Given at the Mass celebrating 140th anniversary of St Aloysius College at St Joseph's Church, Highgate on 20th June 2019
It happens in every generation that there rise up young people who are shining examples of Christianity. They often die young. One such was St Aloysius Gonzaga in the 16th century. He was only 23 when he died. And yet he had shown himself to be a true hero.
He entered the Jesuits at just 19 in Rome. There was plague in the city; and yet he asked if he could look after the sick in a plague hospital. He soon caught the plague himself; and died at the age of 23 after showing extraordinary courage. He never complained; but said he trusted completely in God. He died about midnight this night 20th - 21st June, 527 yrs ago, in 1591. And we’re still talking about him five centuries later!
Another such, in the 20th century, was Blessed Piergiorgio Frassati. When he died at the age of 28 his was biggest funeral Turin had ever seen. He too came from an influential family. He chose to study engineering so that he could help the miners whom he deemed to be most needy. As a child he was always generous. As a young adult, he was gregarious, always to be been in photos, the life and soul of the party!
But his friends didn’t know he spent his spare time visiting the poor of the city. He went to Mass daily so as to receive spiritual nourishment for this apostolic work. He took the risk of visiting disease-ridden slums; and soon contracted polio. He died at 28. His family were astonished at his funeral to see all the poor of Turin line the streets of the city to pay him their respects.
Both Aloysius and Piergiorgio lived out radically Jesus’s command, that you must love God and your neighbour; and that you must love your neighbour as yourself. These two young men were shining examples in their time. The question is: who will be the shining examples of the 21st century? Could it be someone you know; or could it even be you?!