The life of a man who left everything for the love of Jesus and his Mother Mary

On the Feast of St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori

Rev. Marcel Divine Okwara CSsR

August 1, 2011

Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori was born in Marianella in Naples, Italy in 1696. He was the first child of his parents- Joseph and Anna.  He was born in a Noble family. At the age of sixteen, Alphonsus Liguori went to law school, and then became a very well known lawyer. With his success in the law profession, his father was so proud of him. But then, Alphonsus was thinking of leaving the profession. One day he wrote to a friend: “My friend, our profession is too full of difficulties and dangers; we lead an unhappy life and run risk of dying an unhappy death. For myself, I will quit this career, which does not suit me; for I wish to secure the salvation of my soul.” At the age of twenty-seven, after having lost an important case - the first he had lost in about eight years of practicing law - he made a firm resolution to leave the law profession.

In 1723, after a long process of discernment, he abandoned his legal career and, despite his father's strong opposition and refusal, began his seminary studies in preparation for the priesthood in the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. He was ordained a priest on December 21, 1726, at the age of 30. He lived his first few years as a priest with the homeless and marginalized youth of Naples. He founded the “Evening Chapels.” Run by the young people themselves, these chapels were centers of prayer and piety, preaching, community, social activities, and education.

In 1729 Alphonsus left his family home and took up residence in the Chinese College in Naples. It was there that he began his missionary experience in the interior regions of the Kingdom of Naples where he found people who were much poorer and more abandoned than any of the street children in Naples. When Alphonsus met these people, he said, “Oh, they have not even heard of the sweet name of Jesus.”

On November 9, 1732, St. Alphonsus founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer shortly known as the Redemptorists. The goal of the Redemptorists is to teach and preach to the poor. Redemptorists are called to be preachers- wonderful preachers that bring the good news of the Lord. Not only was he a bishop, he was also a canon and civil lawyer, a painter, musician, poet, architect. Alphonsus wrote 111 works on spirituality and theology making him one of the most prolific religious writers of all time.

He was unique among the saints for his life-long devotion to the Blessed Mother. St. Alphonsus was visited several times by Our Lady.  One of his most celebrated books is titled The Glories of Mary. He was also greatly devoted to the Blessed Sacrament, and was known for his sermons on the Eucharist. He had great love for Jesus and Mary.

He is the only professional moral theologian ever to be officially declared a Saint by the Church. He was canonized in 1839, and later declared a Doctor of the Church.

From St. Alphonsus, we see a man who was ready to leave everything and follow God. For the love of Jesus Christ, he left his money making and name recognition profession. His life reminds us of St. Paul who said in Philippians 3:7-11 “All those things that I count as profit I now reckon as loss for the sake of Christ Jesus. Not only those things; I reckon everything as complete loss for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have thrown everything away; I consider it all as mere garbage, so that I may gain Christ and be completely united with him… All I want is to know Christ and to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings and become like him in his death, in hope that I myself will be raised from death to life.”

St. Paul too was a lawyer. And as a Jewish lawyer, he ab initio thought that all that matters was the observance of the law. He was a good Jew. He was learned too. But when he encountered the Lord, there was a radical change in his life.

St. Alphonsus left everything- family, fame, money, good life, easy life etc for the love of Jesus Christ. And he spent his entire life serving the Lord faithfully in the poorest of the poor. Today, we celebrate his life. Like St. Alphonsus, are we ready to follow the Lord unreservedly? I am not asking you to leave your job, family, money and follow the Lord. But there is still a way to do it. Just remember this: Money and other material things are for use. We are to use them; only God can be enjoyed. God and God matters should come first in our lives, then anything else.  St. Augustine himself said, “Some things are to be enjoyed; others to be used. Those things which are to be enjoyed make us blessed. Those things which are to be used help and sustain us as we move toward blessedness in order that we may gain and cling to those things which make us blessed. To enjoy something is to cling to it with love, for its own sake. To use something, however, is to employ it in obtaining that which you love, provided it is worthy of love. The only thing worthy of this love, the only “thing” to be enjoyed for its own sake is God.”