SAN ALFONSO
The title of my homily is, “San Alfonso.”
Today, August 1st
is his feast day, He died today – in 1787 – at the age of 90 – almost 91.
When I was stationed here at San Alfonso around 1975 I
got a phone call from some guy who said, “I was driving by your place on Ocean
Avenue this afternoon and I saw a sign on a brick wall saying, ‘Sam Alfonso.’
Well I said to myself, ‘That’s a big building.
Who the heck is Sam Alfonso?”
I guess he didn’t notice the big church on the front lawn
that looks like the prow of a ship.
So I told the man - who was calling, “It’s San Alfonso –
San – not Sam.” Then I added, “I’m sure you heard of San Diego or San Francisco
or San Antonio. San means saint – as in
St. James – which is Diego in Spanish or San Francisco as in St. Francis or San
Antonio - St. Anthony.”
Alfonso’s father - Giuseppe was a navy captain working
out of Naples Italy. His mom was Donna Cavalieri. Alfonso was their first child. His dad wanted him to be well educated - providing him tutors – to get him to become
a lawyer – which he started at - at 13
years of age – becoming a lawyer at 16 – 4 years earlier than most.
He never lost a case in his first 8 years as lawyer.
His father arranged a marriage for him – but that didn’t happen.
In 1723 he was hired as a lawyer in a real estate case.
We heard that he missed out on a key clause in the legal wrangling
– in the paper work. As a result he fell
apart – and locked himself in his room for a couple of days. Years later we
heard that it wasn’t a mistake. It was a
manipulation of the records and Alfonso was on the wrong side.
He used to visit a hospital – to visit the sick. It was called the Hospital of the Incurables
– not a great name for a hospital. He
had to decide whether to remain a lawyer – find someone else to marry or what.
An inner voice said to him 2 times: “Leave the world and
give yourself to me.”
Like we heard from John McGowan yesterday, Alphonsus like
St. Ignatius went to a church – put his sword on an altar decided to become a
priest.
He studied theology at home and was ordained a priest at the
age of 30.
He spent 2 years preaching all through the kingdom of Naples.
Someone said of him,
“It’s a pleasure to hear your sermons. You forget yourself and preach
Jesus Christ.”
He was neither strict nor pompous.
He worked out of his home – but at 33 he left home and
became chaplain at a college that trained missionaries for China.
He met a bishop named Thomas Falcoia – who pushed him towards
starting a new group of priests for preaching around Naples. This bishop also asked him to check out by
giving a retreat to a nun who was starting a new order of nuns. He did and they
seemed legitimate. In 1731 they became
the Redemptoristines – with a different name at first. They wore red and blue
habits. They were contemplatives.
In 1732 Alphonsus began the Redemptorists – called at first the
Congregation of the Savior. In 1749 – when we finally got approval by Rome – we
got the name Redemptorists – because there already was a group called the
Congregation of Our Savior.
Alphonsus was preaching all over the Kingdom of Naples –
especially in small towns. There were a lot of priests at the time – but they
liked Naples - the big town. So his group went to the forgotten – the neglected – the
poor.Since Alphonsus and his group became so successful – he was criticized.
In the meanwhile Alphonsus wrote a lot of books – 111 in his
lifetime.
In the meanwhile Alphonsus and his congregation grew – even
though there were dropouts.
Alphonsus put out a Moral Theology textbook – which began as
notes on the work of a Jesuit with the name of Busenbaum. Alphonsus stressed
God’s mercy.
Alphonsus steered a middle
course between the rigorism of a theology called Jansenism and big time laxity.
As a result of staying in the middle –
he was criticized from both the right and the left.
In the meanwhile Alphonsus did music, painting and lots and
lots of preaching.
In the meanwhile Alphonsus became a bishop – of a small
diocese in Italy called St. Agatha of
the Goths.
After retiring from being a bishop, Alphonsus came back to
the Redemptorists.
In time he got serious arthritis and needed a wheel chair –
as you see him in the statue out on the lawn between the conference room and
the dining room.
In time a guy named Clement Hofbauer came down from Vienna,
Austria – became a Redemptorist and was sent back to Vienna – to start our group
up there on the other side of the Alps.
We started in Naples in 1732. By 1832 – some of those Redemptorists from
Austria were sent to the United States.
We reached 9,000 plus – but we’ve shrunk a little to around
5000 at the present time.
I joined the Redemptorists to go to Brazil – but never got
that assignment.
We are all around the world – pushing the ideas and ideals,
the vision and vocation, of St. Alphonsus. “Forget yourself and preach Jesus
Christ.
A key book that Alphonsus wrote was: The practice of the
Love of Jesus Christ. He said: “Sanctity
– the whole of it can be summed up in the practice of the love of Jesus Christ”– which we hope everyone
who comes here to San Alfonso Retreat House – hears and gets – and brings home
Christ to our world. Amen.