Word to the Wise
Tuesday, January 28, 2025 - Jan. 28 - St. Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor of the Church
[Wisdom 7:7-10, 15-16 and John 17:17-19]I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of Wisdom came to me..." [Wisdom] "Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrated myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth." [John]
JANUARY 28 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, O.P., priest and doctor of the church
[Wisdom 7:7-10, 15-16 or Ephesians 3:8-12 and John 17:11-19 or John 16:23b-28. These are the scriptures assigned for the feast day. Reflections for Tuesday of the 3rd week of Ordinary time may be found at my website <rbwords.com> using the search feature.]
Dominicans around the world celebrate today the feast of one of our greatest brothers, St. Thomas Aquinas! His dedication to the truth through his scholarship, teaching and writing, all in the 13th century, continue to influence the philosophical and theological expression of faith in the Western Catholic tradition in the 21st century. After St. Augustine, it would be hard to find someone more influential than St. Thomas Aquinas. His "output" was prodigious in a time before such things as a printing press existed! He was a man "consecrated in the truth."
He was a very courageous scholar because he adopted the philosophy of Aristotle as the foundation for his teaching, which earned him the criticism of fellow scholars for using a pagan resource. He was a humble person and toward the end of his life, when he had an experience of Christ's presence in which Christ asked him what he would want as a reward for his writings, he replied, "Nothing but you, Lord."
Those who might find his writings a bit too intimidating can find them expressed in a very accessible way in a small book, MY WAY OF LIFE, that has been in print for many years and can still be obtained. His wisdom and prudence remain sure guides to the truth that Jesus came to give. AMEN
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