Every time we give in to selfishness and say “No” to God, we spoil his loving plan for us.

So many of you have lost everything. I do not know what to tell you. But surely he knows what to tell you! So many of you have lost members of your family. I can only be silent; I accompany you silently, with my heart...

A population that does not take care of the elderly and of children and the young has no future, because it abuses both its memory and its promise.

Jesus intercedes for us each day. Let us pray: Lord, have mercy on me; intercede for me!

I thank all missionaries, men and women who quietly work hard for the Lord and their brothers and sisters.

I entrust this Twenty-second World Day of the Sick to the intercession of Mary. I ask her to help the sick to bear their sufferings in fellowship with Jesus Christ and to support all those who care for them. To all the ill, and to all the health-care workers and volunteers who assist them, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing.

Following Jesus means taking up one's own cross to accompany him on his path, an uncomfortable path that is not one of success or earthly glory, but which leads to true freedom, the freedom from selfishness and sin.