St Alphonsus Liguori: Beyond Intelligence

Today in the book In Caelo et in Terra, we read about a very intelligent man. His name was Alphonsus Liguori, and when he was only sixteen years old, he completed his doctoral work in both civil law and in canon law (the laws of the church). He went to work as a lawyer, but as most of us have experienced at one time or another, he became disgusted with the corruption that he found in the legal system. 

So he decided to use his other degree, and he became a priest in 1726. He began preaching such eloquent and persuasive sermons that many people were converted to Christianity. He chose to work especially among the poor, feeding the hungry and housing the homeless. This is what one of the most intelligent men of his time chose to do with the years he had in this lifetime. You can read more about him here.

You'll notice that many of the saints we have discussed this year were extremely intelligent. (Some very much were NOT.) But I think it tells you something when you stop and reflect on the fact that most of the extremely intelligent people who have become saints have done a similar thing: helped the poor. That's a lesson that those of us who aren't quite as brilliant as St Alphonsus Liguori can learn from him and incredibly intelligent people like him: the greatest use of our time on earth, or at least one of the greatest, is to love and serve the poor. To feed the hungry and clothe the naked and house the homeless. What changed can you make in your life to help the poor?

God, thanks for the inspiring example of this very intelligent man. St Alphonsus Liguori, pray for us.