The first and last of man's needs is his need of another person. Man and woman, child and mother, the simple fact of friendship—we are made that way; we are made for other persons. We are made for a life that is meant to be shared. It is not good for man to be alone.

And the pain of loneliness is more than an ache in your hand: something that hurts, but it will pass, it is not all of you. Loneliness is a hurt in the centre of your self: you are alone, and you long for another to share your need.

Man is made for another: but in the end that other is Cod. All love asks to be shared (that is what love means: a sharing, a giving-and- taking). And a selfish love is no love at all. So it is that God (who is love) supremely asks to be shared.