Homily
for the Memorial
of
St. Aloysius Gonzaga
June
21, 2023
Collect
St.
Edmund, Edmonton
Today’s collect
called our attention to St. Aloysius’s penitence and “wonderful innocence of
life.” The Gonzagas were a distinguished
noble family, lords of the territory of Mantua in northern Italy for almost 400
years. Born in 1568, Aloysius was trained
for a courtly or a military life. His
Renaissance world has been characterized as one of “fraud, dagger, poison, and
lust.”[1]
Aloysius was repelled by that world and pursued a life of prayer and ascetical practices that we today consider harsh, and he taught catechism to younger children. On becoming acquainted with the Jesuits, he determined to join them. It took 4 years to overcome his father’s objections and to renounce his princely title and inheritance. With the Jesuits he had to learn a new form of asceticism based on obedience, community life, and a balanced humanity. He also had the distinct advantage of having as his spiritual director a saint, Robert Bellarmine.
An example of how
Aloysius practiced this new asceticism as a Jesuit: The young men in formation were taking
recreation (whatever that meant in Rome ca. 1590) when someone asked Aloysius
what he’d do if he knew that he was going to die in one hour. He replied that he’d continue his recreation
because that was what he was supposed to be doing at that moment. His holiness was based on fulfilling God’s
will, indicated by the duty of the moment.
So it is for us,
too. We prayed that we who are less
innocent than Aloysius was might imitate his penitence. Carrying out our responsibilities diligently
is a form of penitence, whether at a given moment we should be doing house
chores, helping kids with homework, taking a walk, going to church, or
entertaining friends.
Finally, Aloysius
became what the Church calls a “martyr of charity.” When the plague struck Rome in 1591, Aloysius
and other Jesuits cared for the sick, and he fell victim to the illness
himself, dying at age 23 on June 21. During
the Covid pandemic there were similar martyrs among our front-line workers. But heroic charity isn’t restricted to a
plague or pandemic. Each of us has
numerous opportunities daily to practice charity toward our family members,
neighbors, colleagues at work—e.g., by being patient and gentle, by being
generous (as St. Paul urges the Christians of Corinth [2 Cor 9:5-11]), by
lending a helping hand, by visiting someone who’s elderly or sick, and by
praying for people in need whom we can’t assist directly. Prayer, in fact, is an exercise of our
Christian priesthood as followers of our Lord Jesus.
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