Glory to God in the highest heavens

and on earth peace to those whom He favours.” (Luke 2:14)

To the entire Family of St John of God

Dear all, the Holy Christmas we are preparing to celebrate offers us a new opportunity to feel more like a family and more united in reviving our apostolic hospitaller mission in the service of the poor and the sick. Our shared human condition causes us to experience our fragility every day, and for this reason, we feel a strong need to find new energy to live and bear witness to our faith with ever greater enthusiasm and awareness—a faith rooted in hope and lived out in charity. In this Jubilee Year, which we are about to conclude, there have been many occasions and opportunities to reflect and meditate on the meaning of our existence as Children of God, called to embody the divine Word of God that was given to us in Jesus.

For centuries, the birth of Christ has been the joyful proclamation of God's love for humanity: God enters the world, not to dominate it, but to save it. He enters the world not to possess it, but to love it, entering the heart of every person to transform it with love. The angels, with their song on that holy night, unite heaven and earth: they bring Heaven into our lives and guide our lives to rest on God's heart.

Christmas is not a fairy tale or a legend that awakens in us the enchantment and innocence of childhood. Christmas tells us that God takes the world seriously: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).

For this reason, the Church proposes the special season of Advent as an opportunity to open our hearts to the Lord who is coming and to share in his mission of love that heals the wounds of humanity. He loves us, he trusts us; he wants us to share in his plan of love for every person. God has looked upon humanity with eyes of tenderness and mercy, renewing his trust in us and calling us to share in his mission of love. This is the time when we must ask ourselves if we are aware that we are loved by the Lord! How much space does He have in our lives, in our plans? How much is He involved in our thinking about the future of our lives and our Hospitaller Order? The words of Jesus come to mind: “...Without me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). This truth, if understood and accepted, frees us from the presumption of self-sufficiency and opens us to trust in grace.

We are all aware that difficulties are not lacking and will not be lacking, but despite the confusion and sometimes even disorientation we experience, we know that we have Jesus at our side as a sure companion on our journey. We were born in Hope, and that is why our hearts never tire of hoping. Indeed, in the face of the existential difficulties and suffering that life reserves for us, hope seems to urge us even more strongly not to lose it, precisely because it becomes necessary and indispensable, like an effective and adequate medicine for a good recovery and for resuming the journey that life has mapped out for us. With the celebration of Holy Christmas, the Church reminds us that every act of love has its origin in Jesus, Prince of Peace. We want to be with Him protagonists of a new life experience, to be proposed as an alternative to despair and to everything that is an obstacle to human happiness. A Christian view of reality allows us to glimpse a ray of hope in every situation of life, because we base our faith and our hope on an event that continues to illuminate our existence and make it always worth living.

As the Jubilee of Hope draws to a close, our journey of seeking God and new ways to spread divine love, which we express through the charism of Hospitality, must not end. The experience of St. Augustine, which is still relevant to us today, shows us the way to rediscover ourselves and God. The best known of his aphorisms from the Confessions says: “You have made us for Yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” (Ad Te fecisti nos, Domine, et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te, 1:1.5).

Our hearts, sometimes so weighed down by life, need His presence like the air we breathe. If we want hope to continue to be a constant presence accompanying us every day, it is necessary and urgent to cultivate and care for our spiritual life at this time when the human heart is restless and faces great challenges, “infecting” men and women with our closeness so that they may experience the saving power of this gift—not only as a path to healing, but also as a premise for a better future worthy of the children of God. May Christmas be for everyone a message of hope, a medicine for our time, so that by welcoming this divine message and taking it as part of our lives, we may welcome the newness of God, who is always a source of good and peace for every person of good will.

I leave you once again with the words of St. Augustine, Father of our Rule, who exhorts us to progress in goodness, not to tire or stop, so that the Spirit of Christmas may continue its work of salvation in each of us: “Go forward, go forward in goodness... If you progress, you walk; but you must progress in goodness, in right faith, in good conduct. Sing and walk! Do not stray from the path, do not look back, do not stop!” (St. Augustine, Discourse 256, 3).

Let us continue confidently in doing good, certain that we are doing God's will and are credible continuators of the Work begun by John of God.

To each of you, we extend our best wishes for a joyful Christmas and a peaceful 2026.

Brother Pascal Ahodegnon, O.H.