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[st. Francis] Looked Upon Creation With The Eyes Of One Who Could Recognize In It The Marvelous Work Of The Hand Of God. His Solicitous Care, Not Only Towards Men, But Also Towards Animals Is A Faithful Echo Of The Love With Which God In The Beginning Pronounced His 'fiat' Which Brought Them Into Existence. We Too Are Called To A Similar Attitude.

-Pope John Paul II

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[st. Francis] Looked Upon

Pope John Paul II

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[st. Francis] Looked Upon Creation With The Eyes Of One Who Could Recognize In It The Marvelous Work Of The Hand Of God. His Solicitous Care, Not Only Towards Men, But Also Towards Animals Is A Faithful Echo Of The Love With Which God In The Beginning Pronounced His 'fiat' Which Brought Them Into Existence. We Too Are Called To A Similar Attitude.

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Freedom Consists Not In Doing What We Like, But In Having The Right To Do What We Ought.

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There Is No Evil To Be Faced That Christ Does Not Face With Us. There Is No Enemy That Christ Has Not Already Conquered. There Is No Cross To Bear That Christ Has Not Already Borne For Us, And Does Not Now Bear With Us.

Those Who Perceive In Themselves... The Artistic Vocation As Poet, Writer, Sculptor, Painter, Musician, And Actor Feel At The Same Time An Obligation Not To Waste This Talent But To Develop It, In Order To Put It To Service Of Their Neighbour And The Humanity As A Whole.

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Even If The Forces Of Darkness Appear To Prevail, Those Who Believe In God Know That Evil And Death Do Not Have The Final Say.

Modern Society Will Find No Solution To The Ecological Problem Unless It Takes A Serious Look At Its Lifestyle. In Many Parts Of The World Society Is Given To Instant Gratification And Consumerism While Remaining Indifferent To The Damage Which These Attitudes Cause. Simplicity, Moderation And Discipline, As Well As A Spirit Of Sacrifice, Must Become Part Of Everyday Life, Lest All Suffer The Negative Consequences Of The Careless Habits Of A Few.

Pervading Nationalism Imposes Its Dominion On Man Today In Many Different Forms And With An Aggressiveness That Spares No One. The Challenge That Is Already With Us Is The Temptation To Accept As True Freedom What In Reality Is Only A New Form Of Slavery.

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Theory Of Evolution

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A Nation That Destroys Its Own People Is A Nation Without Hope.

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Fear Of The Unknown

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America You Are Beautiful . . . And Blessed . . . . The Ultimate Test Of Your Greatness Is The Way You Treat Every Human Being, But Especially The Weakest And Most Defenseless. If You Want Equal Justice For All And True Freedom And Lasting Peace, Then America, Defend Life.

The State Of Inequality Between Individuals And Between Nations Not Only Still Exists; It Is Increasing. It Still Happens That Side By Side With Those Who Are Wealthy And Living In Plenty There Exist Those Who Are Living In Want, Suffering Misery And Often Actually Dying Of Hunger; And Their Number Reaches Tens, Even Hundreds Of Millions.

Economic Inequality

We Must Understand That In Order 'to Do', We Must First Learn 'to Be', That Is To Say, In The Sweet Company Of Jesus In Adoration.

There Is No Need To Be Dismayed If Love Sometimes Follows Torturous Ways. Grace Has The Power To Make Straight The Paths Of Human Love.

Interdependence Must Be Transformed Into Solidarity Based Upon The Principle That The Goods Of Creation Are Meant For All. That Which Human Industry Produces Through The Processing Of Raw Materials With The Contribution Of Work Must Serve Equally For The Good Of All.

Let Science Tell Us What And How. Let Religion Tell Us Who And Why.

I Kiss The Soil As If I Placed A Kiss On The Hands Of A Mother, For The Homeland Is Our Earthly Mother. I Consider It My Duty To Be With My Compatriots In This Sublime And Difficult Moment.

Amongst All Unimportant Subjects, Football Is By Far The Most Important.

Young Friends, Do Not Hesitate To Follow The Example Of Pedro, Who 'pleased God And Was Loved By Him' And Who, Having Come To Perfection In So Short A Time, Lived A Full Life.

