Freedom Under Grace: Reflections on the Spiritual Tradition That Formed Me - Hardcover

Prevost, Robert; Pope Leo XIV

Hardcover

ISBN 13: 9798217424467

Verlag: Image, 2026

Inhaltsangabe

In his first book of original, never-before-seen writings, Pope Leo XIV offers readers around the world a window into the spiritual foundation that would lead him to the papacy―in his own words before his election.

Before becoming Pope Leo XIV, Robert Francis Prevost had never published a book. But shortly after his election to the papacy, Leo chose these previously unpublished texts to become his first published collection of writings: Freedom Under Grace. This wide-ranging book captures the heart of his spirituality, forged by the conviction that “man is not defined by what he possesses or what he knows, but rather by what he loves.”

This collection comes from Prevost’s time overseeing the Order of Saint Augustine, distilling his understanding of the Christian life today for individuals, local communities and churches, and the whole Catholic Church. Drawing on the rich tradition of Saint Augustine, Prevost advances an inspiring vision rooted in community and solidarity, commitment to social justice for the poor and marginalized, and the confidence that the gospel of Jesus Christ is what the world most desperately needs to face today’s challenges.

For anyone looking to Pope Leo for wisdom and pastoral guidance, Freedom Under Grace is essential reading, delivering profound spiritual depth, penetrating theological insight, and unwavering moral courage.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was born on the South Side of Chicago in 1955, the son of a school superintendent and a librarian. After studying mathematics at Villanova University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Prevost made solemn vows in the Order of Saint Augustine and was ordained as a priest in Rome in 1982. He became a missionary in Peru in 1985. Prevost served as Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine from 2001 to 2013, was consecrated bishop in 2014, and made a cardinal in 2023. On May 8, 2025, he was elected to the papacy, becoming the first-ever American pope.

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Homily at the Closing Eucharist of the Ordinary General Chapter

September 21, 2001
Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo—Rome, Italy

As we come to the closing of our General Chapter, I would like to reflect with you on a few of the different elements that have been part of our time together, even if they themselves were not the major topics that consumed most of our time and energy. They are, in effect, what we might call the “roots” of our Augustinian life. We have gathered in one of the most appropriate places to reflect on those roots, for it was here that the order was founded in the thirteenth century.

Roots are frequently overlooked, usually because they are not easily visible, unlike the rest of a plant. However, it is important to understand the root system of any plant and to care for those roots. Otherwise, the vigor and size of the rest of the plant will be adversely affected, and it may even die.

The Word of God and Augustinian Life

There is no need to refresh our memories on the story of Augustine’s conversion: the voice in the garden that said to him “Tolle lege”—“Take up and read.”

A number of years after his conversion, when Augustine was visiting the city of Hippo Regius, he found himself virtually conscripted into the priesthood by the local congregation. He broke into tears as they laid hands on him in the church and his fate became clear. Cynics in the audience thought these were tears of ambition and disappointment at not being made bishop straight off, but they were only tears of deeply felt inadequacy. Augustine had for some time been avoiding cities that needed bishops due to his fear of just such a fate.

He soon enough accepted his fate. And so he asked his new bishop, Valerius, for time to prepare himself for his duties. Augustine devoted himself to the mastery of the texts of Scripture that made him a formidable theologian in the decades to come. He knew very well that if he were going to assume the ministry that was virtually forced on him, he would need to dedicate his energy to the study of Scripture.

The Word of God is certainly for us a primary place of encountering God, of discovering the mystery of God’s love and action in our world. “The intensity of evangelical and ecclesial life will be ever more renewed in us and flourish in the order, if each of us will ‘avidly read, devoutly listen to, and earnestly learn’ the sacred Scriptures.” To be faithful to our Augustinian vocation, we must return time and again to God’s Word, be nourished and formed by it, so that we, too, can offer the good news to others.

Discovering God in Other People

At the end of the first chapter of the Rule, we read: “And honor God in one another, because each of you has become his temple.” It was Augustine’s firm conviction that God acts through human beings. In many different places, Augustine tells of how God worked through different people: Monica, Alypius, his close friends. Indeed, true friendship itself is for Augustine a way of experiencing the love of God. “I admit that I throw myself easily and completely on the love of my most intimate friends, especially when I am weary of the world’s scandals, and I find rest in that love, free of worries. This is because when I am there, I feel the presence of God, on whom I throw myself without fear, and in whom I find secure rest. In this security of mine, I am not afraid of the uncertainty of tomorrow, characteristic of human frailty. . . . What ideas and thoughts I entrust to a human being who is full of Christian charity and has become a faithful friend for me, I do not entrust to a human being, but to God, in whom that person dwells and who made him a faithful friend.” We are called to live in community—or better, in communion. We are called to live in such a way that through our sharing of faith and life together, others will somehow come to experience that same mystery of the divine presence in and through us.

