List of points

I will suggest to you a good rule of conduct for living fraternity and a spirit of service. When you are not around, other people should be able to go ahead with the work you have in hand thanks to the experience you have generously passed on to them, and to your not having made yourself indispensable.

Think about your Mother the Holy Church and consider how, if one member suffers, the whole body suffers.

—Your body needs each one of its members, but each member needs the whole body. What would happen if my hands were to stop doing their duty… or if my heart were to stop beating!

Saint Paul has given us a wonderful recipe for charity: alter alterius onera portate et sic adimplebitis legem Christi — bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfil the law of Christ.

—Is this what happens in your life?

When I preach that we have to make ourselves a carpet so that the others may tread softly, I am not simply being poetic: it has to be a reality!

—It’s hard, as sanctity is hard; but it’s also easy, because, I insist, sanctity is within everyone’s reach.