St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas, gifted Dominican theologian and author of his renowned Summa Theologiae, serves as a model for Catholic teachers, parents, and all who have committed themselves to living the Gospel. His goal was to discover wisdom, the deeper meaning of revelation, and apply it to life. "The beginning of wisdom is: get wisdom;/ at the cost of all you have, get understanding." (Prv 4:7). For all the time he spent writing, reflecting, and teaching, he spent more in contemplative prayer seeking inspiration and wisdom; listening to the Spirit speak and teach. He blended philosophy and secular knowledge with what he discovered in his contemplation and wrote clearly what he had discovered so that others might profit from his insights. At the end of his life, he is quoted as saying that all that he had written was merely straw compared to the Source of his all work: God himself.
His life, his method, teach us that above all, wisdom is a matter of the heart, of a deep relationship with God who reveals himself, Truth, in the prayer of quiet contemplation. Let us not choke on straw, but put our prayer, our relationship with God, first, if we hope to be wise and effective teachers.
Bro. Rene