For Those Who Feel Caught Up in Consumerism

"Today, those who can live the Gospel consistently are swimming against the tide. This is the heroism of daily life, of living holiness at every instant and in every situation."

"The human being is fully himself only when he meets God and can abandon himself in the embrace of the Trinity! If you can follow this path, you will never be numbers among the masses, copies of the nameless faces of advertising."

"In our society of consumerism and image, we easily run the risk of losing ourselves, of ending ‘in pieces’. A shattered mirror can no longer reflect the whole image. It has to be remade. The person thus needs a deep and stable center around which he can unify his various experiences. This center, as St. Augustine teaches, is not to be sought outside of oneself, but deep in one’s own heart, where one meets God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In the relationship with God who is unity, man can unify himself."

"In a world that offers easy pleasures and deceptive illusions, you must swim against the tide, taking your inspiration from the essential moral values which alone can lead to a harmonious, prosperous and peaceful life."

"Each one is responsible for being ‘rich soil’ and for receiving Christ, so that the Gospel may bear the fruit of new life already in this world, as well as in eternal life. A Christian must guard against being superficial and inconstant, he must not let himself be overcome by the anxieties of the world and by the lure of riches."

"The practical consequences are clearly visible: the model of consumerism, although widely criticized, is ever more dominant. There is a danger that concern, often legitimate for many material problems may become so absorbing as to render human relations cold and difficult. People find they are becoming arid, aggressive, unable to smile, to greet others, to say thank you, to take to heart the problems of others. Due to a complex series of economic, social and cultural factors, in the more developed societies there is a preoccupying sterility, which is both spiritual and demographic. But it is often precisely situations such as these, which often bring people to the limits of desperation, which provoke the urge to invoke the One who is the Lord, the giver of life, because man cannot live without meaning and without hope.