Dear Sisters and Brothers
The celebration of Holy Easter brings us back to the heart of the mystery of our faith; indeed, it invites us to enter and participate, here and now, in the Lord’s resurrection and his glorious destiny. For us, the Hospitaller Family of St. John of God, celebrating Holy Easter means returning to the heart of the charism of John of God, a Paschal charism that opens us to hospitality in its most authentic form: rebirth to new life.
I like to believe that all those who enter our apostolic works or our communities, and who approach us seeking care or help, can experience the goodness and beauty of the Easter charism that has been given to us: a charism that expresses the different nuances of God’s love for humanity.
On Easter Sunday, the liturgy calls us to sing: Mors et vita duello conflixere mirando: dux vitae mortuus, regnat vivus. Death and Life have faced each other in a prodigious duel. The Lord of life was dead, but now, alive, he triumphs. The Risen Lord has opened the doors of eternal life for us, he has defeated evil. With his resurrection, the Lord has inaugurated a new era that illuminates our lives as Christians and has opened for us a new path that guides our existence toward the eternal goal. The Father’s love for humanity has raised Christ from the dead, and it is precisely in love that we are called to walk, for only driven by true love will we be able to travel new paths for a new hospitality.
St. Augustine had made love the center of his thought. He wrote that it is love that sets the soul in motion, it is love that gives it strength and life, leading it toward its “natural place”: My burden is my love; by it I am carried wherever it carries me (Confessions XIII, 9).
I am convinced that this Augustinian experience is the same one that brought John of God back to life, who passed from the experience of sin to the gift of grace, making him a new man by clothing him with the gift of hospitality.
As children and brothers of John of God, we wish to follow in the footsteps left by our Saint, who shows us the sure path to renewing hospitality through listening to the Word of God, which always inspires thoughts of new life.
In this regard, a reflection by Pope Leo XIV is illuminating: What the Church ardently desires is that the Word of God may reach each of its members and nourish their journey of faith. But the Word of God also pushes the Church beyond herself, continually opening her to mission to all. Indeed, we live surrounded by so many words, but how many of these are empty! Sometimes we even hear wise words, which, however, do not touch our ultimate destiny. The Word of God, instead, satisfies our thirst for meaning, for truth about our lives. It is the only Word that is ever new: in revealing to us the mystery of God, it is inexhaustible, it never ceases to offer its riches (General Audience, February 11, 2026).
God never ceases to offer his riches, and among these riches we cannot ignore what God is asking of us today, so that every gesture of hospitality may be nothing less than a proclamation of the Gospel, and that every word of hospitality corresponds to a gesture of love that leads to the Kingdom of God. Our hospitaller tradition teaches us that hospitality has never been condensed into a single concept, or solidified into repetitive gestures, but has always evolved into new forms, adapting to the needs of the times and of humanity, because our mission is to proclaim the Kingdom of God among the poor and sick.
Walking forward means leaving the tomb, leaving safe environments that until yesterday seemed to give us stability, but which in many cases have actually become tombs where there is no longer life, no resurrection. The risen Jesus calls us to leave our comfort zones and open ourselves to listening to his Word, which always creates something new.
We are called to listen to the spirit of the Risen One, to base our lives on the event of the resurrection; Christ is risen and returned to life quietly, without spectacular gestures, but by making himself present to his disciples, accompanying them on the road to Emmaus, helping them understand the Scriptures. I believe our mission must take on this style, where our presence is more meaningful for the lives of the poor and the sick, rather than mere weathervanes that make a lot of noise without making a real evangelical and social contribution. Our mission requires a great deal of energy, which we willingly expend, but which we want to be a manifestation of an authentically evangelical life. As the Prophet wrote: Why do you spend your money for what is not bread, your possessions for what does not satisfy? (Is 55:2). Let us invest our resources for the Kingdom of God; only then can we be sure of being accompanied by the Risen One who walks with us on the paths of Hospitality.
To all, I wish a Holy Easter and may you experience in your lives the light and peace given by the Risen One to all who welcome him.
Happy Easter 2026!
Brother Pascal Ahodegnon, OH
Superior General