Message from the Prior General for Easter of Resurrection: "We need to learn how to forgive and give our lives for our brothers"

 The Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine, Alejandro Moral Antón, wished to send this message to all Augustinians worldwide on the occasion of this Easter of Resurrection. We reproduce the letter sent through the General Secretariat of the General Curia on April 20, 2025, one day before the death of Pope Francis.

Dear brothers and sisters, 

On Holy Saturday night, during the Easter Vigil, we celebrate the mystery upon which our faith, hope, and charity are founded. Truly, as we proclaim in the liturgy, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad." 

May we rejoice and be glad because the Resurrection of Jesus is the event in which we taste definitive glory, final salvation, for in it is a foretaste of what we will one day be able to attain eternally. With faith in the Lord's Resurrection, the desire and hope for that ultimate and eternal glory with the Triune God is born within us. 

The hope that springs from the gift of the Resurrection is the foundation of the Jubilee Year we are celebrating. The motto "pilgrims of hope" finds its reason for being and its meaning in this Easter event. In it, too, the words of Our Father, Saint Augustine, about our condition as "pilgrims far from the home of the saints" (Sermon 346B) acquire their true value.

Saint Paul tells us that if Christ had not risen, our faith would be in vain, and our hope limited (see 1 Cor 15). How does this affect us? Without the Resurrection, there would be no hope, and all efforts to live differently from the pagans would be futile. Our faith would be vain and meaningless. But, like the Apostle Paul, we too fully believe in Christ's Resurrection and thus know that we are not running in vain. This is our great hope, the hope that transforms our lives. 

Pope Francis, reflecting on this Pauline text, commented one morning during the Eucharist celebrated in the chapel of the Santa Marta Residence: "It is not easy to understand this, and if we think about it, we will never reach a conclusion. Just contemplate, pray, and be thankful”. 

However, we must not forget that, in the story of Jesus, the cross constitutes a central element that connects his life among us with the resurrection, giving meaning to the entire paschal mystery. The Risen One is first and foremost the Crucified One. The cross reveals a God who, rather than responding with violence, absorbs evil and offers forgiveness. 

Saint Paul, not one for metaphors, says that Christ not only took our sins upon himself, but also became sin (2 Cor 5:21). Pope Francis, reflecting on this Pauline text, commented one morning during the Eucharist celebrated in the chapel of the Santa Marta Residence: "It is not easy to understand this, and if we think about it, we will never reach a conclusion. Just contemplate, pray, and be thankful”. 

During these days of the Easter Triduum, we have been able to accompany Jesus and feel the love that God has given us through his Son, who, by giving his life for us, has shown us the path to Life and Resurrection. 

May we too know how to forgive and give our lives for our brothers and sisters, in our own daily Passion, sharing in Christ's, aware that without the cross, there can be no resurrection, and without resurrection, the hope of eternal life with God would completely vanish. 

HAPPY EASTER!

Fr. Alejandro Moral Antón - Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine