Easter Message 2025 (click for Translations)

EASTER MESSAGE
OF THE INTERNATIONAL AUGUSTINIANS

Hope That Does Not Disappoint – Jubilee Year of Hope

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On Easter morning, the silence of the tomb is broken by the most joyful message ever to reach the human heart: “He is not here, for He has risen, as He said.” (Mt 28:6). With these words, the angel not only reveals the empty tomb to the women but opens the gate of hope to all humanity. Today, as the community of Augustinians International, united by the spirituality of St. Augustine and the mission of the universal Church, we wish to echo that cry and send to all our brothers and sisters around the world a word of light, encouragement, and paschal joy.

Easter 2025 is being celebrated in a special context – the Jubilee Year of Hope and Joy, proclaimed by the Church as a time of grace and spiritual awakening. This year also marks the tenth anniversary of the encyclical Laudato Si’ and the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These milestones form one great narrative of hope – a hope that does not disappoint, because it is rooted in God’s love for the world and for each human being.

As Pope Francis wrote: “Christian hope does not disappoint, because it is based not on us but on God, who is faithful. It is He who first loved us and never stops loving us.” (Spes non confundit, 2). The Resurrection is not merely a past event. It is a fire that still burns. It is a light that dispels every darkness. It is the foundation of our faith, the source of strength, and, above all, a call to action. If Christ is alive, we cannot remain still. If the tomb is empty, we cannot live as if everything ends in death.

St. Augustine, in one of his sermons, says: “The resurrection of our Lord is our hope. What happened in Christ the Head will also happen in His Body – in us.” (Sermo 229L,1). This message is especially urgent today. We live in a time when many people experience spiritual emptiness, a crisis of meaning, loss of trust in institutions, climate violence, and social injustice. In a world full of anxiety, war, and division, the Christian – especially one walking the Augustinian path of unity and community – must be a witness to a hope that is not an abstraction, but a daily choice of love.

The Jubilee Year calls us to conversion – both personal and communal. For us, as Augustinians International, this means not only celebration but also concrete responsibility: to be the presence of the Risen Christ wherever life is threatened, hope stifled, and dignity trampled. Through our engagement at the international level, especially at the United Nations, we strive to be a voice for those who are often not heard: the poor, children, youth, migrants, Indigenous peoples, victims of violence and exclusion. We work for peace, justice, access to education and healthcare, environmental protection, and equal opportunities for all – not as ideologues, but as disciples of Christ, who Himself identified with “the least of these” (cf. Mt 25:40).

In the spirit of Laudato Si’, we understand that love for God cannot be separated from care for creation. Pope Francis reminds us: “We must not be satisfied with a superficial ecology. We need an integral ecology, which embraces human beings in their full dignity and their relationships with others and with the environment.” (Laudato Si’, 137–139) For us Augustinians, this means deepening our relationships – with God, with our brothers and sisters, and with creation. It means a way of life not rooted in consumption and competition, but in community, simplicity, and love. As St. Augustine wrote: “Until you love the community, you will not love God. For God is Love, and Love unites.” (In Ioannis Evangelium Tractatus, 17,7)

The Resurrection is therefore not only Christ’s triumph – it is an invitation to new life for the whole Church, and for each of us. And new life means new eyes – to see the needs of others, a new heart – to bring forgiveness and peace, new hands – to build bridges instead of walls.

Today, more than ever, the world needs prophets of hope – people who do not give up, even when everything seems lost. We see this attitude in the women who went to the tomb – despite fear, despite the darkness. Their faithfulness becomes the beginning of the greatest news of all time. May our lives be a similar sign for those waiting for the resurrection of their own hope.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, in this time of grace, renewal, and paschal joy, I ask all of you: let us renew our fervor. Let us open our hearts to others. Let us walk the path of light. Augustinian communities around the world – your houses, schools, parishes, missions – can and should be oases of hope. Your daily faithfulness, prayer, service, and witness are proof that Christ lives and acts.

The Resurrection does not end at the tomb. The Resurrection begins when your heart becomes ready to love again. When you forgive. When you reach out to someone who is suffering. When you lift another person from the ground. When you don’t close in on yourself, but build communion. When you say: The Lord has truly risen – and I have seen Him in the face of my brother.

In this spirit, we pray for the light of the Holy Spirit for the entire Order of Saint Augustine and for all those who share in our life and mission. May the joy of Easter rekindle in all of us the fire of hope, which will illumine the paths of the whole world.

With Easter blessings and fraternal prayer,

In Deum,

Rev. Fr. Victor Fernandez Gonzaga, OSA

Representative of the Augustinian Order to the United Nations

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