Word to the Wise
Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - Jan. 28 - St. Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor of the Church
[Wisdom 7:7-10, 15-16; Ephesians 3:8-12; Matt 5:13-19]To me, the very least of all the holy ones, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the plan of the mystery hidden from ages past in God who created all tings, so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the principalities and authorities in the heavens. [Ephesians]
TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2014 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, O.P. [Doctor of the Church]
[Scriptures will vary at Dominican locations.]
There are so many ways that one can consider the life of St. Thomas Aquinas, it is difficult to know where to begin. The choice is up to the one who is interested! I'll mention several. There is the story of the young man whose life and career had been carefully planned by his family but who defied those plans to join the very new (back then) Order of Preachers (Dominicans). The family kidnapped him and locked him up but he escaped and went to France where he became the protégé of St. Albert the Great, O.P.. The rest is history.
There is the brave intellectual pioneer who introduced the use of Aristotelean philosophical categories into the study of Christian theology, defying the dominant Platonic/Augustinian view that was in use at the University of Paris. This would earn him during his life and after the condemnation of high church authorities as well as his own Dominican brethren!
Last, but not least, there are the works of the man himself - a prodigious amount produced in roughly a period of 30 active years as a teacher and preacher. His SUMMA THEOLOGIAE remains a cornerstone of Roman Catholic theology. Along with his SUMMA CONTRA GENTILES, commentaries on the works of Aristotle, scriptural commentaries, debates on various subjects, etc. etc., one could spend a lifetime reading and pondering the insights of Thomas Aquinas. It was all in the service of truth about the "new law of Christ" which is "nothing other than the Holy Spirit working in our hearts through faith." [ST, I-II, Q. 106].
Today we Dominicans celebrate this great brother and invite you to join us! AMEN
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