The Prior General of the Augustinian Recollects, Fr. Miguel Angel Hernandez, has addressed a letter to the entire Augustinian Recollect Family on the occasion of the Solemnity of St. Joseph, which will be celebrated on March 19. The letter was sent from Rome on March 17, within the framework of the meeting that brings together the General Council, the Prior Provincials, Vicars, Delegates and Major Superiors of the Order, with the purpose of reflecting on synodality, the transmission of the charism and the future of the community.
In his message, Fr. Miguel Angel Hernandez presents St. Joseph as a “pilgrim of hope”, highlighting the numerous journeys he made throughout his life: from Bethlehem to Egypt, from Nazareth to Jerusalem. However, he stresses that the most challenging pilgrimage was the spiritual one:
“an interior pilgrimage of faith, trust and obedience to the will of God”. On this journey, Joseph had to face uncertainty, but he always did so with the certainty that God was guiding his steps.
The Prior General also highlighted the role of St. Joseph as a “man of dreams”, noting that “freedom emerges in dreams, and the just man has the same dreams as God”. In this regard, he recalls the words of Pope Francis, who invites us not to lose the ability to dream and to project the future with confidence. “To dream is to open the doors to the future”, emphasizes the Prior, recalling that the meeting in Rome is also an opportunity to dream together the dream of God for the Augustinian Recollect community.
Finally, Fr. Miguel Angel Hernandez encourages all the members of the Augustinian Recollect Family to be inspired by the example of St. Joseph to be “men and women of action”, cultivating a hope that is not mere passive waiting, but an active commitment to the construction of a more just and supportive world. 
“True hope is manifested in the love we give to others,” he says, recalling that faith is lived in small daily actions.
The letter concludes with a call to live this Jubilee as a pilgrimage towards the fullness of life in Christ, confident that, like St. Joseph, we can find in God the strength to overcome any obstacle and move forward with hope.
The following is the full text of the Prior General’s letter:
May the God of hope fill our hearts with joy and peace..
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
The Solemnity of St. Joseph, protector and patron of our Order, is approaching, and in this Jubilee year I would like to share with you my reflection on his figure, trying to see him as a pilgrim of hope who opens roads for us to reach God.
Joseph, pilgrim of hope
The Gospels tell us about the various pilgrimages that Joseph made throughout his life: To register himself, he went up from Nazareth, a city in Galilee, to Bethlehem in Judea. He went up to Jerusalem from Nazareth to present the Child eight days after his birth, to offer the offering of the poor and to consecrate him to the Lord. In fact, pilgrimages to Jerusalem, coinciding with the time of the Jewish Passover, were annual in the history of the family of Nazareth. It was precisely during one of these pilgrimages that the twelve-year-old Child was lost to them. More difficult and painful was the pilgrimage, which the Gospels call flight to Egypt, where Joseph left with his family through the strange ways of God, to save his son from the clutches of Herod. When the wicked king died, the angel of the Lord warned him to return to his land, and they settled definitively in Nazareth.
These are the journeys of the patriarch Joseph recorded by the evangelists, but Joseph’s most important pilgrimage was his inner pilgrimage: a spiritual journey of faith, trust and obedience to God’s will. A pilgrimage in which he had to transit from the Old to the New Testament, and from God-Yahweh to God the Father, who was revealing himself in his son Jesus. It was by no means an easy pilgrimage; the paths were not marked out or beaten, and he had to be in a permanent state of alert before God’s surprises, so often disconcerting.
Joseph’s pilgrimage through this world was anything but peaceful; it was a pilgrimage full of shocks, doubts, uncertainty and pain, which he carried out at all times with confidence in God and with a heart full of hope. Without hope it is impossible to travel the roads Joseph had to travel and overcome the obstacles he faced.
Hope is the virtue of the brave and of those who are willing to take risks, and Joseph was. He did not stand still, because hope does not consist of sitting around waiting to see what life has in store for us; hope is active and always drives us to fight with all our strength for what we believe in with all our heart. This is what Joseph did: he fought so that Mary would not be squandered, seeking to repudiate her in secret; he fought tirelessly to protect and defend his son from the hands of Herod, fleeing to Egypt; he fought working as a carpenter so that his family would have a dignified life; he fought to transmit to Jesus the faith of his people and to be a responsible and loving father.
Joseph and his dreams of hope
Joseph is a man of dreams: the carpenter is also a dreamer, with hands hardened by work and a heart made tender by love and dreams. Each one acts from what he carries within himself, and in dreams he emerges as freedom: the just man has the same dreams of God . The theologian D.M. Turoldo says that life takes root in dreams,which means that, despite the difficulties, the ability to dream and hope are what really nourish our life. Joseph is connected to his interiority: in the depths of his being there is an open space where he can listen to what vibrates within him, where the living God speaks to him.
The trials that Joseph undergoes lay bare his heart. In the trial, masks fall, illusions dissolve and the essential emerges. In the trial, each one is worth how much his faith is worth, how much his love is worth. Joseph, naked before the test, discovers that he really loves Mary and that to love is not to possess. He will love her and her son according to God’s plans. In the trial, his heart expands and he discovers, with serenity and inner joy, that nothing is his because he is already all of God.
Pope Francis encourages us not to lose the ability to dream, the ability to open ourselves to tomorrow with confidence, despite the difficulties that may arise.. Do not lose the ability to dream about the future: dream about our family, about our children, about our parents. Look at how I would like your life to be. Priests should also dream about our faithful and ask ourselves what we want for them. Dream as young people dream, who are “shameless” in dreaming, and there they find a way. Do not lose the ability to dream, because to dream is to open the doors to the future.
When you receive this letter, the General Council, the Prior Provincials, Vicars, Delegates and Major Superiors of the Augustinian Recollect Family will be gathered in Rome. The purpose of the meeting is to live synodality within the family, to reflect together on some topics of general interest, such as the transmission of the charism to the laity, to deepen our Augustinian Recollect spirituality, to see how we can support each other and work together in many of the activities and projects we carry out, and, ultimately, to dream together, as a family, the dream of God, the dream that God has for us. We want to discover how God dreams of us and we want to make his dream come true, because as I once said, quoting the Brazilian bishop Don Helder Camara: the dream that is dreamed alone does not go beyond a dream, but the dream that we dream together we can make it come true. May God grant that we take this opportunity to make God’s dream come true for us.
Joseph, sculptor of hope
The life of St. Joseph invites us to be men and women of action, who not only wait passively, but act in faith. True hope is manifested in the love we give to others, in the decisions we make every day to build a more just and caring world. In our families, in our communities, in our churches or schools, we are called to be reflections of that hope that does not disappoint.
In a world marked by uncertainty and anguish, the Pope reminds us that our hope is not in vain. It is not a superficial optimism, but a deep trust in the one who has promised to be with us always. Christian hope is a beacon that guides our lives, even in the darkest nights. It encourages us to look forward, to not give up and to continue to believe that, despite trials, God has a plan for each of us.
Through his example, St. Joseph invites us to live our lives as a journey, a pilgrimage toward the fullness of life in Christ. This Jubilee reminds us that every step we take, every decision we make, can be an act of faith. At times, the road may seem dark and difficult, but like St. Joseph, we are called to move forward, trusting God to guide us.
The figure of St. Joseph teaches us that hope is not an illusion, but a virtue that is cultivated in adversity. His life is a testimony that, even in the darkest moments, the light of hope can shine brightly. Through his example, we are called to be pilgrims of hope on our own journey, trusting that, like St. Joseph, we can find in God the strength to face any challenge and the certainty that, at the end of our journey, hope will always lead us to fulfillment.
May the Lord bless us with his peace.