February 2: the whole Church remembers and prays for consecrated life. And it reminds us that consecrated life “counts on our prayers and our offerings to bring the good news of the Gospel to the men and women of our time” (1). What a beautiful mission! Beautiful and demanding at the same time:

– because it opens us to the dimensions of God’s heart, which excludes none of his children and helps us to be truly contemplative: “interceding does not separate us from true contemplation, because contemplation that leaves others out is a deception” (2).

– because it requires us to strip ourselves of all the tyrannies of the ego that cause us to withdraw into ourselves: “even if you do many things, if you do not learn to deny your will and to submit yourself, losing care for yourself and your things, you will not profit in perfection” (3).

Or, as our Holy Mother Teresa forcefully expressed it, “God wants his spouses to be free, attached only to him” (4): free from the slavery of doing, possessing, and appearances, in order to learn to love authentically, like Jesus. And it is above all in the context of the slavery of appearance that a great cultural challenge is being played out today which, whether we admit it or not, also affects us. Because, as Teresa wisely reminds us, those who “love to be esteemed and held in high regard, who look at the faults of others and never recognize their own, and other such things” (5) cannot live a true contemplative life.

In a cultural context where reality can be radically altered with AI filters, we are called to live with authenticity and transparency, without fear of showing ourselves to be weak and imperfect, because “all the goodness we have is borrowed, and God has it as his own work; God and his work is God” (6).

Let us also welcome as addressed to us the words of Pope Leo: “To spread the good fragrance of God throughout the world, strive to love one another with sincere affection, as sisters, and to carry in your hearts, in secret, every man and woman in this world, to present them to the Father in your prayer. Without clamor, be attentive and affectionate to one another, and be models of care for all, where need requires it and circumstances permit. In a society so focused on the external, where, in order to find a stage and applause, people sometimes do not hesitate to violate respect for others and their feelings, may your example of silent and hidden love be a help in rediscovering the value of daily and discreet charity, centered on the essence of mutual love and free from the slavery of appearances” (7).

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1. Cf. Pope Francis, Apostolic Constitution Vultum Dei quaerere, 6
2. Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, 281
3. John of the Cross, Sayings of Light and Love 71
4. Teresa of Jesus, Letter to Mother Anne of Jesus, May 30, 1582
5. Teresa of Jesus, Way of Perfection 13,3
6. John of the Cross, Sayings of Light and Love 107
7. Pope Leo XIV, Address to participants in the assembly of the Federation of Augustinian Monasteries of Italy, 13.11.2025