June 21 2023 - St. Aloysius Gonzaga - Love God with all your strength

 

St. Aloysius Gonzaga was born into a noble family in Renaissance Italy.  16th-century Florence was not very different from 21st-century America.  It was a lax, morally careless, self-indulgent age. At the young age of 7, Aloysius vowed not to be part of it.   

By age 11 he was teaching catechism to poor children, fasting three days a week and practicing great penances. After reading a book about Jesuit missionaries in India, Aloysius announced his desire to be a priest in the Society of Jesus. However, it took several years to obtain permission from his father, who had more worldly dreams for his son.

In 1591, a catastrophic plague struck Rome and the Jesuits opened up a hospital.  The young Jesuit novice, Aloysius, nursed patients, carried them on his shoulders, washed them, and made their beds.  As a result of his tireless care of the sick, Aloysius caught the disease himself. He was overcome with a great fever and died at the age of 23 in 1591. His holiness was so evident that he was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1605.  

St. Aloysius Gonzaga is a patron saint of catholic youth and teenagers. Like young people, we all experience social pressures. St. Aloysius reminds us to have courage to stand firm in the faith against the tides of society which are antithetical to the Gospel. Due to his willingness to put himself in direct contact with plague victims, St. Aloysius was also named patron saint of those with HIV and AIDS and their caregivers.

St. Aloysius is often shown in sacred art and statues as a young man wearing the black cassock of the Jesuits and contemplating a crucifix. He contemplated the suffering of Our Lord, and considered how he, too, was called to suffer in order to further the kingdom of God.  The young saint, once said, “He who wishes to love God does not truly love Him if he has not an ardent and constant desire to suffer for his sake.”  Aloysius helps us to consider how taking on how the great commandment to love God with one’s whole strength and to love one’s neighbor involves suffering for them. 

Doing good, accomplishing good, furthering the kingdom, bringing souls to God, involves some suffering on our part. Will you willingly embrace that suffering if it is God’s will for you?

Through the intercession of St. Aloysius, may each of us consider how God is calling us to pour ourselves out in service of the kingdom, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 - - - - - 

Through the intercession of St Aloysius Gonzaga, patron of young people, that the young may be blessed with true faith, the desire to serve the Lord above seeking the pleasures of the world, and for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for those with HIV, AIDS, and their caregivers, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the repose of the good Jesuits who have served the Church, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy. Through Christ our Lord.