Homily | 11 September 2025 - Now is the time of love.”

Dear brothers,

The most beautiful homily on the Gospel that has just been proclaimed is precisely the passage from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians offered as the first reading of today’s liturgy.

Only those who discover the vocation of being chosen, holy and loved by God can clothe themselves in feelings of tenderness, of goodness, of humility, of gentleness and make their own the commandment to love asked of us by Jesus. It is a love that endures, that forgives, that does not complain but even sings with heartfelt gratitude to God with hymns and spiritual songs.

A love – to which the Lord calls us – that loves our enemies and that does good for one who cannot give anything in return. It is a love that does not judge nor condemn.

Our holy father St. Augustine often reminds us that we are pilgrims, and today I would like to remind you, also, of this: we are pilgrims on the way toward a goal. This means that this is not our city, this is not our house, but another City and another House await us. What is that goal? Well, let us remember that the drama of this world passes away and at the end of life we will not be asked to which circumscription we belonged, to which role were we assigned, how many books we wrote, how many houses we opened, or closed, but rather we will be asked about the measure to which we have we loved. The heart of a consecrated person - the heart of a consecrated Augustinian – should live and die for this: love without measure (Augustine, Sermon 90/A), preach the Gospel at every opportunity, whether convenient or inconvenient, be salt and light for the world, spread the fragrance of heaven.

We are here these days wondering about the future of our Order, asking which project we should undertake. Our future is this: spread the fragrance of heaven, shine our light, live our vows as chosen sons. At the beginning of his ministry Pope Leo XIV made this clear saying that this is a time for love! Yes, now is the time for love, let us embrace this time, let us get back on track toward our goal, let us draw as close as we can to the Lord and repeat the words of St. Augustine: “Those who want to live have a place to live and the means to live... Do not disdain belonging to the body, do not be a sick member that must be amputated, do not be a deformed member that causes shame. Be beautiful, be strong, be healthy, remain united to the body, live of God for God” (Commentary on the Gospel of John).