GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may go marry:
For having lost but once your prime
You may for ever tarry.
So wrote an English romantic poet and lover of life, Robert Herrick,
as he dedicates these verses To The Virgins, To Make Much of Time.
His poem emphasizes the shortness of life,
the beauty of the world,
the glory of love
and our inescapable human need of finding our one, true, lasting commitment
that we will keep for the rest of our lives.
***
Last Friday, we honored the Most Holy Spirit,
with a Celebration of the Eucharist.
Before one another,
in front of our parents, teachers and friends,
we made a commitment to form ourselves
according to the vision of the school
described by the 5 C’s.
We asked the Spirit of God to strengthen our resolve
to put Christ, our Lord, at the center of our lives
and thus, from there, influence
the quality of our learning,
the practice our conscience,
the way we relate to one another,
and the effort we put into fulfilling our different promises.
Life is short.Non habemus tempus.
We have no time.
***
What if, one day, God sends one of his angels
to tell you that you have only one more year to live?
Will you still go to school or just stay home?
Will you start asking people to pray for you
and take care of you while life slowly drifts away?
Will you begin to list every human experience
that you would have wanted to feel and enjoy
and make sure to fulfill them one after another?
An angel saying: “Here comes your last year on earth”
-- was how Aloysius Gonzaga
exactly received the vision of Archangel Gabriel.
The Gonzagas were a rich clan from Northern Italy.
Aloysius, humble of his origins,
avoiding often the attention caused by his surname,
would often sign his name simply as “Louie” or “Luigi.”
Aloysius’ father, who was a famous military person,
exacted from him the same kind of discipline
yet provided him with the best education.
It was through his studies
that he learned about saints and priests.
Thus, at an early age,
Aloysius expressed a desire
that he will be a priest and a saint one day.
His father having learned about this,
sent Aloysius to a military camp at age 5
to ensure that only a military life
will take root firmly in his heart.
So much was expected from this young man,
that initially his father
and his relatives discouraged him
from pursuing his dreams to become a priest.
After a fierce battle of wills,
and only after several years, Aloysius won his father’s approval.
He entered the Society of Jesus with a strong resolve of finishing his priestly studies.
Non habemus tempus.
We have no time.
Archangel Gabriel told him: “Here comes your last year on earth.”
Even before finishing the course,
St. Aloysius faced the inevitable
yet beautiful design of God’s plan.
A serious plague broke out in Rome.
Aloysius volunteered at once to help in the hospital.
During his time, hospitals were not clean, orderly places
that we are familiar with today.
It was very easy to catch an illness.
That is what happened: Aloysius became very ill.
No medicine could help him.
He died when he was only 23 years old.
He was not afraid to die.
During his life, he had focused himself
on doing what Christ wanted:
serving and loving God, our Father, and His big family.
What if, one day, God sends one of his angels
to tell you that you have only one more year to live?
What will you do?
We now have one new school year.
What will we do?
Dum tempus habemus, operemur bonum.
While we have the time, let us do the good.
***
GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer…
***
Let us pray, +
Good Father in Heaven,
thank You for Your gift of life.
Help us, while our youth and blood are warmer,
to gather the many graces
You give us each day and everyday.
That even when your lamp, the sun,
has neared its setting or finished its race,
we have rendered you greater glory
by using our time well. Amen.
All you, Jesuit Saints and Beati, pray for us.
St. Aloysius Gonzaga, pray for us.
+
Sources:
Saints and Feast Days (Loyola University Press, 1985), pp. 133-4.
www.wikipedia.org on St. Aloysius Gonzaga and Robert Herrick
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloysius_Gonzaga
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Herrick
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