SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT 

SAINT  THOMAS  AQUINAS 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my sermon is, “Some Thoughts About Saint Thomas Aquinas.”

Today, January 28^th, is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas - so I asked myself,  “What thoughts hit me when hearing the name of St. Thomas Aquinas?”

HERE ARE SOME  9 COMMENTS

I’m in Italy - getting a guided tour by Father John Ruef of various Redemptorist holy places. John points out the train window. “See that hill there. That’s where Thomas Aquinas was from.” All I saw was a hill in the distance.  Everyone has to be from somewhere?  Point to where you’re from.

I’m up the hill in Monte Casino.  St. Thomas Aquinas was sent here for studies as a tiny kid. Later on someone proposed him for abbot of Monte Cassino  - a Benedictine monastery - even though he was a Dominican.

I’m in Cologne, Germany for 1 hour - to see the great cathedral there.  I was told to take a train 1 hour earlier from Hamburg to Paris - but get off for an hour in Cologne and check out the Cathedral. St. Thomas was there as a student before the cathedral was started in 1248 as well afterwards on a return stay after 1250.

I’m in Paris. I had the thought: St. Thomas spent the heart of his theological teaching here.

If you ever hear some theologian being condemned - criticized - being called a liberal or a conservative or modern or what have you - step back and remember that Aquinas was criticized and condemned by various people in his time.  He discovered Aristotle and various other ways of doing and teaching theology and philosophy - that others did not accept. In time his outlook and method - called “Scholasticism” ends up being made the top recommendation for seminarians in the Western world.  Around 1960 - when I entered the Major Seminary - I heard names like Rahner, Congar, Marin-Sola, Haring,  Chenu, De Lubac,  - being criticized by other church members.  Karl Rahner, for example, was told he can’t submit his writings for publication. These teachers ended up becoming the key voices for the Second Vatican Council - and then that cause uproar as well.

St. Thomas Aquinas’  key theological teaching was: "Nihil est in intellectu quod non sit prius in sensu." (Nothing is in the intellect that was not first in the senses).  That is an essential stance for a way of thinking - which shows that we value science and the visible.

Another key principle was, “Authority is the weakest of arguments.”  Give me reasons.

If you ever hear someone described as a dummy - remember Thomas Aquinas was called, “The Dumb Ox.”

If you ever write, remember  that Aquinas dumped his stuff - calling it straw. He burnt it.

CONCLUSION

Just a few ideas coming from and about St. Thomas Aquinas.