June 30

This sharing of love in His poor has brought us all so close to each other and so, closer to the poor; and by doing so we have come to know the poor. This knowledge has led us to love and sacrifice, to personal service for our neighbor. Therefore I appeal to every one of you, rich, young or old, to give your own hands to serve Christ in the poor and your hearts to love Him in them.

June 29

We have to realize that to be forgiven, we have to be able to forgive. If only the people in Northern Ireland and in other places could learn to forgive, I think peace would come to them.

June 28

We need to find God and God cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees and flowers and grass - grown in silence. See the starts, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life.

June 27

Sanctity is not a luxury for the few. It is a simple duty for you and me. I have to be a saint in my way and you in yours. Thoughtfulness is the beginning of great sanctity. If you learn this art of being thoughtful you will become more and more like Christ, for His heart was meek and He always thought of others.

June 26

I do not agree with the big way of doing things. To us, what matters is an individual. To get to love a person, we must come in close contact with him. If we wait till we get numbers, then we will be lost in the numbers, and we will never be able to show that love and respect for the person. I believe in person-to-person; every person is Christ for me, and since there is only one Jesus, that person is the one person in the world at that moment.

June 25

I don't want that you give from your abundance. I want you to understand through direct contact. The poor need deeds, not words. It is not my task to evaluate existing systems, economic, social, or political structures and ideologies. Everyone has a conscience and must follow it.

June 24

I will remember always the last time I visited Venezuela in South America. A rich family had given the Sisters land to build a children's home, so I went to thank them. And there in the family I found their eldest child was terribly disabled. And I asked the mother: What is the child's name? The mother answered: "Professor of Love, because this child is teaching us the whole time how to express love in action." There was a beautiful smile on the mother's face. "Professor or Love" they called their child, so terribly disabled, so disfigured!

June 23

Charity for the poor is like a living flame; the drier the fuel, the brighter it burns. In your service to the poor do not give only your hands but also your hearts. Charity to be fruitful must cost us. Give until it hurts. To love, it is necessary to give: to give it is necessary to be free from selfishness.

June 22

We must not drift away from the humble works, because these are the works nobody will do. They are never too small. We are so small we look at things in a small way. Een if we do a small thing for somebody, God, being almighty, sees everything as great. For there are many people who can do big things. But there are very few people who will do the small things.

June 21

If we are full of sin, God cannot fill us, because even God himself cannot fill what is full. That's why we need forgiveness to become empty, and then God fills us with Himself.

June 20

It is easy to love people far away, very easy to think of the hungry people in India. You must see first that there is love at home and at your next-door neighbour's and in the street you live in, in the town you live in and only then outside.

June 19

Often when you see small and big wires, new and old, cheap and expensive electric cable that are useless, for until the current passes through them there will be no light. The wires are you and me, the current is God. We have the power to let the current pass through us - to use us - or refuse to be used and allow darkness to spread.

June 18

Everything starts with prayer. Love to pray - feel the need to pray often during the day and take the trouble to pray. If you don't want to pray better, you must pray more. The more you pray the easier it becomes. Perfect prayer does not consist of many words but in the fervour of the desire which raises the heart to Jesus.

June 17

Dear God, when it comes to helping those in need, help me to see more than myself. I don't think there is anyone who needs God's grace and help more than I do. feel so foresaken and confused at times. And I think that is exactly why God uses me, because I cannot claim any credit for what gets done. On the contrary, I need His help twenty-four hours a day.

June 16

In Yemen, which is entirely a Muslim country, I asked one of the rich people to build a Masjid there. People needed a place to pray, I said to him. They are all Muslim brothers and sisters. They need to have a place where they can meet God.

June 15

Overcome the finite with the infinite. Christ has created you because He wanted you. I know what you feel - terrible longing, with dark emptiness - and yet, He is the one in love with you. I do not know if you have seen these few lines before, but they fill and empty me: "My God, my God, what is a heart that thou shouldst so eye and woo, pouring upon it all thy heart, as though it thou hadst nothing else to do?"

June 14

The essential thing is not what we say, but what God says to us and through us. All our words will be useless unless they come from within. Why not try and hold your tongue? You know what you can do but you do not know how much the other can bear.

June 13

None of us, I am sure knows what is the pain of hunger but one day I learned it from a little child. I found the child i the street and I saw in her face that terrible hunger that I have seen in many eyes. Without questioning her I gave her a piece of bread, and then I saw that the little child was eating the bread crumb by crumb. And I said to her, eat the bread. And that little one looked at me and said, " I am afraid because when the bread is finished I will be hungry again."

June 12

Have you ever gone to help any charitable organization in your own country? If you have never gone, I think you should not miss such an opportunity in life. It gives you the experience of sheer joy and fulfilment. You will get in touch with Christ as you would nowhere else.

June 11

Our work should not be superficial but deep. We must reach the heart. To reach the heart we must do - love is proved in deeds. People are attracted more by what they seen than by what they hear. If people wish to help, let them come and see - the reality is more attractive than the abstract idea.

June 10

If I was told, you may only stay here and work for the poor if you give up your faith, your religion, which would I choose? My religion nobody can take from me, and therefore they cannot refuse it, they cannot take it from me. This is something within me. If there is no alternative and if that is the only way that Christ wants to come amongst these people by radiating His life, His love for them through my actions and so draw them to Him, I would stay to serve them. I wouldn't give up. I would be ready to give my life, but not my faith.

June 9

How can we help students to see the richness of community service? Teach them. And ask them to love in their own family. Love begins at home. Lots of love always brings lots of peace. That's why it is important for the family to pray together, and they will stay together and love one another. The it will be easier to be a fountain of love for each other.

June 8

Joy is love, the normal result of a heart burning with love. Joy is a need and a physical power. Our lamp will be burning with sacrifices made out of love if we have joy.

June 7

Love does not live on words nor can it be explained by words - especially the love which serves God. Simple acts of love and care keep the light of God burning.

June 6

When we say no to violence, we always imagine a knife, a bomb, a gun. However, to me, violence is caused by our attitude. For example, telling people that they are good for nothing, that they are lazy, and that they are this, and that they are that. I think this a great violence. If you and I cold only make that one strong resolution that we will say "no" to violence, and say "yes" to peace by our kindness, by our attitude towards each other, even in a small thing - a smile when we meet each other, it would help more than anything.

June 5

Young people, make a strong resolution today, that we will keep our purity pure, our chastity chaste, our virginity virgin! The greatest gift you can give to each other on the day of your wedding, or to God, on the day when you join the priesthood or religious life, is a pure heart, a pure body.

June 4

How can we stress respect for life - from the womb to those who are dying on the streets? We must realize the greatness of life. Every child is a gift from God. I think it is important to realize that we have been created for greater things - to love and to be loved. When we destroy love, then who will be there for us? Every single person, young and old, must realize this. When we realize this, the we will be able to share that love. We will be able to accept each other. We will be really free and able for Jesus.

June 3

What a shame if one of our brothers or sisters dies of hunger because of our neglect and selfishness. We will never feel what the poor feel, because we do not have to worry about our next meal, about our clothes, our comforts, we have them all in abundance. Love means to share with others

June 2

Start by making your own home a place where peace, happiness and love abound, through your love for each member of your family and for your neighbor.

June 1

I think the world today is upside down. Everybody seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater development and greater riches and so on. There is much suffering because there is so very little love in homes and in family life. We have not ime for each other; there is no time to enjoy each other. In the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world.