Wednesday, January 28, 2026

 

Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest and Doctor of the Church

(II Samuel 7:7-14; Mark 4:1-20)

Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest and Doctor of the Church

(II Samuel 7:7-14; Mark 4:1-20)

The name “Thomas Aquinas” suggests complexity to students of theology.  His magistral Summa Theologiae explores more than six hundred topics (called “questions”) with more than three thousand articles of investigation, and many thousands of citations from Scripture.  Yet Thomas was not a complex person and sees his principal subject of inquiry – that is, God – as complete simplicity.

Thomas was born into a semi-noble family in southern Italy.  Noticing his ability, his family hoped that he would be a future abbot of the Benedictine abbey where Thomas schooled.  However, when Thomas met the Dominicans in Naples, he found his true calling.  The Order exhibited a simplicity that touched his heart.  It professes poverty that eschews material accumulation. It strives above all to preach the gospel intelligently.  And its members wear a habit of the most basic of colors – black and white. 

Thomas’ conception of God bespeaks the singularity of Thomas’ own heart.  God for him is absolutely simple.  He has no essence other than existence, no attribute apart from His essence, and no possibility of being anything other than who He is.  In praise of God Thomas devoted his life.

Today’s gospel speaks of “rich soil” producing much fruit.  Like few others Thomas Aquinas exemplifies that soil.  His simplicity of heart explaining the complete simplicity of God gave rise to thousands of insights into both God and humans.

 

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

 Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest

(Hebrews qo:1-10; Mark 4:31-35)

Saint Thomas Aquinas was born exactly 800 hundred years ago. He was a person of genius with few equals in history. He also had a rare holiness. What made him a treasure for the Church more precious than Google stock was his way of combining natural talent with supernatural gift. His intellectual reflection on his religious experience resulted in the most comprehensive, systematic and profound understanding of God and His ways in history.

With a voracious appetite for all kinds of knowledge, Thomas read constantly. It is said that he knew everything there was to know in his time. He used this vast knowledge in the production of his own writings which were similarly prodigious. He wrote numerous commentaries on philosophers and theologians and on themes and issues debated in his time. He wrote prayers, liturgical works, and numerous sermons. Of course, his most famous and still widely read book is the Summa Theologica.

His fame as a theologian did not inflate his self-thinking. He remained throughout his career a humble, obedient, and holy friar. In the debates between theologians, which were often quite contentious, Thomas always remained calm. His biographer claims that Thomas never insulted anyone with his words. He celebrated Mass every day and usually heard a second Mass.

Perhaps most indicative of his fusion of intelligence and holiness was his habit of preparing for scholarly work with extensive prayer. Before studying, engaging in intellectual dispute, teaching, writing, or dictating, Thomas withdrew into silent prayer. With the shedding of many tears he asked the Lord to grant him insight into the subject.

Pope St. Pius V named Thomas “Doctor of the Church” in the exclusive company of the four ancient doctors of the West and of the East. He deserved the honor both for his treatment of theological subjects with subtlety and depth and for his defense of orthodoxy. Pope Benedict XVI said that Thomas was known as the “angelic doctor” for both “the sublimity of his thought and the purity of his life.”

 

Thursday, March 2, 2023

 Thursday of the First Week of Lent

(Esther c:12.14-16.23-25; Matthew 7:7-12)

Thomas Aquinas was as intellectually gifted as any saint in Butler’s Lives.  Yet he did not rely on his own acuity.  Always before studying, teaching,  debating, or writing, he prayed intensely.  He withdrew into a private space, often before a crucifix. Then, pouring out tears, he asked for understanding of the divine mysteries.  No doubt, Thomas was quite aware that he was fulfilling the Lord’s instruction in today’s gospel.

Even people who pray regularly often delay their prayer until other means of resolving an issue fail.  The Book of Esther is famous for not mentioning God.  Yet, with nowhere else to turn except to heaven, the queen prostrates herself in prayer.  There is nothing wrong with praying in desperation.  However, Scripture recommends constant prayer, and the wise do not fail to take the advice. 

Like Thomas Aquinas, we can begin every endeavor with a sincere prayer for help.  God does not fail us when we show such faith.  Even if He does not fulfill our need as we imagine, we should notice a more agreeable disposition coming over us. God provides what we need like a father who wants the best for his children.

