I Feel So Low That

Today, We Need A Church Capable Of Walking At People's Side, Of Doing More Than Simply Listening To Them.... At Times We Lose People Because They Don't Understand What We Are Saying, Because We Have Forgotten The Language Of Simplicity And Import An Intellectualism Foreign To Our People.... We Cannot Keep Ourselves Shut Up In Parishes, In Our Communities, When So Many People Are Waiting For The Gospel.

This Concern For The Poor Is In The Gospel, It Is Within The Tradition Of The Church, It Is Not An Invention Of Communism And It Must Not Be Turned Into An Ideology, As Has Sometimes Happened Before In The Course Of History.

During My Visit To The Philippines, I Wanted In A Particular Way To Meet With Young People, To Listen To You And To Talk To You. I Want To Express The Love And The Hopes Of The Church For You. And I Want To Encourage You As Christian Citizens Of This Country To Offer Yourselves Passionately And Honestly To The Great Work Of Renewing Your Society And Helping To Build A Better World.

It Is My Hope That Inter-religious And Ecumenical Cooperation Will Demonstrate That Men And Women Do Not Have To Forsake Their Identity, Whether Ethnic Or Religious, In Order To Live In Harmony With Their Brothers And Sisters. If We Are Honest In Presenting Our Convictions, We Will Be Able To See More Clearly What We Hold In Common.

God Understands Us, He Waits For Us. He Doesn't Get Tired Of Forgiving Us. If We Repent And Go To Him With A Truly Open Heart.