We don't have to expect everything from those who govern us; that would be juvenile.
Interpretation
Expecting perfection from leaders is unrealistic and immature.
Pope Francis suggests that it is naive to expect all-encompassing solutions and virtues from those in power. Acknowledging our own responsibility as citizens can lead to a more mature understanding of governance and civic life.
In practice
During a lecture on civic engagement, one could quote this to emphasize the need for personal responsibility in governance.
We are a church of sinners but we must not be afraid of holiness. Do not be afraid to aim for holiness and turn yourselves over to the love of God. Holiness does not mean performing extraordinary things but carrying out daily things in an extraordinary way that is with love, joy and faith.
I join the March for Life in Washington with my prayers. May God help us respect all life, especially the most vulnerable.
No one must say that they cannot be close to the poor because their own lifestyle demands more attention to other areas. This is an excuse commonly heard in academic, business or professional, and even ecclesial circles. While it is quite true that the essential vocation and mission of the lay faithful is to strive that earthly realities and all human activity may be transformed by the Gospel, none of us can think we are exempt from concern for the poor and for social justice
We face so many challenges in life: poverty, distress, humiliation, the struggle for justice, persecutions, the difficulty of daily conversion, the effort to remain faithful to our call to holiness, and many others. But if we open the door to Jesus and allow him to be part of our lives, if we share our joys and sorrows with him, then we will experience the peace and joy that only God, who is infinite love, can give.
More and more people work on Sundays as a consequence of the competitiveness imposed by a consumer society.
This Christmas may we be consistent in living the Gospel, welcoming Jesus into the centre of our lives.
No animal ever invented anything as bad as drunkenness - or so good as drink.
Morality [or ethics] is not a subject; it is a life put to the test in dozens of moments.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.
Who will grieve for this woman? Does she not seem too insignificant for our concern? Yet in my heart I never will deny her, Who suffered death because she chose to turn.
An independant reality in the ordinary physical sense can neither be ascribed to the phenomenon nor to the agencies of observation.
Just as the performance of the vilest and most wicked deeds requires spirit and talent, so even the greatest demand a certain insensitivity which under other circumstances we would call stupidity.
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