Luigi

June 21, 2022:  St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious

Can you find 20 connections with today?
Legend below

Listen

• To God be the glory/ Crosby:  lyrics+ (v. 1 for gospel)

• Believe not those who say/ Bronte:  lyrics+ (gospel)

• Psalm 48/ Silver

Pope Francis

To First Meeting of States Parties:  Since the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons went into effect last January, 65 states have signed on, but no nuclear-armed countries.  We need to remain aware of the dangers of short-sighted approaches to security and the risks of nuclear proliferation.  I renew my appeal to silence weapons and to negotiate to eliminate the causes of conflict. Peace and security must be universal; and that we must all be responsible for our brothers' and sisters' well-being.  A nuclear weapon-free world is necessary and possible.  Nuclear weapons are a costly and dangerous liability.  Their use, even their possession, is immoral.  Mutual deterrence poisons relationships and obstructs dialogue.  Using them is a repugnant form of blackmail.  Disarmament must be complete, reaching our very souls.  There's a global, pressing need for public and personal responsibility and examination of conscience.  Disarmament treaties are both legal obligations and moral commitments, rooted in the trust citizens put in their governments, with consequences for current and future generations.  Adherence to disarmament agreements is strength, not weakness.  Promote a culture of life and peace based on the dignity of the human person, aware that we're all brothers and sisters.  The Church remains irrevocably committed to promoting peace....

Read

• 2 Kgs 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36  Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent envoys to Hezekiah:  “The kings of Assyria have doomed all other countries!  Will you be saved?’”  Hezekiah read the letter, then prayed, “You alone are God.  Hear Sennacherib taunting you.  The kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and cast their gods into the fire because they were the work of human hands.  Save us from this man, that all may know you alone are God.”  Isaiah told him, “The Lord answers your prayer.  Out of Jerusalem shall come a remnant.  The king of Assyria won't reach this city.  I'll save this city....”  That night the Lord struck down 185,000 in the Assyrian camp, and Sennacherib went back home.

• Ps 48:2-4, 10-11  "God upholds his city for ever."  Great is the Lord and wholly to be praised.  We ponder Your mercy and justice.

• Mt 7:6, 12-14  “Don't give what's holy to dogs, or your pearls to swine, lest they trample them then tear you to pieces.  Do to others what you'd have them do to you.  Enter through the narrow gate; many take the wide gate to destruction, but few find the narrow gate to life.”

Reflect

• Creighton:  Matthew places Jesus as the new Moses.  The New Law is Jesus extending his teaching to be written in our hearts.  The first gospel image is taken from the practice of sacrificing sheep and goats in the "holy" temple, not throwing them to dogs and pigs.  The “road” and “narrow gate” is an image of the spiritual life.  The road leading to destruction is paved with self-expectations, self-satisfying, self-constructing. If it's all about me, that's all I get, isolated, leading to chaos.  Jesus' spirituality is centered in our being created in Christ, to continue creation within and through us, to be constantly created, to enter into relationships as a blessing of creation.  Life flows into us and out  as God's creative Love.  Spiritual life isn't just about my and self-improvement; prayer and sacraments prepare us to be a creational presence and gift from God to others.  The “narrow way” is counter-cultural.  We receive to live and give.  The more I say yes, the less I'm mine and more yours.

• One Bread, One Body:  King Sennacherib trusted in earthly power, particularly his army.  King Hezekiah trusted in God's power and protection, spreading out his problems before the Lord, surrendering all to God's mercy.  Many kings didn't trust God like he did.  Hezekiah entered “through the narrow gate”; God answered, “I've listened,” acted in power, and rescued Jerusalem.  Hezekiah came to the Lord, trusting in God's providence.  Prefiguring Jesus in the garden, he, holding nothing back, asked that God's will, not his, be done. Spread out your problems before the Lord, and pray....

