“Learning to weep, learning to keep vigil, learning to wait for the dawn. Perhaps this is what it means to be human.”

Once we deeply trust that we ourselves are precious in God’s eyes, we are able to recognize the preciousness of others and their unique places in God’s heart.

Our greatest fulfillment lies in giving ourselves to others.

In a world so torn apart by rivalry, anger, and hatred, we have the privileged vocation to be living signs of a love that can bridge all divisions and heal all wounds.

We are called to be fruitful – not successful, not productive, not accomplished. Success comes from strength, stress, and human effort. Fruitfulness comes from vulnerability and the admission of our own weakness.

Every time there are losses, there are choices to be made. You choose to live your losses as passages to anger, blame, hatred, depression and resentment, or you choose to let these losses be passages to something new, something wider, and deeper.

We cannot make it rain but we can see to it that the rain falls on prepared soil.

One of the tragedies of our life is that we keep forgetting who we are.

The main question is not, how can we hide our wounds but how can we put our woundedness in service to others.

The spiritual life is a life beyond moods. It is a life in which we choose joy and do not allow ourselves to become victims of passing feelings of happiness or depression.

Forgiveness changes the way we remember.

Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you.

I trust in you, Lord, but keep helping me in my moments of distrust and doubt.

Waiting time is not wasting time. Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life.

My whole life I have been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I discovered that my interruptions were my work.

When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become.

Every time I take a step in the direction of generosity, I know I am moving from fear to love.

Yet what greater defeat could we suffer than to come to resemble the forces we oppose in their disrespect for human dignity?

Women’s rights are human rights.

We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.

Violence against women and girls is one of the most serious human rights issues.

Books break the shackles of time, proof that humans can work magic.

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.

We’re all human, aren’t we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving.

Women’s rights are an essential part of the overall human rights agenda