There is nothing more sickening than talking about poverty over a fancy dinner.

Perhaps there is no more dangerous place for a Christian to be than in safety and comfort, detached from the suffering of others.

That is part of our critique of some of the charity and service work is that we can still keep relationships at a distance by creating programs that offer services but we don't really create a reconciled community.

But what had lasting significance were not the miracles themselves but Jesus' love. Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead, and a few years later, Lazarus died again. Jesus healed the sick, but eventually caught some other disease. He fed the ten thousands, and the next day they were hungry again. But we remember his love. It wasn't that Jesus healed a leper but that he touched a leper, because no one touched lepers.

We have been mentored from the very beginning by Catholic folks who are invigorating the best of the monastic spirit.

Tony Campolo and I both speak a lot, and we began to notice that there were some crowds of old folks that desperately needed some youthful energy, and there were other crowds of young folks that desperately needed some aged wisdom.

Every 70-year-old needs a young person in their lives to mentor, and every 20-year-old needs a senior.