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Wednesday of the Octave of Easter

(Acts 3:1-10; Luke 24:13-35)

There is a legend about St. Thomas Aquinas which may help us understand this resurrection appearance.  Toward the end of his life when writing about the Lord’s Passion and Resurrection, Thomas was praying before a crucifix.  Suddenly a voice came from the image, “Thomas,” it said, having written most of his famous Summa, Thomas was praying before a crucifix.  He heard a voice from the crucifix say, “You have spoken well of me, Thomas, what shall be your reward?” Thomas replied, “Nothing other than thee, Lord.”  Serious biographers of Thomas doubt the story’s veracity.  Nevertheless, it does relate Thomas’ devotion to prayer before the crucifix and his insights into the Paschal mystery.  It can be said that there is much truth in this legend.

Today’s gospel in many respects is a reflection on the Eucharist.  The two disciples, of whom nothing is known except one was called Cleopas, may be Christians of any era.  Their walk to Emmaus may be a way of saying how they enmeshed themselves fully in life.  Then Jesus accompanies them as he meets his followers at mass.  He interprets the Scriptures for them by showing how “the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.”  The disciples discover that it is Jesus when he breaks bread with them.  Thus, the story likely refers to Christians having Jesus’ spiritual accompaniment through the ups and downs of life.  They further meet him physically in the Eucharist.

If this is a legendary story, some will want to ask if Jesus really rose from the dead.  Or is the resurrection supposed to mean only an uplifting of hearts when Christians celebrate the Eucharist?  This same gospel gives a positive answer, “Yes, Jesus rose.”  When the disciples in the story return to Jerusalem, they are told, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon.”  The apostle Paul notes this appearance to Simon Peter and a few others as well.  The story assures us that we may have an experience of the risen Christ by giving faithful attention to the Eucharist. 

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor of the Church

(II Samuel6:12b-15.17-19; Mark 3:31-35)

St. Thomas Aquinas is recognized as one of the three or four greatest minds in history.  It is said that he knew about everything that there was to know at the time when he lived.  But it was not so much the breadth of his knowledge that makes Thomas so prodigious as its depth.  He saw relationships among things that gave him a complete grasp of the whole.

Because Thomas had such a tremendous mind, some may think that he was canonized for his intelligence.  It may seem understandable, if somewhat misleading, that the Church would declare him a saint because he was able to fold all the strands of Scripture and theology into a coherent doctrine.  But his holiness was as serene as his intellect.  He never taught or preached without first praying at length.  Three characteristics stand out in Thomas’ prayer.  First, as just indicated, Thomas linked prayer with study.  Second, he was so devoted to the Eucharist that he attended mass twice a day.  And finally, he either prayed before a crucifix or before the altar, the liturgical symbol for Christ.

Thomas offers all of us, not just theologians, a model to be imitated.  We may not be able to write three coherent sentences or even to write at all.  But we can and should pray to God that what we say about Him to others makes sense.  We may not be able to even pronounce the word “transubstantiation,” which Thomas clarified.  But we can and should receive Holy Communion knowing that it is the body and blood of Christ.  We may not be able to explain how Christ’s death has justified humans in their sinfulness as Thomas did.  But we can and should look at the crucifix with a word of thanksgiving on our lips.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:1-6; John 15:1-8)

Thomas Aquinas thought of virtue in a way that might surprise many.  He saw it as a good quality of the mind that disposes humans to live righteously.  So far, no surprises.  But Thomas went on that no one can make bad use of a virtue.  This idea is provocative.  “Cannot a terrorist show courage in a holy war” someone might ask, “so how can it be said that no one can make bad use of it?”  Thomas accepted the Christian tradition that true virtue is infused by God when the person surrenders to God in love.  It is a gift which no one can use badly because it comes from God and remains related to Him as a gift of his love.  The beginnings of virtue may be sown when God enters the soul at Baptism.  In any case no one can make bad use of a gift that keeps her in a relationship with God.  The same idea can be found in today’s gospel.

Jesus exhorts his disciples to remain in him as he remains in them.  Both he and the Father will come to them with the Holy Spirit.  The presence of all three will guide the disciple’s actions to always act in ways that conform to divine love.  In this way their actions cannot be anything but good.  Jesus uses the illustrative image of a vine and its branches to describe how virtue is transformed into benefits for others.  He says that the Father will act like a gardener pruning the vines’ branch.  Just as the pruned branches yield a greater harvest so life attentive to the Father’s commands will result in many blessings.

