from the Archbishop Chaput’s Address at the Napa Institute Conference, 7.27.2017

When young people ask me how to change the world, I tell them to love each other, get married, stay faithful to one another, have lots of children, and raise those children to be men and women of Christian character.  Faith is a seed.  It doesn’t flower overnight.  It takes time and love and effort.  Money is important, but it’s never the most important thing.  The future belongs to people with children, not with things.  Things rust and break.  But every child is a universe of possibility that reaches into eternity, connecting our memories and our hopes in a sign of God’s love across the generations.  That’s what matters.  The soul of a child is forever.

read complete adress: http://archphila.org/archbishop-chaputs-address-at-the-napa-institute-conference-whats-next-catholics-america-and-a-world-made-new/  

Benedict XVI, Homily at the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, 45th World day of Peace, 2012/01/01

. . . I would like to underline the fact that, in the face of the shadows that obscure the horizon of today’s world, to assume responsibility for educating young people in knowledge of the truth, in fundamental values and virtues, is to look to the future with hope. And in this commitment to a holistic education, formation in justice and peace has a place. Boys and girls today are growing up in a world that has, so to speak, become smaller, where contacts between different cultures and traditions, even if not always direct, are constant. For them, now more than ever, it is indispensable to learn the importance and the art of peaceful coexistence, mutual respect, dialogue and understanding. Young people by their nature are open to these attitudes, but the social reality in which they grow up can lead them to think and act in the opposite way, even to be intolerant and violent. Only a solid education of their consciences can protect them from these risks and make them capable of carrying on the fight, depending always and solely on the power of truth and good. This education begins in the family and is developed at school and in other formative experiences. It is essentially about helping infants, children and adolescents to develop a personality that combines a profound sense of justice with respect for their neighbour, with a capacity to address conflicts without arrogance, with the inner strength to bear witness to good, even when it involves sacrifice, with forgiveness and reconciliation. Thus they will be able to become people of peace and builders of peace.