"Our friends, then, are all those who unjustly 
afflict us with trials and ordeals, shame and injustice, sorrows and torments, martyrdom and death; we must love them greatly for we all possess eternal life because of them."
-St. Francis of Assisi
For Reflection:
What a counter-cultural way of looking at the sufferings imposed upon us by others! How have those who have burdened me with pain and suffering become conduits leading me to eternal life? Can I, then, refuse, to forgive them?
Chapter One Page 4 One social critic writing from Australia describes the now middle-aged "baby-boomers" as the me generation who center their attention and energies on self-development and self-gratification. He cites Manning Clark, a historian, who considers that "they are probably the first generation who don't believe in anything at all...."The greed and titillation culture has proved empty and hollow."
