The Prior General of the Augustinian Recollects continues his renewal visit in Brazil and invites the entire Augustinian Recollect Family to welcome Christ’s love and translate it into concrete service.
As part of the renewal visit he is making to the communities in Brazil, the Prior General of the Order of Augustinian Recollects presided this Holy Thursday over the celebration of the Lord’s Supper in Leblon (Rio de Janeiro). In his homily, with many Augustinian overtones, he invited religious and faithful alike to rediscover the heart of the Eucharistic mystery: the love of Christ who gives himself and becomes service.
During these days of encounter and fraternal accompaniment, the Prior General continues to strengthen communion with the religious of the country, encouraging community life, vocational fidelity, and the evangelizing mission in the Brazilian context.
A God who gives himself and kneels
In his preaching, the Prior General emphasized that the night of Holy Thursday contains the very core of the Gospel:
“love, self-giving, friendship, God’s fidelity,” expressed in Jesus’ gestures at the Last Supper.
He recalled that Christ, aware of his Passion, does not withdraw or flee, but gathers his own and gives himself completely: in the broken bread and the shared chalice, he institutes the Eucharist as a lasting presence that sustains the disciples’ hope.
But alongside this gift, he highlighted another equally revealing gesture: the washing of the feet. “A God on his knees before man”, he noted, underscoring a face of God that overturns human expectations: not a distant power, but a love that bends down, serves, and draws near to human frailty.
Three calls for Christian life
The Prior General structured his message around three concrete calls, which Recoletos.org extends to the entire Augustinian Recollect Family:
- To believe in God’s love, not as an abstract idea, but as a living presence in the concrete history of each person.
- To allow oneself to be loved, welcoming Christ who draws near, even amid one’s own wounds and limitations.
- To learn to love, following Jesus’ way: a love that is translated into daily, humble, and silent service.
In this sense, he recalled that there is no true Eucharist without a life that becomes service: “to love as Christ loved is to kneel before others,” in the small gestures of each day.
A message for the entire Augustinian Recollect Family
The homily concluded with a prayer that sums up the spirit of this day: to ask God for a renewed heart, capable of loving and building communion. A message that goes beyond the local celebration and is directed to the entire Augustinian Recollect Family, especially in this liturgical season that is central to the life of the Church.
Dear brothers, this is the night of total Love. In this Eucharist, we contemplate a God who becomes bread… and a God who kneels. A God who gives himself… and a God who serves.
Lord, tonight, wash my heart. Wash everything that prevents me from loving. Wash the selfishness that closes off my life. Wash whatever creates division among us.
Wash everything that prevents me from being a sign of communion. And give me a new heart…
capable of loving as You love. For, in the end, we will be judged by love. And only love remains. Amen.
From Brazil, the Prior General continues to accompany the religious on their path of renewal, reminding them that a credible witness to the Gospel is always born of a love lived “to the very end,” in an Augustinian key: a love that does not pass away and that remains forever.
