Seekers of God with Lamps Burning: August 9, 2025

Seekers with Lamps. I have often heard the question: Is there still room for religious life in today’s world? And I answer without hesitation: There is plenty of room available. But the problem is not whether there are vacancies, but rather whether we have the entry ticket… Now, I understand that the only valid ticket we can present is that of our “search for God.”

Seekers of God with Lamps Burning

“Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.”
— Isaiah 55:6

Ninety people went to live for a few months, cut off from the world, at a scientific station at the pole, where there is nothing but night and ice.

Almost all are famous scientists and researchers. They have come there from various parts of the world out of a common passion: to discover some truths that may, one day, be of help to mankind. Among them, there is a modest technician. They call him “the sentinel of the dawn.” His mission is, in fact, to observe the northern lights and observe their characteristics. He is a priest.

His companions are almost all atheists, or at least live outside the structures of the Church. The poor priest feels like an outsider. He has never managed to convert a colleague. But one day, almost on the eve of his departure, a companion took him aside and said: “You must know that among us, you are by no means just the modest technician who observes on the dawn. For us, you are, in reality, a seeker. Yes, you too are a researcher. A researcher of God. And… it may be that you are precisely the one who is right.”

I have often heard the question: Is there still room for religious life in today’s world?

And I answer without hesitation: There is plenty of room available. But the problem is not whether there are vacancies, but rather whether we have the entry ticket…

Now, I understand that the only valid ticket we can present is that of our “search for God.”

These days, we talk a lot about qualifications. In the various aspects of our life and mission, greater qualifications are simply obligatory.

But we must not forget that there is a fundamental and urgent “qualification,” which, if lacking, all other “qualifications” would be insufficient, even false: the “qualification” by virtue of which we are true, passionate, tireless seekers of God. This should be our fundamental specialization.

Perhaps in the future we will find many paths closed that we easily travel today. We can expect anything. But it is impossible to stop someone who only desires to seek God. He knows that his specialization is not conditioned by historical, political, or socioeconomic changes. He simply claims the right to pursue his research. But he does not ask for favorable conditions, protections, privileges, or support. Indeed, precisely the unfavorable conditions, the less favorable times actually favor his research.

This is exemplified by Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Edith Stein, whose feast we celebrate today and who concluded her earthly life with martyrdom in the Auschwitz concentration camp. A tireless seeker of God, with a personality that brings together in her rich life a dramatic synthesis of our century. The synthesis of a history filled with deep wounds that continue to hurt today…; a synthesis at the same time of the full truth about humanity, in a heart that was restless and dissatisfied until it found rest in God, as Saint John Paul II said.

Today the Gospel invites us to be seekers of God by being vigilant and wise, and this implies four things:

1. Breaking the darkness:

The wise virgins—vigilant ones—are endowed with that oil that is precisely wisdom. And it must be said that vigilance cannot be confused simply with the ability to overcome sleep. One can (and even should) sleep while being vigilant. Precisely surrendering oneself serenely to sleep, leaving aside worries, anxieties, and fears, can be a sign of wisdom. The wise virgins fell asleep just as their foolish companions did. Christ does not ask us to renounce rest, but rather to be vigilant, that is, to break away from the activities of the night, from the works of darkness. Which is something entirely different. In other words, it is about “breaking” with everything that opposes life, the light, both outside of us and within us.

2. Capacity for Welcoming:

Waiting is oriented toward someone. And this waiting translates into welcoming the present, these hours, these days that we are called to live, knowing how to recognize the Christ who comes to meet us on the path of life. Saint Edith said, “Do not accept as Truth anything that lacks love. And do not accept as love anything that lacks truth. One without the other becomes a destructive lie.”

3. Keeping the Heart Young:

A wise vigilance that keeps us young: These women are commonly called “the ten virgins.” The Greek word parthenos generically means young woman. Their arrival is delayed, but woe to us if the wait weakens us, ages us, hardens us, saddens us. It is not possible to know exactly when the bridegroom arrives. Paradoxically, the only certainty the parable offers us regarding time is that of the delay. The only certainty is that “the bridegroom delayed.” The only information is that “we do not know the day or the hour.” It is important that waiting not be used to age. When Christ comes, he will “know” only those who have not allowed the years to dull their initial freshness, curb their drive, or weaken their desire. A Young Heart It is the only wise way to live the wait and prepare for the encounter.

4. Carry the Right Luggage:

Finally, for those who set out in search of God, a significant problem arises: luggage. What must they take with them? Their entire reality, nothing more and nothing less. Many set out only seemingly. They carry with them only a phantom of themselves, an idealized portrait. They take refuge in safety, even before beginning the journey. They form an artificial personality, something borrowed, based on books and reading, and they send that robot, that shadow of themselves in search of God. It is necessary to take everything: the greatness and weaknesses, the sinful past and the great hopes for the future, the baser and more violent tendencies… everything, since everything must pass through grace. In short, everything must be integrated in order to become a human being, capable of entering with soul and body into the knowledge of God. What pain it would be if, upon arriving before God, He did not recognize us—like these virgins—and ask us who we are!

To avoid a surprise of this magnitude… we must entrust ourselves, just as we are, to the One who has traveled the path in both directions. Christ is the expert par excellence on paths. We place our hand in His and set out calmly.

This traveling companion is not surprised by our doubts, fears, fatigue, resistance, or proposals; He accepts us just as we are. He wants to work with authentic material that will gradually transform us. It’s not easy, but we know that being seekers of God is a wonderful adventure. Perhaps this is our first and foremost task: to be passionate seekers of God and to encourage our brothers and sisters entrusted to us to be passionate seekers as well. Only this vigilant, wise search can keep us in a permanent conversion. The renewal of our lives will not come only through constitutional reforms, legislative revisions, or structural adjustments.

May those who seek God find some trace of the living God in our communities! May those who do not seek Him feel disturbed and challenged by the mere existence of our God-seeking communities!

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