It is the 1st of February today and Holiday Time is over. By the feel of the weather in Wellington today summer has past but from my experience of January that is not necessarily so. Tomorrow could be 27 degrees and we can change from complaining about the cold to complaining about the heat. That seems to be the way of human nature.

This morning I was reflecting on the year ahead and about to go into a state of alarm when Sister Josephine reminded me that I only had to live one day at a time. This is a statement that I know well. There are times when you need a friend to reassure you and to challenge you to live this way. Over the past five weeks I have meet up with Friends of Compassion in many different places. It is good to put a face on a name as somehow it helps to ground one in the reality of life. As I read Suzanne Aubert’s letters I came to realize that the Congregation was founded in many ways on friendships Suzanne made. Some of them have been handed down in a family for three generations. These friendships supported her in many ways. There must have been times when she felt tired and despondent and her friends encouraged her to carry on by sharing their knowledge and expertise and also their financial help which was invaluable. Friends are a great blessing and we thank God and pray for them everyday. May God reward you all with the gift of many friends to help you through 2010.

Thank you for all the financial support cards and notes I do enjoy reading them.