• Stages of Life
  

  This weekend I share with you a reflection attributed to our Holy Father, Pope Frances*.
  

  "You may have flaws, be anxious and live angry at times, but don't forget that your life is the biggest company in the world. Only you can keep him from going downhill. Many appreciate, admire, and love you. If you rethink that being happy is not having a sky without a storm, a road without accidents, working without tiredness, relationships without disappointment, you were wrong.
   

  To be happy is not only to enjoy the smile, but also to reflect on sadness.
   

  It's not just celebrating successes, it's learning lessons from failures. It's not just feeling happy with the applause, it's being happy in anonymity.
   

  Life is worth living, despite all the challenges, misunderstandings, periods of crisis. Being happy is not a destination of fate, but an achievement for those who manage to travel within themselves. To be happy is to stop feeling victimized by problems and to become the author of history itself, you cross deserts outside of you, but you manage to find an oasis at the bottom of your soul.
   

  To be happy is to thank God for every morning, for the miracle of life. To be happy is not to be afraid of your own feelings. It's knowing how to talk about you. It's having the courage to listen to a "no." It's feeling safe to receive a criticism, even if it's unfair. It's kissing children, pampering parents, living poetic moments with friends, even when they hurt us.
   

  To be happy is to let live the child that lives in each of us, free, happy and simple. It's having the maturity to be able to say, "I was wrong." It's having the courage to say, "Sorry." It means having the sensitivity to say, "I need you." It means having the ability to say "I love you."
   

  May your life become a garden of opportunities to be happy ... May your spring be a lover of joy. May you be a lover of wisdom in your winters.
   

  And when you're wrong, start over from the beginning. Only then will you be passionate about life. You'll find that being happy isn't having a perfect life.
   

  But the use of tears is to water tolerance. Use losses to train patience. Use mistakes to sculpt serenity. Use pain to polish pleasure. Use obstacles to open intelligence windows.
   

  Never give up ... Never give up on the people who love you. Never give up happiness because life is an amazing spectacle."
   

  God bless you!

  Fr. Pat

  *EN: In fact it is an old Portuguese poem by Fernando Pessoa.