The Obligation To Earn One's Bread Presumes The Right To Do So. A Society That Denies This Right Cannot Be Justified, Nor Can It Attain Social Peace.

Condemning Class Struggle Does Not Mean Condemning Every Possible Form Of Social Conflict. Such Conflicts Inevitably Arise And Christians Must Often Take A Position In The "struggle For Social Justice." What Is Condemned Is "total War," Which Has No Respect For The Dignity Of Others (and Consequently Of Oneself). It Excludes Reasonable Compromise, Does Not Pursue The Common Good But The Good Of A Group, And Sets Out To Destroy Whatever Stands In Its Way.

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Rediscover The Rosary In The Light Of Scripture, In Harmony With The Liturgy, And In The Context Of Your Daily Lives.

It Is Pleasant To Spend Time With Him, To Lie Close To His Breast Like The Beloved Disciple And To Feel The Infinite Love Present In His Heart....how Can We Not Feel A Renewed Need To Spend Time In Spiritual Converse, In Silent Adoration, In Heartfelt Love Before Christ Present In The Most Holy Sacrament?

Only A Socially Just Country Has The Right To Exist.

The Internet Causes Billions Of Images To Appear On Millions Of Computer Monitors Around The Planet. From This Galaxy Of Sight And Sound Will The Face Of Christ Emerge And The Voice Of Christ Be Heard? For It Is Only When His Face Is Seen And His Voice Heard That The World Will Know The Glad Tidings Of Our Redemption. This Is The Purpose Of Evangelization. And This Is What Will Make The Internet A Genuinely Human Space, For If There Is No Room For Christ, There Is No Room For Man.

Man Cannot Live Without Love. He Remains A Being That Is Incomprehensible For Himself, His Life Is Senseless, If Love Is Not Revealed To Him, If He Does Not Encounter Love, If He Does Not Experience It And Make It His Own, If He Does Not Participate Intimately In It.

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The Man Who Wishes To Understand Himself Thoroughly Must With His Unrest, Uncertainty, And Even His Weakness And Sinfulness, With His Life And Death, Draw Near To Christ.

There Is No Place For Selfishness-and No Place For Fear! Do Not Be Afraid, Then, When Love Makes Demands. Do Not Be Afraid When Love Requires Sacrifice

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The Measure Of Your Success Will Be The Measure Of Your Generosity.

Your Generosity

Peace Is Not Just The Absence Of War. Like A Cathedral, Peace Must Be Constructed Patiently And With Unshakable Faith.

The Eucharist Is The Heart Of The Church. Where Eucharistic Life Flourishes, There The Life Of The Church Will Blossom.

The Family That Prays Together, Stays Together.

The Most Faithful Disciples Of Christ Have Been Builders Of Peace, To The Point Of Forgiving Their Enemies, Sometimes Even To The Point Of Giving Their Lives For Them.

Humanity Should Question Itself, Once More, About The Absurd And Always Unfair Phenomenon Of War.

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Around The World, We Can See The Results Of Exploitation Which Destroys Much Without Taking Future Generations Into Account. Today, All Men Have A Duty To Show Themselves Worthy Of The Mission Given Them By The Creator By Ensuring The Safekeeping Of That Creation.

Give Us The Grace - When The Sacredness Of Life Before Birth Is Attacked, To Stand Up And Proclaim That No One Ever Has The Authority To Destroy Unborn Life.

I Cannot Fail To Note Once Again That The Poor Constitute The Modern Challenge, Especially For The Well-off Of Our Planet, Where Millions Of People Live In Inhuman Conditions And Many Are Literally Dying Of Hunger. It Is Not Possible To Announce God The Father To These Brothers And Sisters Without Taking On The Responsibility Of Building A More Just Society In The Name Of Christ.

By Dialogue, We Let God Be Present In Our Midst, For As We Open Ourselves To One Another, We Open Ourselves To God.

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Man Matures Through Work Which Inspires Him To Difficult Good.

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Beauty Is The Vocation Bestowed On The Artist By The Creator In The Gift Of Artistic Talent.

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We Cannot Interfere In One Area Of The Ecosystem Without Paying Due Attention To Both The Consequences Of Such Interference In Other Areas And To The Well-being Of Future Generations.

