On the afternoon of Sunday, December 7, 2025, coinciding with the Second Sunday of Advent, the Prior General of the Augustinian Recollects, Friar Miguel Ángel Hernández, solemnly inaugurated the Missionary Year of the Order from the Our Lady of Consolation Parish, in San Cristóbal (Dominican Republic). This community, which is preparing to celebrate its 100 years of Recollect presence, was the place chosen to begin a new time of grace, with the motto: “Announce Christ wherever you can.”
“It is not about doing great things, but about allowing Christ to arrive”
In his homily, Friar Miguel Ángel proposed a meditation in four keys. Advent —he recalled— is not only a time of waiting, but also of decisions: “What do I want to do with my life? What direction do I want to give it?”. Based on the liturgy of the day, he focused his reflection on the experience of the mission as a call to see hope where others see a dry trunk, as Isaiah said.
“God can act where we no longer expect anything,” he stated. “The mission begins when we believe that, even from what seems sterile, life can spring forth.” Faced with pessimism, the mission is an act of faith in the renewing power of the Spirit.
“The mission is not to do, but to be”
During his homily, the Prior General spoke about the meaning of the Christian mission, inviting people to live Advent as an opportunity to make decisions and reorient their lives: “What do I want to do with my life? What direction do I want to give it?”. Inspired by the liturgical texts of the day, he spoke of a God who brings forth life where everything seems dry, like the old trunk of which Isaiah speaks.
“The first call of the mission —he pointed out— is to believe that God can act where we no longer expect anything.”
Recalling the figure of Saint Paul, he emphasized that the authentic mission is born of communion: “Evangelization begins at home: in the community, in the family, in the parish. If there is no peace here, how can we take it outside? If there is no forgiveness here, how can we preach it? If there is no joy here, who will believe that Christ lives?”
And he forcefully recalled that the mission demands patience, humility, consolation, welcome: “This is how Christ did it. He ‘welcomed everyone’, says Paul. To welcome, to unite, to restore… this is the first way to announce Christ.”
Communion, not individualism
Citing Saint Paul, the Prior General recalled that the mission is not credible if it is not born of unity: “We cannot announce Christ credibly if we live divided. We cannot sing together if we do not tune our hearts.” He stated that evangelization begins at home —the community, the parish, the family—, and that without joy or internal forgiveness, nothing can be preached outwards.
The figure of Saint Ezekiel Moreno, a missionary model for the Order and whose beatification is 50 years old, was presented as a living example of a mission rooted in holiness: “His life was a testimony that one must first be, in order to then do.”
Saint Ezekiel, model of mission and holiness
Within the framework of the 50th anniversary of his beatification, Saint Ezekiel Moreno was proposed as a guide and model for this Missionary Year:
“Today, as we begin this Missionary Year, Saint Ezekiel reminds us that the mission is not first to do, but that the first thing is to be: to be men of God, to be men of the Gospel, to be men of communion.”
The Prior General warned about the risks of a superficial evangelization: “The mission without conversion is propaganda. The mission without coherence is noise. The mission without spirit is activism. The mission without humility is ideology. ” Therefore, he invited everyone to begin announcing Christ in their own wounds: “To announce Christ where we can, we must first let Christ enter where we do not let him: in our fears, resentments, pride, frailties and inconsistencies.”
A call to simple and courageous dedication
Finally, the Prior General concluded by explaining the motto chosen for this missionary year:
“Announce Christ where you can. Not where it suits you, not where it is easy… but where life places you”. He invited all members of the Augustinian Recollect family to a living, coherent, humble and audacious mission.
This year should be an opportunity to rekindle the fire of first love, the Father pointed out, to be moved by the Spirit like the first Recollects who left everything for Christ. “Hopefully at the end of this year we can humbly say: ‘Lord, where I could… there I announced you.’”
A cross that will travel through the Order
At the end of the homily, Friar Miguel Ángel blessed a missionary cross, a visible sign of the Missionary Year that will travel through all the ministries of the Order throughout 2026. At exactly 5:44 p.m. (local time), this special stage of spiritual renewal and evangelizing zeal was officially declared open, “having Saint Ezekiel as a model and guide.”
