I love how the holidays bring us together and celebrate together for a new year. Food, wine, snacks, whistles, confetti, hats, we all join together to be part of the arrival of the new year. At midnight we wrote down what we want to leave or not repeat from last year and what we wish for this new year. What did you ask for?

During the activity someone said out loud -I am not going to ask for patience, because God will give me circumstances that require a lot of patience to strengthen it- everyone laughed because it is so, but not that much!

"It is necessary for him to grow, but for me to decrease. He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh earthly things: he that cometh from heaven is above all" S. John 3:30-31.

Patience is one of the nine virtues of the Holy Spirit, (But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23).

Patience is not like a muscle that is developed by going to the gym. The word patience comes from the Latin pati, which means to suffer.

Some time ago I visited a shoe company for work, one of the largest in my region. Everything was moving, boxes, trucks, people everywhere. My meeting was precisely with the logistics manager. I remember very well, a woman in her 40's, executive, pants and long sleeve blouse. With clear eagerness she arrived 10 minutes late, somewhat disheveled, she apologized for the delay. In the middle of the conversation she said to me -it's just that the day doesn't work out- to which I said something that stole her attention -who said it had to work out? You are going to do as much as you can, tomorrow is another day".

To ask for patience is to ask for suffering, but when you ask the Holy Spirit it is to raise your capacity for suffering in order to let go of something. Patience is recognizing that I can't do everything but God can, so the Holy Spirit comes and takes control; I decrease so that He can take control.

-I don't want patience because I want to see how the other does or doesn't do what I want, when I want, how I want - there is the suffering, the suffering of giving up my desires.

-Again? Until when? I can't take it anymore! What a delay! Here we go again!

Let go, let go, let go, give your burdens to God, those are heavy burdens, but God with everything.

God bless you!