The Frenetic Pace Of Modern Life Can Lead To An Obscuring Or Even A Loss Of What Is Truly Human... Perhaps More Than In Other Periods Of History, Our Time Is In Need Of That Genius Which Belongs To Women, And Which Can Ensure Sensitivity For Human Beings In Every Circumstance.

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Every Effort To Make Society Sensitive To The Importance Of The Family, Is A Great Service To Humanity.

Man Always Travels Along Precipices... His Truest Obligation Is To Keep His Balance.

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The Gospel Must Not Be Kept Hidden Because Of Fear Or Indifference. It Was Never Meant To Be Hidden Away In Private. It Has To Be Put On A Stand So That People May See Its Light And Give Praise To Our Heavenly Father.

Utilitarianism Is A Civilization Of Production And Of Use, A Civilization Of "things" And Not Of "persons," A Civilization In Which Persons Are Used In The Same Way As Things Are Used. In The Context Of A Civilization Of Use, Woman Can Become An Object For Man, Children A Hindrance To Parents, The Family An Institution Obstructing The Freedom Of Its Members.

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Prayer Joined To Sacrifice Constitutes The Most Powerful Force In Human History.

Where, If Not In The Divine Mercy, Can The World Find Refuge And The Light Of Hope?

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Socialist Countries

On The Basis Of His Work Each Person Is Fully Entitled To Consider Himself A Part Owner Of The Great Workbench At Which He Is Working With Everyone Else. A Way Toward That Goal Could Be Found By Associating Labor With The Ownership Of Capital Joint Ownership Of The Means Of Work, Sharing By The Workers In The Management And/or Profits Of Businesses, So-called Shareholding By Labor, Etc.

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The Best, The Surest And The Most Effective Way Of Establishing Peace On The Face Of The Earth Is Through The Great Power Of Perpetual Adoration Of The Blessed Sacrament.

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It Is More Necessary Than Ever To Intensify Liturgical Life ... By Means Of An Appropriate Formation ... Of All The Faithful.

And Everything Else Will Then Turn Out To Be Unimportant And Inessential Except This: Father, Child, And Love. And Then, Looking At The Simplest Things, We Will All Say, Could We Have Not Learned This Long Ago? Has This Not Always Been Embedded In Everything That Is?

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When Our Whole Life Is One Faith, Hope, Love, Prayer And Silence, A Consecrated Life Always Bound Up In The Eucharist, Then The 'urge' Towards God Springs.

Social Justice Cannot Be Attained By Violence. Violence Kills What It Intends To Create.

The Vocation And Mission Of The Faithful Can Only Be Understood In Light Of A Renewed Awareness Of The Church As Sacrament Or Sign And Instrument Of Intimate Union With God, Of The Unity Of The Whole Of Mankind, And Of The Personal Duty To Adhere More Closely To Her.

From This Moment On, Live The Eucharist Fully; Be Persons For Whom The Holy Mass, Communion, And Eucharistic Adoration Are The Center And Summit Of Their Whole Life.

If He Asks Much Of You, It Is Because He Knows You Can Give Much.

The Problem Of Pornography Is That It Does Not Reveal Too Much Of A Woman But Too Little.

The Church Imposes Nothing; She Only Proposes, She Proposes Like A Lover To The Beloved.

Work Bears A Particular Mark Of Man And Of Humanity, The Mark Of A Person Operating Within A Community Of Persons

...if Desire Is Predominant It Can Deform Love Between Man And Woman And Rob Them Both Of It.

Prayer Finds Its Source In God's Holiness And It Is At The Same Time Our Response To This Holiness.

With Supernatural Intuition Blessed Josemaria Untiringly Preached The Universal Call To Holiness And Apostolate. Christ Calls Everyone To Become Holy In The Realities Of Everyday Life. Hence Work Too Is A Means Of Personal Holiness And Apostolate When It Is Done In Union With Jesus Christ

You Are Priests, Not Social Or Political Leaders. Let Us Not Be Under The Illusion That We Are Serving The Gospel Through An Exaggerated Interest In The Wide Field Of Temporal Problems.

