Dear Caritas friends,If our friends and colleagues look dispirited, do we know why? Do we say hello to the people who empty our bins?  Have we been participating in the global Caritas campaign One Human Family, Food for All? Do we pray for those who are vulnerable and whose lives are left in limbo because of under-development and global injustice? In his Lenten message, Pope Francis talks about ‘the globalisation of indifference’ and asks what we can do to overcome the spiral of distress and powerlessness. Lent is a time in which we are called back on our path to follow Christ. It is a time when we are called to renewal.The images and stories of suffering around the world can overwhelm us and can suffocate hope. How tempting is it to think that Syrians will remain refugees for years to come and we can’t do anything about their children dying from hypothermia. How comforting is it to think that there may be wide seas or many miles between us and the people dying from Ebola.As Pope Francis said, the danger is that we live our lives like it’s always Lent and never Easter. We forget that at the end of the dark days of Lent comes the light of Easter. While we personally may not always offer life-saving care to the sick or listen to the heart-rending stories of refugees, we have hope that through our actions we can give the afflicted the tools they need to change their own lives.“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:12 As I, along with millions of others around the world, prepare for Lent, I look at where my connections with others have weakened and where I have fallen into indifference and complacency towards those around me. As individuals and Caritas organisations around the world, do we treat all of our colleagues with the same respect? Do we ignore the needs of some? Do we blindly follow strategies of improvement in lands which aren’t our own without listening to the voices of the people? Do we think that we alone have the answer? In Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict described how people who work for Caritas and other Church organisations need a “formation of the heart”.Lent is a time when we can “retrain” ourselves in “heartfelt concern” and charity.  It is a time to remind ourselves to listen, rather than talk and to try to understand what God is saying to us. It is when we are really called to be ‘One Human Family’. It is a time for reconciliation with those near and far but also with ourselves. “Be patient with everyone, but above all with thyself. Do not be disheartened by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage.” St. Francis de SalesYours in Christ,Oscar Andrés Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga, S.D.B.Président de Caritas Internationalis