“We must not remain defeated by a moment of sadness,” Pope Francis said in his Wednesday general audience about desolation, continuing his discussion of discernment.

Discernment is the narrative reading of the good moments and the dark moments, the consolations and desolations we experience in the course of our lives.

Desire is the lack of a reference point that orients the path of life; it evokes a suffering, a lack, and at the same time a tension to reach the good that we miss.

I have usually entertained some ambiguity if not cynicism about New Year s resolutions.