Wednesday, Memorial of St. Alphonsus Ligouri
(Exodus 34)
One of Michelangelo’s most famous sculptures shows Moses with horns coming out of his head! It was not that Michelangelo thought Moses some kind of devil but that he was faithfully depicting the figure described in the Latin Bible that was used at the time. In it Hebrew word for radiance was incorrectly translated as horn; hence Moses had horns protruding from his head. Moses is radiant, of course, from having spent time with God who imparts his wisdom in the Ten Commandments.
Putting the Commandments aside for a moment, today, as yesterday, the Church celebrates the founder of a great religious order. St. Alphonsus Ligouri started the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer or Redemptorists. St. Alphonsus achieved notoriety also for his brilliance as a moral theologian. It is said that he consistently gave opinions that steered a prudent path between rigorism and laxity, two dangerous currents that can throw the People of God off course. Many Redemptorists have followed their patron in writing excellent moral theology.
We too want to follow St. Alphonsus’ prudent course in obeying the Ten Commandments and in practicing virtue. Rigorism can make us neo-Pharisees joylessly looking for faults in others. Laxity, the greater challenge today, can lead us to idolatry as we worship creation and not the Creator.
