Gambling “Every time my husband gambled there was an argument in the house. Thanks to the relationships I had built with the people at the community centre where I do the cleaning, I would return home with some new strength for facing problems. One day a group was reading the Gospel and talking about loving their enemies. I thought of my husband and how I was always arguing with him, so I tried to have a different view towards him. As months went by something also changed in him. One day he found himself in a fight over the game. He was about to kill his adversary when that small change that had begun in him prevented him from doing it. Since he didn’t want to be living a double life, he also gave up gambling.” A.R.- Philippines  Waiting for retirement “As I wait for my retirement letter, I’m gradually handing things over to my colleagues. I’m nearly finished and the letter hasn’t arrived and I don’t really have any specific work to do. What to do? Every day I have to invent some new job: first it’s taking care of those old papers that I never had time to look at; then there are those situatioins that were left hanging until I could speak to people in other offices. . . Then there was that colleague who had to stay home with her sick children. When she returned I  helped her to catch up with her work. In other words, there’s never a lack of things to do and the time left before retirement isn’t a time of rest, but an opportunity to live every moment well. I remember the period, just after I began working, when I discovered that the words of the Gospel could not only be read and examined, but lived, and this gave meaning to everything I did. Now I feel that the same enthusiasm should accompany me in this new period of my life.”   E.P.-Italy Free of charge Where we live money seems to be the most important thing in most families, often taking the place of more genuine values. But for those who believe in the Gospel and strive to live it, initiatives are born that no one would ever have imagined. For example, when our family group was asked to be involved in volunteer service, to contribute to the construction of a rehabilitatioin centre for the handicapped, the offer was enthusiastically accepted by all. We began by uprooting plants and cutting grass to prepare the terrain. The people in the area were surprised to see us working so hard and free of charge. Doing things free of charge is practically unheard of, since we have always been so accustomed to receiving.”  A. C.-Democratic Republic of Congo