30 October 2018 - Tuesday of the 30th week in Ordinary Time - Ephesians 5:21-33

      Our reading from the letter to the Ephesians today contains Paul’s exhortation on husbands and wives. But perhaps the first statement in this reading gets lost in the shuffle, in which Paul calls us to “be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.” In all of our human relationships, we are to live with one another in community in a unity that comes from God and that reflects his mercy and his glory. That is a far cry from some of the human conduct we witness each day: the road rage we witness when we are driving down the street; people lashing out against others on social media, against people they don’t even really know; the general lack of courtesy and civility in which we treat others.  The love of God is sometimes very far away from our human interactions. 

      The saint we celebrate today is perhaps someone who is not very well-known to us in the community of saints, but he embodies the love, humility, and service to which St Paul call us today.  St. Alphonsus Rodriguez was born in 1532, in the midst of the Protestant Reformation.  He was born in Segovia, Spain, in the same part of Spain and in the same era as Teresa of Avila, John of Avila, and John of the Cross, all three who are Doctors of the Church. Yet, Alphonsus Rodriguez is not known for his theology or the way he pushed the Church to reform as a response to the Protestant Reformation, and the abuses of the time. Rather, Alphonsus comes to us as a model of humility and service.  While studying as a young man with the Jesuits, he had to return home at the death of his father to run the family business.  He married and had children.  When his wife and children died, he sought to enter the Jesuits - he was near the age of 40. Due to his age, his lack of  much formal education, and poor health, he was not admitted to the Jesuits as a priest, but rather as a lay brother.  He was sent to a Jesuit college on the island of Majorca in Spain, where he worked as the door porter. His prayerful demeanor and humble life of service spoke to many: the teachers and students in the college, as well as civic and business leaders in the community.  His writings was simple, but very profound.  He was canonized in 1888, the same day as Peter Claver, one of the students he met at the Jesuit college in Majorca.  St Alphonsus Rodriguez, pray for us.