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The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still. (Exodus 14:14)

"21 Avoid any tendency to wrong-doing, for this is why affliction is testing you now." (Job 36)

Looking at Rembrandt's painting of the father, I can see three ways to a truly compassionate fatherhood: grief, forgiveness, and generosity.

...the hardest conversion to go through is the conversion of the one who stayed home.

'Look!' said Pippin. 'Strider the Ranger has come back!'
'He has never been away,' said Aragorn. 'I am Strider and Dúnadan too, and I belong to both Gondor and the North.'

The world was unworthy, says St. Augustine, to receive the Son of God directly from the Father's hands. He gave Him to Mary in order that the world might receive Him through her.

I thought of the soul as resembling a castle, formed of a single diamond or a very transparent crystal, and containing many rooms, just as in Heaven there are many mansions.

The world is all grown strange. Elf and Dwarf in company walk in our daily fields; and folk speak with the Lady of the Wood and yet live; and the Sword comes back to war that was broken in the long ages ere the fathers of our fathers rode into the Mark! How shall a man judge what to do in such times?

What news of the North, Riders of Rohan?

Dawn came glimmering, and slowly a grey light grew about them. At last he rose, and now his friends could see his face: it was pale and drawn, and his look was troubled. ''...But loud are the hoofs of the horses. It comes to my mind that I heard them, even as I lay on the ground in sleep, and they troubled my dreams: horses galloping... I wonder what is happening in this land!'

The grey hood and elven-cloak they folded and placed beneath his head. They combed his long dark hair and arrayed it upon his shoulders. The golden belt of Lórien gleamed about his waist. His helm they set beside him, and across from his lap they laid the cloven horn and the hilt and shards of his sword; beneath his feet they put the swords of his enemies.

THE DEPARTURE OF BOROMIR Aragon sped on up the hill. Every now and again he bent to the ground. Hobbits go light, and their footprints are not easy even for a Ranger to read, but not far from the top a spring crossed the path, and in the wet earth he saw what he was seeking. 'I read the sights aright,' he said to himself. 'Frodo ran to the hill-top. I wonder what he saw there?

'Praised be the bow of Galadriel, and the hand and eye of Legolas!' said Gimli, as he munched a wafer of lembas. 'That was a mighty shot in the dark, my friend!'

Suddenly the great bow of Lórien sang. Shrill went the arrow from the elven-string.

Can I become active in a political party even if its positions do not always agree with those of Christian doctrine? Yes... That makes it all the more important for Catholics to collaborate responsibly so as to strengthen the right positions and make them capable for winning a majority.

What can I do so as not to be alone in my social commitment? ...In a small, friendly community, young Christians can strength one another in the faith. Together they can pray, seek God's will, form groups of people interested in learning more about their faith, become acquainted with Church teaching, and even spend their free time with each other.

Catholic social doctrine says: God's master plan for human coexistence is social charity. When we live in the sight of a personal God who willed us and has some purpose for us, then we are children of a common father, brothers and sisters to one another. Then gratitude, meaning, and responsibility determine our individual and common life. A culture of mutual respect comes about.

A Christian finds peace in and with himself through prayer and listening to the Word of God... Peace is the tranquility with order and, more deeply, happiness in God's order. This sort of peace is our goal. We find ourselves on the path of peace when we work in justice and love toward a world that is ordered as God intended.

People in the world should regard themselves as a community and accept certain differences between individuals and peoples, since this variety is to be seen as wealth.

God is the Creator of every single human being; therefore, he is the Father of all mankind. We human beings can regard each other as brothers and sisters who are connected with one another in one family. In a family, the members trust one another, are there for each other, and help each other. In the same way, the entire population of the world should feel connected with one another.

Is globalization fate? No, we should not think about globalization fatalistically. It is man-made and therefore can also be shaped by man according to moral standards.

The Church demands what is implied by the universal principles of religious freedom: freedom of expression and teaching, freedom of public worship and organisational freedom, freedom to appoint her own officials, freedom to construct houses of worship, the right to own private property and also to associate for various educational, cultural, medical, and charitable purposes.

If the human person is the fundamental value of the political community, then he is also the sole reason for the legitimacy of political power.

First a person finds himself and his dignity in his relationship to God, then he achieves fulfilment in relation to his fellowmen. These two dimensions are closely interconnected.

A human being is both an individual and a social being. He lives in a threefold circle of relationships: 1) to himself, 2) to his fellow human beings, and 3) to God. Man is the measure and object of politics.

The source, focus and end of all economic activity is the free human being.

The goal of human life is not to pile up money or to earn a reputation, but to attain eternal life with God through prayer, worship, and active love of neighbour. Insofar as man's work is subordinate to this goal, it is part of a Christian life. But when work becomes an end in itself and obscures the real goal of our human existence, its importance has been exaggerated.

From the biblical perspective, God's punishment for the Fall is not work itself, but rather the hardship of the work.

To be able to work, to have work, and to be able to accomplish something for oneself and for others is a great source of happiness for many people. To be unemployed, not to be needed, takes the dignity away from a person. Through work man develops his inclinations and abilities and participates in economic, societal, and cultural development.

An example: In keeping with the principle of subsidiarity, it cannot be the State's task to raise children, because that would take away from parents a task that has belonged to them from the beginning. Rather, in given circumstances (living conditions, work, and educational opportunities), the State should give families all the necessary assistance.