If In So Many Parts Of The

Suffering Is A Call To Conversion: It Reminds Us Of Our Frailty And Vulnerability.

I Ask All People Of Goodwill To Help Build A Culture Of Encounter, Solidarity And Peace

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.

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.

Don't Be Afraid To Go To The Sacrament Of Confession, Where You Will Meet Jesus Who Forgives You.