HOW DO WE SERVE THOSE MOST IN NEED AS A COMMUNITY?
Welcome to week six, click the link below for how to get started with Season of the Spirit.
Introduction and suggested process
STUDENT PRAYER
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
PRESENCE OF GOD
We become aware of the presence of God among us.
READING: MATTHEW 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’
Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.
‘The second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.’
VIDEO: Saints in :60 | James Martin on Aloysius Gonzaga
REFLECTION
In this Year of Youth, we celebrate a Jubilee Year of St Aloysius Gonzaga. Born in 1568, he died at the age of 23. Ironically he spent his young life defying expectations but as a saint helped shape the expectations of other young people.
Luigi Gonzaga was born the eldest son of a rich, noble family, and was naturally expected to increase the wealth, prestige and connections of his family through military prowess and connections at court. The trouble was that he did not want any of it. He dreamed of becoming a priest and giving his life to God. Among the Gonzaga males these dreams were incomprehensible and intolerable. His father was furious when confronted with them.
Aloysius dug his heels in and set about living a holy life. With only stories of saints to guide him, he prayed for long hours, fasted rigorously, and set himself to join the new and controversial Jesuits. His father eventually gave in; Aloysius renounced his inheritance and became a Jesuit.
He had to learn that religious life was a community, not simply an individual game. He moderated his penances, was a brilliant student, but his health was weak. He died nursing during a plague epidemic. He was forbidden to nurse plague victims, but ironically one of the safe patients he nursed had been wrongly diagnosed, and Aloysius was infected.
Aloysius spent his life sailing into a headwind. He raised eyebrows by giving his life to work with sick people. We give thanks for his life today.
By Andrew Hamilton SJ
CLOSING PRAYER
Glory Be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen.
CONVERSATION PROMPT QUESTION
What small thing can I do this week to serve those most in need in our community?
Download week 6 Student Edition PDF
STAFF PRAYER
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
PRESENCE OF GOD
We become aware of the presence of God among us.
NAMING MY DESIRE
To hear the call to serve those most in need.
READING: MATTHEW 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’
Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.
‘The second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.’
REFLECTION
In this Year of Youth, we celebrate a Jubilee Year of St Aloysius Gonzaga. Born in 1568, he died at the age of 23. Ironically he spent his young life defying expectations but as a saint helped shape the expectations of other young people.
Luigi Gonzaga was born the eldest son of a rich, noble family, and was naturally expected to increase the wealth, prestige and connections of his family through military prowess and connections at court. The trouble was that he did not want any of it. He dreamed of becoming a priest and giving his life to God. Among the Gonzaga males these dreams were incomprehensible and intolerable. His father was furious when confronted with them.
Aloysius dug his heels in and set about living a holy life. With only stories of saints to guide him, he prayed for long hours, fasted rigorously, and set himself to join the new and controversial Jesuits. His father eventually gave in; Aloysius renounced his inheritance and became a Jesuit.
He had to learn that religious life was a community, not simply an individual game. He moderated his penances, was a brilliant student, but his health was weak. He died nursing during a plague epidemic. He was forbidden to nurse plague victims, but ironically one of the safe patients he nursed had been wrongly diagnosed, and Aloysius was infected.
Aloysius spent his life sailing into a headwind. He raised eyebrows by giving his life to work with sick people. We give thanks for his life today.
By Andrew Hamilton SJ
CLOSING PRAYER
Glory Be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen.
CONVERSATION PROMPT QUESTION
What small thing can I do this week to serve those most in need in our community?
Download week 6 Staff Edition PDF