Today, we hear the words of the Lord’s prayer that Jesus taught us to pray. So often, it may be difficult to translate the prayers we hold in our heart into world. We have longings, desires, and prayers filling our hearts, but what words can we use in order to express them? The Lord’s prayer helps us to pray. Likewise, if we incorporate the values that these words stand for into the way we live our lives, then these words will help transform us into the followers of Christ that the Lord is calling us to be.
The saint we celebrate today really exemplifies someone who lived by the values of our faith and by the words we hear in the Lord’s prayer. Aloysius Gonzaga was born to a wealthy family in Florence, Italy in the middle of the Renaissance in 16th century Europe. His family wanted him to have a successful & lucrative military career, but growing up, he felt the call to the priesthood. He chose to enter the Jesuits after being inspired by stories about their missionary work in India. Yet, he suffered from many ailments as a youth, including kidney disease, skin disease, chronic headaches and insomnia. Young Aloysius had many crosses to bear. The life of Aloysius Gonzaga was cut short – he died in Rome at the age of 23 after he contracted the plague while nursing patients with this dreaded affliction. When I went to Rome in December 2010 with the youth choir from St Richard, the choir sang at the Church of St Ignatius of Loyola in Rome where Aloysius Gonzaga is buried. I remember a young lady coming into the church wanting to see where he was buried. Even today, more than 4 centuries after his death, the faithful still are inspired by the holy life by which St. Aloysius lived.
As we hear the Lord’s prayer today in our Gospel, may the meaning of those words really penetrate our hearts and call us to lives of faith and action.
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