Members or leaders of Life Ascending Mauritius teams, members of national authorities, Dear Marie-Noëlle, Dear Wolfgang, I send you my very friendly greetings and my happy birthday wishes. With these few words, Iam very pleased to associate myself, with the Executive Committee, with the happy event that you are celebrating through this fortieth anniversary.

These wishes offer me the opportunity to revisit the fundamentals of the movement, namely the three pillars on which it is founded:

• Friendship: the pandemic has revealed the importance of social relations in all its dimensions - neighbourhood, city, family, residence-seniors; that this anniversary is an opportunity to demonstrate to each and everyone, that it counts, that his life, whatever it is, has value; It is these links that make it possible to stand together and to live the happiness of a festive moment. Be all to the joy of such a moment and may this joy nourish your future activities.
• Spirituality: as I like to repeat, Life Ascending Ile Maurice, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary today, is not an association like the others, since it is in the name of Christ that you gather, in the name of an incarnate Word giving meaning to the life of each one; it is this Word that has given rise to so many achievements to so many strong moments lived in prayer and spiritual sharing ; with this birthday you celebrate the joy of believing. May this Word continue to inspire you.
• The apostolate: your commitment to Life Ascending is a sign of a conviction that you want to share; followers of Christ, you want to witness to his love for each one and translate this conviction into concrete actions; your predecessors have accomplished, in 40 years of existence of the movement, many promising and generous gestures to accompany people on the paths of life or living in precariousness or difficulties. May this conviction continue more than ever to animate you.

By celebrating this anniversary, to the joy of the event, you show that life is here and that you are moving forward by continuing on the path opened, more than forty years ago, by your predecessors; you situate yourself in a history that has shaped you, enriched your present to open you to a future still to be built. The time that opens before you is rich in possibilities and hopes: enter this future with confidence and hope; may this future be part of the dynamic of the second World Day of Grandparents and Elderly, carried by the theme: "They still bear fruit in old age «. (Ps  92.15).

Monique Bodhuin