Interiority

The theme of interiority is well known in Augustine’s writing and in Augustinian spirituality. Interiority begins with self-knowledge, but it goes far beyond that. We are called to know ourselves that we might know God, and in encountering God, we are also led to a deep love of God and of our neighbor.

Even though we frequently speak about interiority, there is a constant need to call ourselves and one another back to the fundamentals that are necessary to develop this dimension of our Augustinian life together. Silence needs to be given a special place in our lives: meditation, contemplation, personal reflection, and other forms of personal prayer. We need to allow space in our lives to encounter the mystery of the divine presence. A significant part of our identity from the historical founding of the order was the fact that we were “hermits”—men dedicated to the contemplative life. That dimension was never supposed to be eliminated but rather placed at the service of the Church. Our apostolic service is enriched when we allow ourselves the space and time to be in silence with the Lord. The words that the Holy Father spoke to us two weeks ago clearly remind us of our call to be “teachers of interiority”: “No one can give what he does not have.”

These are, of course, only a few of the fundamental elements of our Augustinian life. They can never be considered in isolation from other dimensions of our identity, some of which we discover in our historical roots—symbolically present with us today as we celebrate the Eucharist in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo, the site of the historical founding of our order in the thirteenth century. Our order is apostolic, and as such we are called to serve the Church in many different ways.

The different areas that we examined in the chapter’s working document all point to who we are and what we are called to be and do as Augustinians. But we must never forget our “roots”—the fundamental aspects of our life together as Augustinians.

The tragic events of September 11 in the United States cannot be forgotten as we come to the end of this General Chapter. The needs of the Church and of the world must determine the forms of our apostolic work. The violence that the world witnessed in the United States last week is a tragic reminder of a series of problems that are growing throughout our world. Hatred and violence will only grow as long as people continue to be forced to live in extreme poverty, oppressed by so many forms of injustice. Every day, twenty-four thousand people die in the world because of hunger. All around us, people live in despair and hopelessness.

We as Augustinians are called to respond in meaningful ways to so many forms of injustice and division in our world. We have something to contribute to the promotion of justice. As Saint Augustine wrote: “You give bread to a hungry person; but it would be better if no one were hungry, and you could give it to no one. You clothe a naked person. Would that all were clothed and this necessity did not exist!” Our basic principles of unity in diversity, respect for the dignity of each and every individual, the promotion of the common good, and the sharing of all God’s good gifts among all people are particularly significant precisely because they are so diminished in the world today.

While many people are looking for revenge, we Augustinians must bear to others an outstanding witness to the gospel values of unity, dialogue, peace, and reconciliation.

We have much to celebrate today, as we come to the end of the 180th General Chapter of the Order. We have revised our constitutions, which serve as an important tool that aids us in building up our common life together. We have given a great deal of energy to studying specific elements of our Augustinian life—study, evangelization, and our social apostolate—as well as the situation in several different circumscriptions of the order.

A new province has been born: the Province of Nigeria. (And how significant that event is, given the growing tensions between Muslims and Christians in so many parts of the world.) Throughout the past three weeks, we have experienced in a brief but significant way what it means to create Augustinian community on the international level. As all of you go back home, it is important that you be apostles of unity and fraternity, ever conscious of the roots, the fundamental aspects of our lives that have hopefully been nurtured and strengthened during the past three weeks. We hope and pray today that our differences will not become obstacles but rather opportunities to model to others one of the treasures that we have as an order, as we strive to model true Christian community. The example of Augustine, in his study of God’s Word, his model of interiority, and his recognizing God’s presence in other people must be our guide and our way of understanding who we are called to be as Augustinians in our world today.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Image
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2026
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 13: 9798217424467
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 480
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: CMN Printpool Inh. Mathis Neumann; https://www.also.com/ec/cms5/en_6000/; ; Friedrich-Karl-Str. 9; Hamburg; 22391; Deutschland