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MONDAY OF THE TWELFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME JUNE 21, 2021 MEMORIAL SAINT ALOYSIUS GONZAGA

Maria Martinez


A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mt 7:1-5


Jesus said to his disciples: “Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”


REFLECTION

“Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you."


Judging depends on what we see and how we perceive it, or people are not like us or don't think the way we do. Sometimes when we deal with sick people, be it mental illness, obesity, diabetes or hypertension we tend to judge based on what we fear, what we don't understand, quickly jump to conclusions or we have trained our minds to find the bad in people.


St Aloysius Gonzaga was an excellent example of not passing judgement on people but doing the best for the sick and the disadvantaged.


St Aloysius Gonzaga was born in a “society of fraud, dagger, poison, and lust.” He grew up in a wealthy family. At age seven he began his spiritual journey, reading devotions and psalms. At age 11 he fasted several times a week and educated children. He finally entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and he renounced his family's treasures. St Robert Bellarmine was his spiritual advisor. During his days at the seminary he was faced with obedience--obeying the less strict rules of penance and fasting practiced in the seminary.


In 1591, a plague struck Rome. The Jesuits opened a hospital of their own. The superior general himself and many other Jesuits rendered personal service. Because he nursed patients, washed them and made their beds, Aloysius caught the disease. A fever persisted after his recovery and he was so weak he could scarcely rise from bed. Yet he maintained his great discipline of prayer. He died three months later within the octave of Corpus Christi, at the age of 23.


For his compassion and courage in the face of an incurable disease, Aloysius Gonzaga has become the patron of AIDS sufferers, plague victims and their caregivers.


"A Christian who is led by the Holy Spirit has no difficulty in leaving the goods of this world, to run after those of Heaven; he knows the difference between them. " (PAPA Top Secret II, The Secret to Eternal Life)


(Franciscan media/ saint of the day)


God Bless You







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