(1532-1617) Alonso was the son of a wealthy wool merchant in Spain. He studied with the Jesuits as a teenager and returned to manage his father’s business when he died. Alonso married in his mid-twenties and had two children who died in infancy and one who survived. His wife died in his early thirties, and when his mother and last son also died, he tried to join the Jesuits but was refused for lack of education. He was finally admitted as a lay brother at 38 years old and served as porter and doorkeeper for 46 years. Alonso was a friend and roommate of Saint Peter Claver and advised him to take up missionary work in South America. He had a deep spiritual understanding and was devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin.
Saint Alonso was continually seeking God’s will for his life. In active addiction, we tend to focus more on ourselves. Step 11 works to retrain our perspective.
“You must strive with all possible care to please God in such a manner as neither to do nor behold anything, without first consulting Him, and in everything to seek Him alone and His glory” (Saint Alonso Rodriguez).
Reflection by Brad Farmer