part of our daily lives? Faith is born from listening, and is strengthened by proclamation.

Human life must always be defended from its beginning in the womb and must be recognised as a gift of God that guarantees the future of humanity.

In these times of suffering prayer is of even more help.

Be dispensers of God's grace, not controllers. Don't be the Holy Spirit's customs agents.