We must develop without fear, without false modesty or shyness, all the talents that the Lord has given us, put our energies so that society progresses and becomes more and more human, so that the necessary conditions are created for everyone to lead a dignified life, as befits the children of God. We must learn to give of our own, to encourage and to help, according to our circumstances, institutions and foundations that elevate and redeem man from his uncultured or less human conditions. We must strive, as far as it depends on us, that there no longer be those inequalities and social differences that cry out to Heaven: on the one hand, people who struggle every day to survive; on the other, wastefulness that offends the creature and the Creator.
We encounter many difficulties, both internal - in our hearts, where the roots of selfishness and disordered possession remain - and external - those of an environment unbridled by consumer goods. This external environment, which often carries with it a strong charge of sensuality, is "the most suitable framework for the proliferation of moral deviations of all kinds: eroticism, the exaltation of pleasure, the degradation caused by the abuse of alcohol and drugs, etc. It is evident that such excesses appear as a consequence of the deep dissatisfaction that man suffers when he turns away from God (...). The result is plain to see: men and women - countless by now - lacking in ideals, without criteria or a clear sense of things and of life", who rise up against the Lord and against Christ.
For the majority of Christians, for those who are to sanctify themselves in the midst of temporal realities, following Christ will mean developing their capacity - also in terms of creating and longing for material goods - for the good of society as a whole, beginning with the family, which must have the necessary means, helping those who are most in need, creating jobs.... But the Christian's aim in life cannot be to get rich, to accumulate goods, to possess as much as possible. This would lead to the greatest impoverishment of his person. Temperance in the possession and use of goods gives the Christian a human and supernatural maturity that allows him to follow Christ closely and to carry out a great apostolate in the world. Our Lady, who knew how to live this virtue of poverty like no one else, will help us today to formulate a resolution, perhaps small but very concrete.