Pope Leo XIV on Monday received the participants of the general chapter of the Order of St. Augustine, with whom he said he felt “at home.” In his address, he reflected in particular on the theme of love, which the order’s founder, St. Augustine, “placed at the center of his spiritual quest.”
At the beginning of his Sept. 15 address, the Holy Father expressed his gratitude to Father Alejandro Moral, OSA, for his years of service and extended a warm welcome to the newly-elected prior general, Father Joseph Farrell, OSA.
Referring to the general chapter as an opportunity to reflect on the gift received, the challenges, and the current situation of the order, he reminded the Augustinians of the importance of “interiority in the journey of faith.”
He emphasized that this interiority is not “an escape from our responsibilities” but rather “a return to ourselves and then emerge with greater motivation and enthusiasm for the mission.”
“Returning to ourselves,” he added, “renews our spiritual and pastoral drive: We return to the source of religious life and consecration so that we may offer light to those the Lord places on our path.”
Vocations and the formation of young people
He then reflected on what he considers “a fundamental theme”: vocations and initial formation. Pope Leo XIV advised “not to fall into the error of imagining religious formation as a set of rules to observe, things to do, or even as a ready-made habit to be worn passively.”
On the contrary, he clarified that love is at the heart of everything and that “the Christian vocation, and in particular the religious vocation, is born only when one perceives the attraction of something great, of a love that can nourish and satisfy the heart.”
Therefore, he reiterated that it is essential to help young people in particular “to glimpse the beauty of the call and to love what, by embracing the vocation, they can become.” He added: “Vocation and formation are not predetermined realities: They are a spiritual adventure that involves a person’s entire history, and it is above all an adventure of love with God.”
Thus, he emphasized that love, which St. Augustine “placed at the center of his spiritual quest,” is also a fundamental criterion for the dimension of theological study and intellectual formation.
“In the knowledge of God, it is never possible to reach him only with our reason or with a set of theoretical information; it is, above all, a matter of allowing ourselves to be surprised by his greatness, of questioning ourselves and the meaning of events to discover in them the traces of the Creator, and above all, of loving him and making him loved,” he noted.
He also exhorted his Augustinian brothers to be generous and humble, two qualities that are born precisely from love, to have as their reference the “ineffable gift of divine charity,” and to be “faithful to evangelical poverty.”
Finally, he asked them not to forget “our missionary vocation,” recalling that since 1533 the Augustinians have proclaimed the Gospel throughout the world.
“This missionary spirit must not be extinguished, because it is sorely needed today as well. I urge you to revive it, remembering that the evangelizing mission demands the witness of humble and simple joy, availability to service, and participation in the life of the people to whom we are sent,” he emphasized.
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This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
