Men, to exist, to become complete and mature, need to feel the joy of fatherhood. When a man does not have this desire, something is missing in this man, it is like an incomplete life: a life that stops half way. The grace of fatherhood; of giving life to others, of pastoral paternity, of spiritual paternity is a gift from God.

It's true, harm to Catholics must always be avoided, and all of us do this...but not at the price of the truth!

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.

Living together is an art. It's a patient art, it's a beautiful art, it's fascinating.

Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty. Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self-denial is real without this dimension of penance. I distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt.

How marvellous it would be if, at the end of the day, each of us could say: today I have performed an act of charity towards others!

Let us seek to live in a way that is always worthy of our Christian vocation