St
Aloysius Gonzaga: A Call to be Holy
Holiness is the sweetest word in the
practice of Christianity. It poses a challenge to everyone irrespective of
their age. The word itself denotes something extraordinary. If we sit back and
ponder on this word holiness, we
automatically link it to priests and religious and those who have dedicated
their life for the service of God. For some holiness portrays the Pope and
nothing more.
True. But it is not as abstract as we really
imagine. It is a call to be different. It stretches us to move into zones of
discomfort. At times it compels us to go against the norms. It evokes a feeling
of difference in thoughts, words and in being. The modern world is led by ideologies.
People generally especially the youth respond to situations of life collectively
in a group. Today, in the religious practices young people fear to ‘stand out’
in the crowd. They are terrified to ‘stand out’ in the practice of religion. It
seems very hard to be set apart. It is a matter of being faint-hearted. A great
example is the life of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, the patron of youth whose feast
we celebrate every year on 21 June. A brief history of his life is enough to
give us an insight into holiness.
Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, was born on March 9,
1568, in Castiglione delle Stiviere, Republic of Venice, Italy. He was the son
of Ferrante, marchese di Castiglione, Aloysius was educated at the ducal courts
of Florence and Mantua and at the royal court of Madrid, where he was page to
King Philip II’s son Diego. In 1585 he relinquished his inheritance and joined the
Society of Jesus (Jesuits) at Rome.
His spirituality was manifested in his
change of ideas and plans for his life at the tender age of seven. Aloysius
experienced a profound spiritual awakening. His prayers included the Office of
Mary, the psalms, and other devotions. At age nine he came from his hometown of
Castiglione to Florence to be educated; by age eleven he was teaching catechism
to poor children, fasting three days a week, and practicing great austerities.
When he was thirteen years old, he traveled with his parents and the Empress of
Austria to Spain, and acted as a page in the court of Philip II. The more
Aloysius saw of court life, the more disillusioned he became, seeking relief in
learning about the lives of saints.
A book about the experience of Jesuit
missionaries in India instilled in him the idea of entering the Society of
Jesus, and his decision firmed up in Spain. Since then began a four-year tussle
with his father. Eminent churchmen and laypeople were pressed into service to dissuade
Aloysius to stay away from his “normal” vocation. Finally his spirituality prevailed,
and he renounced his right to succession, and was received into the Jesuit
novitiate.
Unlike other seminarians, Aloysius was confronted
with a new kind of penance—that of accepting different ideas about the exact
nature of penance. He was obliged to eat more, and to take recreation with the
other students. He was forbidden to pray except at stated times. He spent four
years in the study of philosophy and had Saint Robert Bellarmine as his
spiritual adviser.
In 1591, a plague struck Rome. The Jesuits
opened a hospital of their own. The superior general along with other Jesuits
rendered personal service to the needy. He nursed patients, washed their wounds,
their beds. In the process, Aloysius caught the disease. The fever persisted. After his recovery, he was so weak he could
scarcely rise from bed. Yet, he maintained his great discipline of prayer,
knowing that he would die within the octave of Corpus Christi. Three months later, he died at the age of 23.
A true model for the young is found in Saint
Aloysius. Aloysius belonged to a society that was ‘air-conditioned’. He was
bestowed with all the comforts that life could offer. His father had great plans
set for his son. Yet Aloysius opted to leave behind everything, and do what is more pleasing to God. Truly
that was the greatest quality of Aloysius. He took the courage to ‘stand-out’.
It is more important to reflect how did Aloysius
‘stand out’. Aloysius believed that to serve God is to have a touch of human
reality. He said no to worldly
pleasures and a joyful yes to the
heavenly pleasures. How? - To the extent of dying for his people. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay
down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13).
Pope Francis in his annual message for local
celebrations of World Youth Day said, “Do not allow the spark of youth to be
extinguished in the darkness of a closed room in which the only window to the
outside world is a computer and smartphone,” He continued, “Open wide the doors
of your life! May your time and space be filled with meaningful relationships,
real people with whom to share your authentic and concrete experiences of daily
life”.
How
to heed the drumbeat of holiness today?
In the digital noisy world it is hard to get
intoxicated with God's spirit and effervescing with God's nature. Yet we need
to realize that it is a need to keep oneself anchored in Jesus, the source of
life. Like Saint Aloysius we need to take the person of Jesus Christ and his Word
seriously. We need to constantly turn towards saints to follow Jesus. Our soul becomes
beautiful emanating goodness to others and makeing us pure. It impels us to go against
the tide of societal behaviour and accepted norms.
One of the simplest ways to be holy today is
to keep our conscience clean by having pure thoughts. “For as he thinketh in
his heart so is he” states the Proverb (Prov 23:7). We need to think positive
good and true. The prayer of St Aloysius may inspire us to turn to Jesus and be
holy as He is.
“O Holy Mary,
my Lady, into your blessed trust and safe keeping and into the depths of your
mercy, I commend my soul and body this day, every day of my life, and at the
hour of my death. To you I entrust all my hopes and consolations, all my trials
and miseries, my life and the end of my life. By your most holy intercession
and by your merits, may all my actions be directed and disposed according to
your will and the Will of your divine Son”. Amen.
https://sites.google.com/site/examinersite/issues-vol-169/vol-169-no-24-jun-16---22-2018/12staloysiusgonzagaacalltobeholy-anushpdcunhasj
https://sites.google.com/site/examinersite/issues-vol-169/vol-169-no-24-jun-16---22-2018/12staloysiusgonzagaacalltobeholy-anushpdcunhasj
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