3rd Week, Tuesday, Jan 28th; Thomas Aquinas
Hebrews 10:1-10 / Mark 3:31-35
Jesus speaks; "I come to do your will, O God."
Kathryn Koob was one of 52 Americans held hostage for 444 days by Iran in the 1980s. She will never forget how enraged mobs shouted outside the embassy around the clock. One night she awoke with a start. Immediately a sense of God's presence flooded her. As it did, the words of an old hymn came to mind: "Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Thou are the potter; I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will," Those words gave her not only great peace of mind but also great strength and resignation to God's will.
***
How courageously do we accept and embrace whatever situation we find ourselves in? In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said, "Father...not my will but yours be done." Luke 22:42
***
Brilliant, spirited, humorous, and very kind, St. Francis was bishop of Geneva during the Reformation. Both through his eloquence and his personal contact with people, he convinced many not to become Protestants and won many back to Catholicism.
He wanted to lead the simple life of everyone. Wearing ordinary clothes, he mixed with the people in the street, in the café around the corner, in restaurants. In his writings, especially in his Introduction to the Devout Life, he showed how everyone can become a saint in one’s own environment and everyday work. With St. Frances de Chantal he founded the Order of the Visitation.
***
For those who are maturing in their prayer life and deepening their spirituality, one of the questions they will face will be that of God's will. Essentially, the question will be what is God's will for them in their lives. But before we want to know what is God's will in our lives, a more fundamental question is: Do we know what we want for ourselves? When we know what we want, then we will go and get it done. It is almost as simple as that.
In the gospel, we heard that the mother and brothers and sisters of Jesus were outside and they sent a message asking for Him. The reply of Jesus was rather puzzling - "Who are my mother and brothers?" And then He said this - Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother. The mother and brothers and sisters of Jesus were asking for Him. But do they know what they want from Him? Do they know why they were asking for Him in the first place? And that brings us to the 1st reading when it said - God, here I am! I am coming to do your will.
When we ask what is God's will for us, then we must be prepared to put our lives into His hands and like Mary at the Annunciation, we must be ready to say "Be it done according to Your will".
And like Mary who had to learn moment by moment how to be the mother of Jesus and to do God's will, may we learn moment by moment how to be brothers and sisters of Jesus and do God's will.
***
Feast day January 28
Thomas Aquinas came from a wealthy Italian ruling family in the 13th century. At age five, he was sent to a Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino in hopes that someday he would be an abbot. But King Frederick III sent his troops to occupy the monastery as a fortress. Thomas then transferred to the University of Naples, where he came into contact with the Dominicans. Their life of prayer and study fascinated him, and he was determined to join them. His family was shocked that Thomas would join a group of poor friars. His mother sent his brothers after him. They kidnapped and imprisoned him for more than a year at a family castle. Nothing would shake his resolution to enter the Dominicans. Finally, Thomas’s family gave up on discouraging him from becoming a priest, and in 1244, he joined the order.
Thomas studied under Albert the Great. In class, his silence during discussions and his large size earned him the nickname “the dumb ox.” Thomas became well known for his writings in philosophy and theology. His most famous work, the Summa Theologiae, contains five volumes of thought on all the Christian mysteries. It is said that no one has equaled the depth of understanding and clear reasoning that Thomas showed. His love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament led him to write prayers and hymns that are still used to honor the Eucharist.
But this brilliant man was very humble. He knew that all his gifts came from God. While celebrating Mass on December 6, 1273, he received a revelation from God. After that, he stopped writing. He said that all he had written was so much straw after what he had seen in the revelation. Thomas died at age 49 on his way to the Council of Lyons, France. Pope Gregory X had asked him to come. Saint Thomas Aquinas is a Doctor of the Church and patron of Catholic schools.
