Carlos González, prior provincial, in the celebration of the patron saint, asks today to experience the love of God and to love him, to enjoy the wonders of Creation and to enjoy doing good and living the Augustinian fraternity.
Fr. Carlos Gonzalez, prior provincial.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor 13,4-6).
Dear religious and lay people of the Augustinian-Recollect Family:
I wish that the joy of celebrating the feast of the patron saint of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine overflows in your hearts and that the testimony of life and the intercession of the saint of the star helps us to live our lives with more passion and charity.
Saint Nicholas of Tolentine was an outstanding disciple of Jesus Christ in the art of loving. That is why he faithfully observed the gospel and the precepts of Saint Augustine through simple, affable, delicate and affectionate treatment in favor of the people with whom he lived and whom he served.
Love was a light to guide his brothers in the community. The love obtained in the strong experience of Jesus Christ was a passion to be charitable with those in need. Love was the creative fire of his heart that made him an artist of simplicity, humility, service, listening and small details.
We are halfway through the four-year period (2022-2026) of the Province. The first year was marked by the Life and Mission Project written by the communities and by the evangelizing works; local communities were formed as well as the Province Secretariats, Teams and Commissions to strengthen the Augustinian-Recollect religious and lay life, and to energize the evangelizing service.
We began the four-year period with the blessing of the God of mercy because we wanted to live our religious life and evangelizing service with realism, with hope and together.
The second year has been illuminated by the seven zonal assemblies of the Province. Thanks to dialogue we have become more aware and we are specializing in the loving and comprehensive care of our elderly and sick religious; we are encouraging each other to take advantage of the rich range of possibilities that we have in the Church and in the Augustinian-Recollect Family for our ongoing formation; we have formed teams of religious in each country so that from their joyful and faithful life they can carry out the beautiful task of vocational pastoral care; We are going deeper into the criteria that are the foundation for restructuring: ministries that favor the living of the Augustinian Recollect charism, that consistently opt for vocations and that carry out an evangelizing service for the Church, especially those that it cannot serve; we are understanding the adjustments that we are invited to make in our communities and services.
Halfway through the four-year period, a future of possibilities is open for the next two years. Faced with the promising and uncertain future, I would like to once again propose the words of Abraham, the father of faith:
— “God will provide!”
The numerical reduction; the illnesses and the continuous visits to the hospitals of some of our brothers; the dreams, the vitality, the responsible and helpful attitude of several of our religious and lay people… The reality of who we are and the services that we carry out for the Church invite us to trust completely in God, in ourselves and in our brothers and to put our talents at the service of the common good and of those most in need. Today, on the feast of our patron, I invite you to address to merciful God this prayer that goes like this:
“We present the past of our local communities and services to your mercy, the future to your providence and the present to your love. We have today to experience your love and to love you, to enjoy the wonders you created, to enjoy relationships with others and to do good.”
Today, on the feast of St. Nicholas of Tolentine, I thank all the religious and lay people of the Augustinian Recollect Family for their fidelity, for their loving dedication, for their vital force, for their wisdom and for the talents placed at the service of others.
Next October we will conclude the Centenary of evangelization in China. God has been great with us and we are joyful! (Ps 125:3). We join the brothers of Brazil who will celebrate in 2025 the Centenary of the evangelization of the Augustinian Recollects in the Prelature of Labrea. God has been great to us and we are happy!
I invite you all to privilege the trusting encounter with the compassionate and merciful God, as Mary of Nazareth did, in order to know how to carry out the service of evangelization from the strength of charity.
Madrid, September 10, 2024.
