Rome. At 6:00 p.m. on September 17, 2025, the Delegate with the community celebrated the Mass, the Feast of Saint Robert Bellarmine, Patron of the College. The Rector thanked the Delegate and extended his greetings to all members of the College on the occasion of the feast.
In the homily, the Delegate said that the choice of the reading from the Book of Wisdom is very fitting for the life, the great example, and the service of Saint Robert. Furthermore, with the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, within the broader context of the Sermon on the Mount, the text here speaks concretely about the foundation on sand or on rock, about the wise man or the foolish man, about where the center is placed: is it in Jesus or not? This has been and still is an important theme for each of us, both as individuals and as an apostolic body.
To highlight the importance and relevance of the Gospel’s message, the father posed a reverse question: it seems obvious that we ourselves, as disciples of the Lord, build our house on the rock; but in reality, it is by no means certain that we truly know this.
With the spiritual intruments of the Society of Jesus, especially the Examination of Conscience, each of us can engage in a personal process of reflection and discernment: to see whether our day and our work are truly lived in union with Jesus, and whether He is indeed the center, the focus, the point of reference. Not only at the individual level, but also at the level of the entire Society, we question ourselves about the purpose, the manner of conduct, and our service. In fact, the Fathers General, even in recent times, have focused their attention on this: praying, reflecting, writing, sharing, discerning both personally and communally…
In the face of the great challenges of our time, where is the Lord in our life, in our mission? As we know, the content of the Sermon on the Mount is vast: with the Beatitudes, with the subsequent teachings, with today’s Gospel reading; but the center is only one: the Lord Jesus. We need to seek Him, follow Him, and recognize Him as the central point of our life and of our commitment. However, as father Nicolás has already said, the difficulty we face is distraction. These distractions draw us away from the Lord, draw each one away from the community, draw the community away from the path of the Lord. For this reason, we, both as individuals and as a community, are called to continuous examination and discernment, in order to seek God’s will, to follow Christ more closely, and to serve His Kingdom.