• Passionist:  In Jesus' time, pearls were precious, and swine and wild dogs were regarded as unclean.  Holiness is faithfulness to God's love in our thought, word, and deed.  Jesus encourages us to stay away from spiritually or morally unclean things and be prudent stewards of God's gifts, including our health and wellness.  Today's gospel includes the golden rule.  God calls us to unconditional love.  Jesus’ use of the narrow gate is about making right choices.  What choices am I making?  How do I steward God’s gifts?  How do I live the golden rule?....

• DailyScripture.net:  "Don't throw your pearls before swine":  Pearls were of great value, worn as jewels to make one appear more beautiful.  Holiness, likewise, is a jewel that radiates the beauty of God's truth and goodness through how we think, speak, act, and treat others.  The Talmud calls something that appears incongruous an "ear ring in a swine's snout"; Jesus' "pearls before swine" and "not giving dogs what is holy" expressions are similar.  Swine were considered unclean, and wild dogs were considered unfit for close contact.  Jesus’ concern is with keeping the faith and way of life God entrusted to us.  Before Communion the early church proclaimed:  Holy things to the holy, and the Didache  stated, "Only the baptized may eat or drink of your Eucharist; the Lord has said, 'Don't give what's holy to dogs.'"

Jesus summed up and upgraded Old Testament law and prophets with the golden rule.  God's law of love requires more than not hurting others but rather seeking others' good and giving our best for them.  God's love fuels our love for others.  If we empty ourselves of what's unkind, unloving, and unforgiving, we'll have room for kindness, goodness, mercy, and charity.  May we love others and treat them like we want God to treat us.  Holy Spirit, transform my life with the fire of God's love.

Jesus reinforced his lesson about choosing the way to peace with God with the illustration of a narrow gate opening to a life of security and happiness.  Psalms begins with an image of one who has chosen to follow the way of those obedient to God's word, not those who act contrary to it.  Our choices affect our lives.  Do my choices move me towards loving and following God?  "Let me love you, Lord, and see myself as I am, a pilgrim, a Christian called to respect and love all I touch....  Help me conquer anger with gentleness, greed by generosity, apathy by fervor.  Help me forget myself and reach out." (Clement XI) 

St. Aloysius Gonzaga and...

St. "Luigi"

• Universalis

• Gonzaga is more than basketball:  what you need to know about St. Aloysius, by Fr. James Martin, SJ

• Aloysius Gonzaga, Jesuit, cared for plague-stricken, died of plague

• John Rigby, martyr

Dress legend

• DISC lanyard:  DISC 2022 is in session!

• 'Crown' tie bar:  Kings Sennacherib and Hezekiah et al. (1st reading); Zion, city of the great King (psalm)

• 'Letter' tie bar:  Hezekiah took the letter... (1st reading)

• 'Hand' tie pin:  ...from the messengers' hand; the gods were the work of human hands,... (1st reading); Your hand is full... (psalm)

• 'Scales' brooch:  ...of justice (psalm)

• 'Wood block' and 'stone' tie pins:  Wood and stone (1st reading)

• 'Eyeball' pin:  Open your eyes, O Lord, and see!  (1st reading)

• 'Angel' pin:  The Angel of the Lord struck down 185,000... (1st reading)

• 'Arrow' pin:  He won't shoot an arrow at this city (1st reading)

• 'Alps' pin:  Survivors will come from Mount Zion (1st reading); The Lord's holy mountain... (psalm)

• 'Musical notes with "joy"' pin:  ...is the joy of all the earth (psalm)

• 'Boundless mercy' button:  God, we ponder your mercy (psalm)

• 'Castle' button:  God is with his city's castles (psalm)

• "Prayer:  the original wireless connection" T-shirt (faint under dress shirt; see here though mine has black text on grey background):  Hezekiah's prayer (1st reading)

• 'Dogs' tie:  Don't give dogs what's holy... (gospel)

• 'Pearl' tie pin:  ...or throw your pearls... (gospel)

• 'Swine' suspenders:  ...before swine... (gospel)

• 'Precious feet' pin:  ...lest they be trampled underfoot (gospel)

• Gold-colored accessories:  Golden rule (gospel)

• White shirt:  Liturgical color for St. Aloysius memorial

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