This is the mission of every Christian: lumina pandit - to spread the light and to tell the world of God's love.

Leaders of the Church have often been Narcissus, flattered and sickeningly excited by their courtiers. The court is the leprosy of the papacy.

There is a need for financial reform along ethical lines that would produce in its turn an economic reform to benefit everyone. This would nevertheless require a courageous change of attitude on the part of political leaders.

And with a little sense of humor we can say that there are Christian bats who prefer the shadows to the light of the presence of the Lord.

At times we are slaves of sin. Lord, come to free us!

One form of prayer moves us particularly to take up the task of evangelization and to seek the good of others: it is the prayer of intercession. Let us peer for a moment into the heart of Saint Paul, to see what his prayer was like. It was full of people: "...I constantly pray with you in every one of my prayers for all of you... because I hold you in my heart" (Phil 1:4, 7). Here we see that intercessory prayer does not divert us from true contemplation, since authentic contemplation always has a place for others.

There is so much indifference in the face of suffering. May we overcome indifference with concrete acts of charity.