1 August 2022
Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
We have the opportunity to celebrate two great spiritual directors, yesterday was the feast of St. Ignatius and today is the feast of Alphonsus Ligouri. St. Alphonsus died in 1787 and lived during the tumultuous 18th century. Relativism and atheism were gaining a foothold in society and social structures were being established that saw God not as present and guiding but rather as distant and indifferent. The times required simplicity, clarity, and correct devotion and St. Alphonsus established all these by means of his life and writings. He particularly saw the poor and uneducated as the field of his ministry, holding that homilies should be understood by all and not the opportunity to display intellectual bravura. The lessons we can take from both saints, Ignatius and Alphonsus, is the need to find ways to express what we know and what we believe.