Our responsibility is to remain in Jesus by following his (and the Father’s) law of love.  We are to go beyond the Golden Rule.  Jesus tells us to love others as he has loved us.  We are to make sacrifices for the good of others as Jesus died to free us from sin.

Monday, January 28, 2019

Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor of the Church

(Hebrews 9:15.24-28; Mark 3:22-30)

In Thomas Aquinas’ “Prayer before Study” the saint asks the Lord for light.  He sees himself engulfed by a twofold darkness – ignorance and sin.  The first obscurity regards all the reality which his mind has not grasped.  Aquinas is said to have known everything that was known at the time.  But perhaps, like Socrates, he knew that there were oceans of knowledge still to be learned.  The second darkness is even thicker.  Sin often infects the mind so that one thinks he has answers to all questions or, at least, all the questions that are important.  We may liken these two obscurities to the strongman which Jesus speaks of in today’s gospel.

Jesus’ parable astounds the person who considers it.  He compares himself to a thief!  Moreover, he says, the world is like a household and the devil like a strong man controlling it. Jesus binds the strong man by expelling demons.  His aim is to set the people of the household free.  He condemns anyone who would criticize his work but not because he takes personal offense.  No, Jesus is concerned that his critics are preventing people from being liberated.

The struggle for liberation carries on today.  Sometimes we act like we do not want to be set free.  This is true of petty sins like being “know it alls” as well as more scandalous ones.  Jesus has come to liberate us from all vices.  Let’s not prevent him from doing so.

Monday, June 18, 2018

Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

(I Kings 21:1-16; Matthew 5:38-42)

Few gospel passages have provoked more soul searching reflection than that of today and tomorrow.  Seemingly Jesus is calling his disciples not to defend their families, much less themselves, if attacked.  Is that even humane?  Or is Jesus exaggerating as when he says one must hate one’s parents to be his disciple (Luke 14:26)?

Thomas Aquinas justifies killing in self-defense if one does not intend to kill the aggressor.  The case is not one of doing evil to achieve the good because the defender acts in place of the civil authority.  For Aquinas only the state acting as God’s minister in pursuit of the common good can take a life. 

Then is Aquinas faithful to the gospel?  One would be reckless to accuse Thomas Aquinas of biblical infidelity.  He sees Jesus correctly as talking of personal righteousness.  Jesus does not intend that his statement be generalized to cover every case of evil.  He does insist, however, as tomorrow’s passage will show that we love our enemies.  This means that we do not want them harm.  But if they present themselves as unjust aggressors unstoppable short of killing, then let it be done.  Aquinas will make one exception to this rule.  An ordained man cannot kill under any circumstances.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbot

(I Samuel 17:32-33.37.40-51; Mark 3:1-6)

Aristotle taught that a soldier best exemplifies the virtue of courage.  He saw the warrior’s overcoming the fear of death to fight for the homeland as the essence of bravery.  In today’s readings his ideal would be realized in David who takes up the challenge of Goliath to defend the honor of Israel.  Thomas Aquinas gave the model of courage a different flavor.  Since he understood union with God as the ultimate goal in life, martyrdom became the highest way to practice courage.  In today’s gospel Jesus demonstrates such courage as he heals the invalid on the Sabbath despite the vicious contempt the cure will draw from the Pharisees.

Anthony of the Desert, today’s patron saint, exemplifies another kind of courage.  He gave up everything he had to live most of his life in solitude.  This meant overcoming the fear not of death but of living an unfulfilled life.  He forsook the commonly satisfying experiences of family, comforts, and human accompaniment to deepen his spiritual relationship with the Lord.  In doing so, Anthony provided Christianity a model of holiness.

To be true Christians we also need to pursue a close relationship with the Lord.  He is very near to us -- in our hearts where we can share with him our most intimate thoughts and desires.  He will assist us to bravely face the trials which inevitably come to those who are true to him.  Best of all, he will lead us to fulfillment of our deepest desire – the happiness of eternal bliss.

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest

(2 Samuel 7:18-19.24-29; Mark 4:21-25)

The philosopher said that Thomas Aquinas did not have a sufficient appreciation of Scripture.  His words sounded odd to students of Aquinas.  Was the philosopher not aware that the academic position that Thomas held was “Master of the Sacred Page”?

