Brothers and sisters of the World Federation of Christian Life Communities,

YOU HAVE been so good as to come to see me at the beginning of your General Council Meeting. I am happy to meet you and to assure you of my prayerful interest as you undertake a period of reflection on how to work for a world community at the service of one world. 

This aim of yours means making people open out in order to enter into communication with others, saying to them, as Jesus said to the deaf mute in today’s Gospel reading "Ephphatha", that is, "Be opened." We must break out of the narrow limits of self-centredness, questioning our life-style in order to see in what way it fails to respond to God’s call to live as the one human family of which we are all members, and trying to discern the spiritual and material needs of our brothers and sisters throughout the world that require our assistance. 

This task is not an easy one. But through the power of Jesus it is not impossible. I invoke his assistance on your deliberations and on the efforts of the individual Christian Life Communities to achieve this aim. And in his name I bless each one of you and the other members of your movement. 

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