Aug 1 – Memorial for St. Alphonsus Liguori, bishop, religious founder, doctor
Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) vowed early to never to waste a moment of his life, and lived that way for over 90 years. As a lawyer, he had his own practice by age 21, and was a leading lawyer in Naples. He never attended court without having attended Mass first.
As he matured and learned more of the world, he liked it less, and finally felt a call to religious life. He was ordained at age 29. As preacher and home missioner around Naples, St. Alphonsus was noted for his simple, clear, direct style of preaching, and his gentle, understanding way in the confessional. He was often opposed by Church officials for a perceived laxity toward sinners, and by government officials who opposed anything religious. He founded the Redemptoristines women’s order and the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists).
As bishop, St. Alphonsus worked to reform the clergy and revitalise the faithful in a diocese with a bad reputation. The royal government threatened to disband his Redemptorists, claiming that they were covertly carrying on the work of the Jesuits, who had been suppressed. Calling on his knowledge of the Congregation, his background in theology, and his skills as a lawyer, St. Alphonsus defended the Redemptorists so well that they obtained the king’s approval.
- Patron Saint Index
Lev 23:1,4-11,15-16,27,34-37
Mt 13:54-58
“A prophet is only despised in his own country and in his own house”
In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus being rejected by the very people of His own hometown, by those who thought they knew Him best. Their familiarity blinded them to the wisdom and power of God at work in Him.
Likewise, St Alphonsus also faced rejection when he chose to follow God’s call. He was a successful advocate, and his father had high hopes for his brilliant legal career. However, St Alphonsus decided to abandon everything to join the seminary, despite his father’s strong opposition.
Yet, like Jesus, St Alphonsus remained steadfast in his mission to serve the poor and the most abandoned, and later founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists.
Here in Singapore, our economy is now among the wealthiest in the world, with a GDP (Gross Domestic Product) that far surpasses many other nations. But, if you look closely around us today, you may see a different reality.
Maybe you may have noticed the elderly living alone in rental flats. The mentally unwell who feel invisible in the rat race. The student struggling with his/her grades and even contemplating suicide. The young working professional weighed down by depression and the pressure to succeed. The young mother taking care of her crying and hungry children without any helper or family. Migrant workers far from home and missing their loved ones.
We may not always notice the ‘new poor’, because they do not fit the image of poverty that we expect. Today, poverty is not only financial. More and more people are caught in spiritual poverty; they may be financially well-off, but feel empty and without hope.
Like St Alphonsus, do we feel called to bring God’s mercy and compassion beyond the walls of the church to these ‘new poor’, showing them they are not forgotten by God?
Yet, many of us may hesitate. Sometimes, society doesn’t openly look down on those who help the poor, but the judgement can be subtle: “Why waste time helping them? Did they study hard enough? Shouldn’t they work harder?”
It’s all too easy to dismiss the struggles of the less fortunate, just as Jesus was dismissed by His own people.
Maybe if we act blur, we may live longer. But will we be able to sleep in peace at night?
It really takes a lot of courage to care for those who are overlooked, and to challenge the idea that wealth defines a person’s worth.
May we be inspired by St Alphonsus to discover that holiness lies in seeing Christ in those who seem unimportant. And may we answer God’s call to go to the margins of society, to bring friendship, dignity, hope and love to those whom the world might reject.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Brenda Khoo)
Prayer and Thanksgiving: Dear Lord, we thank You for the life and witness of St. Alphonsus. Teach us to see with his eyes — eyes that recognize Your presence in the poor, the suffering, and the forgotten. Give us the courage to go where love is most needed, even when it is uncomfortable or misunderstood. May we imitate St. Alphonsus by living with a heart full of mercy and compassion. Amen.
OXYGEN 
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