Deep prayers of reflection and a keen awareness that Christ lives in me are necessary for me to see the influences and the distractions that are active in my life. I will know that some of those things are from Christ: things that lift my spirit, satisfy my soul, give me lasting peace and fill me with life.

I know what drains me, steals my energy, leaves me lifeless and empty, kills my spirit, treats me like statistics rather than a unique person are of the thieves, the enemy of our human nature.

Jesus wants us not just to be free of the disturbances and distractions that the thieves and bandits bring, but he promises us Life to the full, that is, to be able to live fully human: to grow to the full of what we are.