The Essential Commitment And, Above All, The Visible Grace And Source Of Supernatural Strength For The Church As The People Of God Is To Persevere And Advance Constantly In Eucharistic Life And Eucharistic Piety And To Develop Spiritually In The Climate Of The Eucharist.

In The Mass And In Eucharistic Adoration We Meet The Merciful Love Of God That Passes Through The Heart Of Jesus Christ.

Through Mary, We Come To Her Son More Easily.

Bless, O Lord Of The Centuries And The Millennia, The Daily Work By Which Men And Women Provide Bread For Themselves And Their Loved Ones. We Also Offer To Your Fatherly Hands The Toil And Sacrifices Associated With Work, In Union With Your Son Jesus Christ, Who Redeemed Human Work From The Yoke Of Sin And Restored It To Its Original Dignity.

The Seriousness Of Ecological Degradation Lays Bare The Depth Of Man's Moral Crisis... Simplicity, Moderation, And Discipline As Well As The Spirit Of Sacrifice Must Become A Part Of Everyday Life.

This Is Why Moral Uneasiness Is Destined To Become Even More Acute. It Is Obvious That A Fundamental Defect, Or Rather A Series Of Defects, Indeed A Defective Machinery Is At The Root Of Contemporary Economics And Materialistic Civilization, Which Does Not Allow The Human Family To Break Free From Such Radically Unjust Situations.

Economic Inequality

Only Faith In Christ Gives Rise To A Culture Contrary To Egotism And Death.

Believers Know That The Presence Of Evil Is Always Accompanied By The Presence Of Good, By Grace... Where Evil Grows, There The Hope For Good Also Grows... In The Love That Pours Forth From The Heart Of Christ, We Find Hope For The Future Of The World. Christ Has Redeemed The World: "by His Wounds We Are Healed." (isaiah 53:5)

It Is Manifestly Unjust That A Privileged Few Should Continue To Accumulate Excess Goods, Squandering Available Resources, While Masses Of People Are Living In Conditions Of Misery At The Very Lowest Level Of Subsistence.

Love Consists Of A Commitment Which Limits One's Freedom - It Is A Giving Of The Self, And To Give Oneself Means Just That: To Limit One's Freedom On Behalf Of Another.

The Gospel Of Life Must Be Proclaimed And Human Life Defended In All Places And All Times.

Art Has A Unique Capacity To Take One Or Other Facet Of The Message And Translate It Into Colors, Shapes And Sounds Which Nourish The Intuition Of Those Who Look And Listen.

May You Experience The Truth That He, Christ, Looks Upon You With Love.

Christians Will Want To Be In The Vanguard In Favoring Ways Of Life That Decisively Break With The Exhausting And Joyless Frenzy Of Consumerism.

We Christians Joyfully Recognize The Religious Values We Have In Common With Islam. I Would Like To Repeat What I Said To Young Muslims Some Years Ago In Casablanca: 'we Believe In The Same God, The One God, The Living God, The God Who Created The World And Brings His Creatures To Their Perfection.

Nobody Is So Poor He Has Nothing To Give, And Nobody Is So Rich He Has Nothing To Receive.

Let Us Not Accept Violence As The Way Of Peace. Let Us Instead Begin By Respecting True Freedom: The Resulting Peace Will Be Able To Satisfy The World's Expectations, For It Will Be A Peace Built On Justice, A Peace Founded On The Incomparable Dignity Of The Free Human Being.

The Most Urgent Task Is That Of The Biblical And Liturgical Formation Of The People Of God.

God Passionately Desires And Ardently Yearns For Our Salvation... Nothing Is Greater Than This: That The Blood Of God Was Poured Out For Us.

The Drama Of Aids Threatens Not Just Some Nations Or Societies, But The Whole Of Humanity. It Knows No Frontiers Of Geography, Race, Age Or Social Condition(calling) For A Supreme Effort Of International Cooperation On The Part Of Government, The World Medical And Scientific Community And All Those Who Exercise Influence In Developing A Sense Of More Responsibility In Society.

The 25th Anniversary Of The Decision ... Is A Call To People Of Good Will To Reflect. Now Is The Time For Recommitment To The Building Of A Culture Of Absolute Respect For Life.

Life With Christ Is A Wonderful Adventure.

