AT THE HEART OF THE PASCHAL MYSTERY, OUR HOPE IS BORN

The month of April leads us into the center of Christian life through the celebration of the Paschal Mystery, the heart of our faith. In the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we contemplate the love of God who enters human history to transform it from within and to open for all men and women a path of new life.

This mystery also illuminates the historical moment we are living. Our world is going through times marked by deep tensions: wars that continue to sow destruction and suffering, peoples forced to abandon their homes, worsening social wounds, and a widespread climate of uncertainty that often generates fear and disorientation.

Faced with this reality, the Gospel does not invite us to turn our gaze away from the world’s suffering. On the contrary, it leads us to the heart of the mystery of the Cross, where we discover that God Himself chose to share humanity’s suffering. In the crucified Jesus Christ we understand that love can pass through even the darkest nights of history, and in His resurrection we find the certainty that evil and death do not have the final word.

For us, members of the Association of Mary Help of Christians and living part of the Salesian Family, this contemplation becomes a call and a responsibility. We are invited to be, in the world, witnesses of the hope that is born from Easter.

Our commitment to peace begins above all with prayer. Prayer allows us to enter the heart of God and to look at reality through His eyes. But authentic prayer also takes form in concrete actions: in building reconciled relationships, in drawing close to those who suffer, and in promoting a culture of fraternity that makes God’s Kingdom visible in history.

In this context, spiritual formation becomes especially important. In a time marked by fragility and by the search for meaning among so many young people, we are called to deepen our faith and to accompany the new generations in discovering the Gospel. Don Bosco understood clearly that the future of the world passes through the hearts of the young, and this intuition remains today a mission entrusted to the entire Salesian Family.

In this journey, we are not alone. Mary Help of Christians, Mother and Teacher, accompanies us with her maternal presence. She, who remained faithful at the foot of the Cross when everything seemed lost, teaches us to live a steadfast faith, capable of preserving hope even in the most difficult moments.

At the beginning of this time that leads us toward the light of Easter, we renew our commitment to live in deep communion. May the Association of Mary Help of Christians, present in many parts of the world, continue to grow as a true spiritual family, united in the charism of Don Bosco and fully committed to the Church’s evangelizing mission.

May our communities become more and more places where prayer nourishes hope, formation strengthens faith, and charity becomes a concrete sign of God’s love.

With Mary Help of Christians, we walk toward Easter. And with the risen Christ, we renew our certainty that the hope born from God’s love continues to transform the world.

Fr. Luis Eugenio Vargas Isaza, SDB (Spiritual Animator, ADMA Valdocco)

Giuseppe Tufano (President, ADMA Valdocco)