Memorial of Saint
Alphonsus Ligouri, bishop and doctor of the Church
(Exodus 40:16-21.34-38; Matthew 13:47-53)
Moral theologians are something like a fisherman who
throws a net into the sea as in today’s gospel.
They treat of many things, most of which need to be sorted out and
evaluated. Their job is to judge acts first
as either good or bad and then the bad ones as gravely or venially sinful. To do this well they examine how the passions
of the agent affected her actions. Very
importantly, they propose virtues which will support the will to do what is
right and resist the desire to do evil.
Today we celebrate the patron of moral theologians, St.
Alphonsus Ligouri. He was an
accomplished man in many respects. He
founded a prominent religious congregation and was made a bishop. But Alphonsus is best known for infusing the
academic discipline of moral theology with common sense. When laxists were looking for grounds to
dismiss every act as non-sinful and rigorists were ready to condemn, Alphonsus
promoted a middle ground. He wrote that
an act may be dismissed if it has as many arguments for dismissal as for condemnation. For example, some theologians say that getting
a tattoo is almost always wrong. Others are not so sure. If, after weighing the reasons that either
group of theologians makes, there are equally good arguments for body tattoos as
there are against, then they should not be condemned.
We should be ready to promote good actions and be
cautious to condemn bad ones. If we have
to condemn, let our object be the action and not the person. Let God judge the person without forgetting
that the parents in the home and the state in society take the role of
God. In this way we will give all their
due – the essence of justice.