Humanity Should Question Itself, Once More, About The Absurd And Always Unfair Phenomenon Of War, On Whose Stage Of Death And Pain Only Remain Standing The Negotiating Table That Could And Should Have Prevented It.

I Have A Sweet Tooth For Song And Music. This Is My Polish Sin.

None Are So Poor That They Have Nothing To Give...and None Are So Rich That They Have Nothing To Receive.

As The Family Goes, So Goes The Nation And So Goes The Whole World In Which We Live.

While It Is True That The Taking Of Life Not Yet Born Or In It's Final Stages Is Sometimes Marked By A Mistaken Sense Of Altruism And Human Compassion It Cannot Be Denied That Such A Culture Of Death, Taken As A Whole, Betrays A Completely Individualistic Concept Of Freedom, Which Ends Up By Becoming The Freedom Of "the Strong" Against The Weak Who Have No Choice But To Submit.

Take Heed All Of You Who Have At Heart Mankind's Future! Take Heed Men And Women Of Good Will! May The Temptation To Seek Revenge Give Way To The Courage To Forgive; May The Culture Of Life And Love Render Vain The Logic Of Death; May Trust Once More Give Breath To The Lives Of Peoples.

Be Demanding Of The World Around You; Be Demanding First Of All With Yourselves. Be Children Of God; Take Pride In It!

The New Evangelization Calls For Followers Of Christ Who Are Unconditionally Pro-life Who Will Proclaim, Celebrate, And Serve The Gospel Of Life In Every Situation. A Sign Of Hope Is The Increasing Recognition That The Dignity Of Human Life Must Never Be Taken Away, Even In The Case Of Someone Who Has Done Great Evil. I Renew The Appeal I Made ... For A Consensus To End The Death Penalty, Which Is Both Cruel And Unnecessary.

From Now On It Is Only Through A Conscious Choice And Through A Deliberate Policy That Humanity Can Survive.

From Mary We Learn To Surrender To God's Will In All Things. From Mary We Learn To Trust Even When All Hope Seems Gone. From Mary We Learn To Love Christ Her Son And The Son Of God!

Precisely In An Age When The Inviolable Rights Of The Person Are Solemnly Proclaimed And The Value Of Life Is Publicly Affirmed, The Very Right To Life Is Being Denied Or Trampled Upon, Especially At The More Significant Moments Of Existence: The Moment Of Birth And The Moment Of Death.

Christian Holiness Does Not Being Sinless, But Rather It Means Struggling Not To Give In And Always Getting Up After Every Fall.

Sacred Scripture Wishes Simply To Declare That The World Was Created By God, And In Order To Teach This Truth It Expressed Itself In Terms Of The Cosmology In Use At The Time Of The Writer. Any Other Teaching About The Origin And Makeup Of The Universe Is So Alien To The Intentions Of The Bible, Which Does Not Wish To Teach How Heaven Was Made But How One Goes To Heaven.

The Modern World, A World Which Has Experienced Marvelous Achievements But Which Seems To Have Lost Its Sense Of Ultimate Realities And Of Existence Itself.

What Really Matters In Life Is That We Are Loved By Christ And That We Love Him In Return. In Comparison To The Love Of Jesus, Everything Else Is Secondary. And, Without The Love Of Jesus, Everything Is Useless.

Before Our Eyes We Have The Results Of Ideologies Such As Marxism, Nazism And Fascism, And Also Of Myths Like Racial Superiority, Nationalism And Ethnic Exclusivism. No Less Pernicious, Though Not Always As Obvious, Are The Effects Of Materialistic Consumerism, In Which The Exaltation Of The Individual And The Selfish Satisfaction Of Personal Aspirations Become The Ultimate Goal Of Life. In This Outlook, The Negative Effects On Others Are Considered Completely Irrelevant.

Solidarity Is Not A Feeling Of Vague Compassion Or Shallow Distress At The Misfortunes Of So Many People, Both Near And Far. On The Contrary, It Is A Firm And Persevering Determination To Commit Oneself To The Common Good; That Is To Say To The Good Of All And Of Each Individual, Because We Are All Really Responsible For All

The New York Marathon: A Fantastic Event.

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