Wednesday, January 28, 2026 - Wednesday in the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Sam 7:4-17 and Mark 4:1-20]
"The Lord also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you. And then your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his Kingdom firm. It is he who shall build a house for my name. And I will make his royal throne firm forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me." [2 Samuel]
JANUARY 28 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, O.P., doctor of the church.
These words of Nathan the prophet were spoken to King David. Although they very likely referred, at the time, to Solomon, son of David and Bethsheba, the early Christian community later saw them as a prophecy concerning Jesus, son of Joseph of the house of David. Solomon is generally considered as a symbol of wisdom and some of the "wisdom literature" of the Old Testament is attributed to him. His actual legacy is debatable insofar as he made himself wealthy as well as building the temple of Jerusalem and heavily taxed the people to do that. His rule over a united kingdom of the twelve tribes was destroyed by his successors.
Although Wisdom is celebrated in the person of Solomon (no matter his checkered record), we Dominicans celebrate "wisdom" today on the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, who, after St. Augustine, is probably the most influential theologian in western Catholic church history. His legacy is not simply historical, but continues today to shape theological reflection in the Catholic world on all levels. At one time, he almost dropped from consideration in the 17th and 18th centuries, but there was a revival of his work in the 19th century which continues today. On the level of ordinary Catholic devotion, his hymns O salutaris hostia and Pange lingua (with the concluding stanzas "Tantum ergo...") are sung at all celebrations of the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. He wrote them for the celebration of the feast of Corpus Christi. He is considered the patron of Catholic schools. His legacy is definitely one of Wisdom. AMEN
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