“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.' These are the words of Psalm 22, the psalm chosen for the Mass of Blessed Álvaro, the good and faithful shepherd who knew how to lead his children, and so many other souls, beside those still waters: a luminous image of a heart brought to peace by Love itself.
In a world so often disturbed by noise and the absence of peace, his life was a serene reflection of that peace which God alone can give. He expressed this with his characteristic simplicity and depth at a family gathering: “When our soul is ordered towards God, like a calm sea, we experiences that gaudium cum pace, joy with peace: a happiness that communicates itself to others.”[1] And truly, that is what his presence was: a quiet, humble peace that reached the hearts of all who were near him, without fanfare.
The words of Saint Josemaría could fittingly be applied to Blessed Álvaro: “A clear mark of the man of God, of the woman of God, is the peace in their souls: they have peace and they give peace to the people they have dealings with.”[2]
Yet this peace and joy were not simply a matter of temperament; they sprang from a deep union with the Lord, who is the world’s true peace. As Pope Leo XIV recently expressed it: “As King of Peace, Jesus desires to reconcile the world in the embrace of the Father and to tear down every wall that separates us from God and from our neighbour, for he ‘is our peace’ (Eph 2:14).”[3]
Alongside this theme of peace, the Gospel we just heard tells us that “the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (Jn 10:11). Jesus, the Good Shepherd, before giving Himself to his disciples in the eucharistic bread at the Last Supper, breaks it, anticipating and making present in symbol the breaking of his own heart, which would later be pierced by a lance upon the Cross. Such is the logic of true love: to give oneself entirely so that others might have life.
It is for this reason that the words of the Letter to the Colossians, which we heard in the first reading, resound with particular force today: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church” (Col 1:24–25).
So it was with Don Álvaro. He spent his life quietly in the service of others, with a humble and unassuming self-giving. And many people came to discover the close and merciful face of God in that self-giving. His life, offered with simplicity, became a source of consolation and strength for so many people.
True peace is not, first and foremost, the absence of conflict. The Good Shepherd does not flee when he sees the wolf approaching; he remains faithful and defends his sheep at the cost of his life. For peace is, above all, a gift that takes root in the strength of God; that deep peace which Christ gave to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (Jn 14:27).
The peace that Don Álvaro communicated — always accompanied by understanding and affection — also encompassed the exercise of fortitude, most particularly when it was necessary to correct or make demands of others. He expressed this, for instance, in a pastoral letter: “I must also remind you that being sowers of peace does not mean we must give ground before every incident or conversation. […] On the contrary, my children: we shall strive, with holy intransigence, to drown evil in an abundance of good, as our Father used to say, so that true peace may reign among the men and women of this world of ours.”[4]
As in every age, today the human heart continues to thirst for truth, to thirst for authenticity... in a word, to thirst for God. For true peace can only spread its wings where truth has made its home.
There can be no peace without love of the truth. Christ came into the world, Saint Paul tells us, so that “all men might be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4).
Blessed Álvaro was a man of peace precisely because, following the example of Saint Josemaría, he knew how to love the truth with his whole heart and with all his strength.
Let us turn to the Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace. She kept all these things in her heart and stood firm beside the Cross of her Son, and we ask her to teach us the way of true peace. And we ask her also to obtain for us, through the intercession of Blessed Álvaro del Portillo, the grace of possessing peace in our souls and of knowing how to carry it to others.
Amen.
[1] Álvaro del Portillo, Notes from a family gathering, 24-II-1988 (General Archive of the Prelature –AGP–, P04, 1988, pg. 542 (our translation).
[2] St. Josemaría, The Forge, no. 649.
[3] Pope Leo XIV, Palm Sunday homily, 29-III-2026.
[4] Pastoral letter, 1-X-1989 (AGP, library, P17, III, no. 52).