There are still lively debates about whether Thomas was more a philosopher or a theologian.  With the new interest in cosmology, Thomas’ writings are cited as a kind of benchmark.  But he is no less looked to as the definitive voice up to his time on matters such as grace.  A distinguished contemporary theologian remembers the place where Thomas corrects St. Augustine, the preeminent doctor of grace. The question Thomas was disputing was whether charity exists within humans as simply the presence of the Holy Spirit or whether it becomes a specifically human capacity.  Augustine held the former view, but Thomas reasoned the contrary.  He held that if God extends true friendship to humans, humans must be able to love Him with their own mind and heart.  Therefore, charity exists within them not just as the presence of God but as their own transformed capacity to love Him as friends.

We should ask how we get this ability to love God as a friend.  The answer, of course, is through Jesus, who became one of us so that we might become divine like him.  We can find this happening right now in this Eucharist.  As Thomas wrote, in this sacred banquet Christ becomes our food and grace fills our hearts.  This same grace transforms our limited human nature so that we might turn to the awesome God as our best friend.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest

(Hebrews 10:11-18; Mark 4:1-20)

If the seed is the word of God and if it produces an abundant harvest when it falls on fertile ground as today’s gospel proclaims, then it has seldom yielded more than when it struck the ears of Thomas Aquinas.  Few writers have been more prodigious and few thinkers more profound than the thirteenth century Dominican friar.

What made Aquinas such rich soil for an intellectual yield?  Three factors come to mind.  First, as a child he was sent to a Benedictine monastery for school.  There he probably learned to savor the word of God in his heart so that he could appreciate its every aspect.  Second, as an adolescent Thomas studied Aristotelean philosophy in Naples.  The ancient Greek’s rigid analysis of the real world gave the budding genius a penchant to express the truth with the purity of an angel.  Finally, Thomas embraced the radical life of the Dominican friars who depended implicitly on Divine Providence and allowed no concern to impede their vocation of saving souls.

Like all the saints, Thomas Aquinas was especially endowed by God.  As very few possess his genius, we can hardly rival his holiness.  But God continually breaks down the rocky texture of our lives so that we might, like Aquinas, produce an output of wise words and loving deeds that assist others on the road to salvation.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest

(II Samuel 6:12b-15.17-19; Mark 3:31-35)

St. Thomas Aquinas was born nearly eight hundred years ago in a society very different from our own.  Yet his ideas, which were not unappreciated in his time, remain the source of rich inquiry today.  Science, which seems so thoroughly modern, can find in Aquinas’ philosophical speculations much food for thought.  The Big Bang theory, for example, once thought avant-garde in the twentieth century, rests well with Aquinas’ metaphysical conclusions about a Creator who preexisted creation and continues to uphold in existence every one of the billions of galaxies spread across the universe along with their components.

But Aquinas’ understanding of such a comprehensive Creator did not conflict with his attention to a personal God.  Like the relation between gargantuan stars and infinitesimal sub-atomic particles, Aquinas accepted the biblical insight that God loves each item in His creation, especially – it needs to be added – the human person.  It might be said that Thomas saw the human being as the hinge between the big and the small that comprise the universe, and Jesus Christ as the link between God and the human person. 

Most often images of Aquinas show a sun beaming on his chest.  That sun represents Thomas himself.  His thought has enabled humans to see more clearly the relation between the created order and the God of faith.  At times it shines so brightly that it blinds.  That is the profundity of his thought which can leave our minds perplexed.  But the warmth of its rays can also console.  That is his understanding of Jesus Christ which helps us to locate our final hope in him.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor of the Church

(Hebrews 9:15.24-28; Mark 3:22-30)

Engage a Catholic philosopher in a discussion about Thomas Aquinas and you are apt to be told that he was such a great theologian because first and foremost he was a philosopher. Yet it is said that the only academic title Thomas ever had was that of Doctor of the Sacra Pagina, that is Scripture. It is interesting to note how economists place Thomas prominently in the development of their science. Of course, he was an eminent man of letters having written poetry, prayers and hymns that are still in vogue.

Thomas Aquinas was a man of multiple talent and monumental ability. He knew everything that there was to be known in his time. Still more importantly, he was a saint because he combined his achievement with a supreme love for God and a gentle disposition toward neighbor. On his deathbed, he accredited Christ as the end of all his efforts. Preparing to receive the Eucharist, he prayed, “For you have I labored, for you have I studied and preached and taught.”

