Peacemaking Calls For Courage, Much

Consumerism Has Accustomed Us To Waste. But Throwing Food Away Is Like Stealing It From The Poor And Hungry.

There Is Another Important Point: Encountering The Poor. If We Step Outside Ourselves We Find Poverty. Today-it Sickens The Heart To Say So-the Discovery Of A Tramp Who Has Died Of The Cold Is Not News. Today What Counts As News Is, Maybe, A Scandal. A Scandal: Ah, That Is News! Today, The Thought That A Great Many Children Do Not Have Food To Eat Is Not News. This Is Serious, This Is Serious! We Cannot Put Up With This! Yet That Is How Things Are. We Cannot Become Starched Christians, Those Over-educated Christians Who Speak Of Theological Matters As They Calmly Sip Their Tea.

God Never Tires Of Forgiving Us; We Are The Ones Who Tire Of Seeking His Mercy.

We Have Created New Idols. The Worship Of The Ancient Golden Calf (cf. Ex 32:1-35) Has Returned In A New And Ruthless Guise In The Idolatry Of Money And The Dictatorship Of An Impersonal Economy Lacking A Truly Human Purpose. The Worldwide Crisis Affecting Finance And The Economy Lays Bare Their Imbalances And, Above All, Their Lack Of Real Concern For Human Beings; Man Is Reduced To One Of His Needs Alone: Consumption.

Today, Elderly People Are Discarded When, In Reality, They Are The Seat Of Wisdom Of The Society...the Right To Life Means Allowing People To Live And Not Killing, Allowing Them To Grow, To Eat, To Be Educated, To Be Healed, And To Be Permitted To Die With Dignity.