Riccardi

Rome, November 25, 1975 "Is it possible to develop our own personality while giving of ourselves to others? In doing this wouldn’t we give up being ourselves?"If you only knew what a personality we could form by giving ourselves to the others!! It is in lov¬ing that we burn up our own "ego", our "old self" as St. Paul would say, in order to allow our "new self" to live in us. It is our "new self" which is our real, true personality. Here are some examples. Do you think that St. Francis who always gave of himself to others is similar to the Little Flower (St. Therese of the Child Jesus)? He is very different and has a personality of his own. He sings to the birds, to nature, to the sun, to the light, to the fields. His message is poverty. He brings about a total revolution attracting a multitude of persons. He leaves a distinctive mark on the century in which he lives.The Little Flower is not like

Palermo, 22 January 1998 Dearest everyone,    …We know that our spirituality, which is both personal and communitarian, leads us to extend our love vertically, as they say today, towards God; and horizontally towards our neighbour. And the holiness that derives from this is the fruit of the balance between these two loves (...) Text Video in italian

Rocca di Papa, February 28, 1991 Dearest all, In the last conference call we transmit¬ted about a month ago, against the background of the war which had just ex¬ploded in the Gulf, we left one another in the hope of seeing a different panorama, one that would offer us better news.And today, precisely today, the much-awaited news has arrived: the war has ended. … Text Video in italian

Rome, August 10, 1990 Commentary of the Word of Life: Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law (Rom. 13:8).1 In the preceding verses (Rom. 13:1-7) Paul refers to what we owe the civil authorities (obedience, respect, paying taxes etc.). He stresses that this debt should also be paid in a spirit of love. Of course, such a debt is easily understood, all the more so because if we neglect it, we are penalized by law. On this basis, Paul goes on to speak of another debt, one that’s a bit more difficult to understand. It is our debt, following the instructions Jesus left us, towards every neighbour. It is mutual love in its various expressions: generosity, thoughtfulness, trust, mutual esteem, sincerity and so on (see Rom. 12, 9-12) Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. This Word of Life emphasizes two things. In the first place, love