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels

(Daniel 7:9-10.13-14; John 1:47-51)

Quantum mechanics proposes that positions of subatomic particles cannot be determined with certainty. Indeed, it presumes that a particle can be in two places at the same time. Albert Einstein refuted this idea saying that there must be specific position for each particle because “God does not play dice with the universe.”

Just as Einstein and other contemporary physicists have speculated over the movement of subatomic particles, Thomas Aquinas and other theologians in the Scholastic Age contemplated the presence of angels on a pinhead. Their purpose was not to count angels but to indicate God’s presence to humans in distress. The scholastics, following Scripture, maintain that God’s ways are infinite since He uses these spiritual entities to carry out His will.

Today’s feast of the archangels encourages us to trust in God’s Providence by offering a glimpse into the mechanics of God’s ways. In the gospel Jesus predicts that his disciples will see the Father assist him bear the greatest of human suffering by sending angels over him. Similarly, we can be reassured that God will help us when we turn to Him with our needs.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, doctor of the Church

(II Samuel 7:18-19.24-29; Mark 4:21-25)

It is said that when St. Thomas Aquinas finished his tract on the Eucharist in the Summa Theologiae, Christ appeared to him. The Lord reportedly said, “Thomas, you have written well of me. What would you like in return?” Aquinas answered, “Nothing but you, O Lord.”

Thomas’ desire to be united with Jesus shows an appreciation of the gospel passage today. The lamp that is to be placed on a lamp stand and the word that is to be heard are none other than Jesus himself. Thomas made knowing the Lord his quest in life. Encyclopedias will describe him as a theologian and philosopher. These labels are certainly valid, but they belie the fact that as an academic the only title that Thomas Aquinas ever carried was professor of Scripture. He knew God’s holy word thoroughly, commented on it (or him!) prodigiously, and lived it implicitly.

Homilette for Friday, May 1, 2009

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts 9:1-10; John 6:52-59)

St. Thomas Aquinas uses Aristotelian categories to answer the question of the Jews, “’How can (Jesus) give us his flesh to eat?’” He explains that the substance, or underlying nature of bread, is changed into the substance of Jesus’ flesh while the accidents, or qualities that we see and touch, remain those of bread.

This process of change, called transubstantiation, has served the Church through the centuries. Still some people do not accept Aristotelian categories and others cannot comprehend them. Even those who can understand and do accept the explanation must admit that the change takes place miraculously. It is a matter of faith in Scripture. Three of the gospels and Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians testify that Jesus told his disciples to offer the bread as he did at the Last Supper when he said, “This is my body.”

We believe that Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist is an act of God. Like resurrection from the dead, it defies ordinary experience. Yet it does help us appreciate our need to attend mass on Sunday or, for many of us, every day. We participate in the mass with others so that we might be brought together in Christ and with these same companions might experience the eternal life eating his flesh promises.

Homilette for Thursday, April 12, 2007

Thursday, I Easter, April 11, 2007

(Luke 24)

The German Renaissance master Mathis Grünewald portrayed Christ’s life on what is called the Isenheim Altarpiece. The paintings of the crucifixion and the resurrection stand out. One can hardly imagine a more pathetic scene than Christ tortured on the cross. He is writhing in pain. His body is hideously contorted. And thorns from a beating with reeds cover his body. As atrocious as Jesus looks here, his resurrected body is glorious. His skin glows, and his wounds sparkle. There is not a hint of the agony he went through just two days before.

Thomas Aquinas would find the magnificent portrait of Christ’s glorified body entirely appropriate. He writes, according to one commentator, that the incorruptible soul bestows on the body “something glorious or luminous” in the resurrection. The gospel narrative today seems to attest to this transformation. Jesus’ disciples can’t believe what they are seeing as the resurrected Lord stands before them. They mistakenly believe that he is a ghost because the last time they saw him was hanging on the cross.

Aquinas does not leave such a glorification of the body solely to Jesus’ case. No, he says that everyone who dies with Christ are bound to experience this same transformation. It will not happen on the day we die, but at the resurrection of the dead on the last day. Our bodies will have all the beauty of robust youth whether we die at ninety days or ninety years. This is just another example of how God shows his love for us. It provides us still another reason to love God in return.