Fr Desiderio García Martínez, O. Carm. -- 2026
Easter Message from the Prior General
Dear brothers and sisters of the Carmelite Family: Christ is risen!
We joyfully celebrate the resurrection of Christ, which is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Faith is born of a personal encounter with the Risen Christ and becomes a source of courage and freedom that leads us to proclaim to the world: Jesus is risen and lives forever!
The Midrash on Genesis recounts: “A king built a house. He then invited his friends to celebrate with a splendid feast. Everything seemed to be going well; the evening was proceeding perfectly, and everyone was happy. But as the hours passed, night fell. Then panic set in. They could not see one another, nor could they even enjoy the banquet. The king said: ‘What use is all this to me if I have no light to enjoy it?’ Then God said, ‘Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw that the light was good.’ And alongside the light there was eternal joy, an eternal feast, an eternal celebration...” (Bereshit Rabah / Gen 1:3). Christ is the Light that has conquered the darkness. With the Resurrection, the day of God enters the night of history. The Resurrection of Christ, a historical truth, is more than a mere biological reanimation of the corpse; it is the most decisive ontological leap of the human race. The Resurrection is an outpouring of love that broke the tragic bond between birth and death, transforming it into a blessed sequence: birth, death and life. God’s boundless love makes us immortal. Martín Descalzo, a Spanish writer, put it this way. “Throughout my life, I have dreamed of countless things. Now I know that… only by loving will I live forever; that the only parts of my soul that will have truly been alive will be those I devoted to loving, serving and helping others. And it’s taken me fifty years to realise it!”
The Paschal Mystery has ushered in a new era, a new world (cf. 2 Cor 5:17). Christ’s Resurrection has opened a new chapter in history, which will come to an end when all things are brought together in Christ, the one Head. Through baptism we have been buried with Christ in death so that we might rise to new life. And why rise? Let us recall Teresa of Ávila. “To rise, only to die again in the trials of love.” Only if we are risen can we give life! Alive to serve each day at work… Alive to care for our sick brothers and sisters… Alive to be sowers of justice and peace around us… This is the purpose of our lives: to rise, so that we may die again, every day, in love.” The world will believe if it sees that the Body of Christ is risen. And we are the members of the Body of Christ. Now more than ever we need an army of the risen, immune to death, to sadness, to discouragement… who heal broken hearts, comfort the afflicted, sow hope, and have a sense of humor; who recognize his presence in the Eucharist; who proclaim him as the one Lord of Life… It took only one night for the Lord to bring Israel out of Egypt; but it took forty years for the Lord to bring Egypt out of the heart of Israel.” What is there still in our lives that needs to be brought back to life?
May Mary, Mother of Mount Carmel, help us to understand this mystery of love that transforms hearts, and enable us to fully savor the joy of Easter, so that we, in turn, may share it with the men and women around us.
