On June 21, the Church celebrates the life of St. Aloysius Gonzaga.
St. Aloysius had a great desire to serve and know God as a young boy, but his family life was not always aligned with his desire. He was born into a noble Italian family and his father was a compulsive gambler. He grew up in a castle and was trained from a very young age to be a soldier and courtier. Despite the exigencies of his family, he taught catechism to poor boys.
He encountered many holy people in his lifetime, receiving first Communion from St. Charles Borromeo and studying under St. Robert Bellarmine. As a teen, he suffered from kidney disease, which he considered a blessing as it left him with time for prayer.
At 18 he signed away his legal claim to his title and his family's lands, and he entered the Jesuits. He died shortly thereafter of the plague at the age of 23, having devotedly cared for plague victims in Rome during the outbreak of 1591.
He was canonized in 1726 and is the patron saint of youth, AIDS patients and AIDS caregivers.
— Catholic News Agency
Feast day: June 23
John the Baptist spent his adult life preparing the way for Jesus, and proclaiming that “the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.” He was born to Zachary and Elizabeth, an elderly married couple. The Angel Gabriel had visited Zachary and told him that his wife would bear a child, even though she was already past the child-bearing age.
Elizabeth was Mary’s cousin and Zachary was a priest of the Temple in Jerusalem. As a baby in the womb, John recognized Jesus’ presence in Mary’s womb when Mary visited Elizabeth soon after the Annunciation. Both women were pregnant at the same time.
John was probably born at Ain-Karim, which is southwest of Jerusalem. As a young adult, he lived as a hermit in the desert of Judea until about A.D. 27. When he was 30, he began to preach on the banks of the Jordan, calling for repentance and baptizing people in the river waters. When Jesus came to John to be baptized, John recognized Jesus as the Messiah and baptized Him, saying: “It is I who need baptism from you.”
John continued to preach after Jesus was baptized, but he was imprisoned not long after by Herod Antipas, after he denounced the king’s adulterous marriage with Herodias, wife of his half-brother Philip.
John was beheaded at the request of Salome, daughter of Herodias. Many came to know Jesus through John, namely the Apostles Andrew and John.
At the direction of the Vatican, the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist is usually celebrated on June 24, but this year it is transferred this year to Thursday, June 23, and the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is celebrated on June 24.
— Catholic News Agency