Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas
Scripture:
Reflection:
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025!
As we begin this new year our scriptures of today call us to ponder and reflect!
In the gospel today we hear Jesus reminding us that whoever does the will of God is my brother, sister and mother. So, if we as followers of Jesus who believe in the Good News and practice this by living a good Christian life, we are to be counted as a member of God’s family. This should make us feel pretty good. We couldn’t be any luckier than this, to have this close relationship with Jesus as such!
Ponder and reflect time!!!
What about those times when we wander away from the family of God when we adopt an attitude of arrogance or entitlement when we decide it’s not that important to be in God’s family and decide we don’t really need the loving family of God.
What happens when we decide we want to exclude certain persons whom we don’t feel belong in the family of God, so we turn our backs on those who may not share our beliefs, culture, race or religion? In doing so, we ignore those persons who are in need of our love, support and care.
In our psalm response today we pray the familiar refrain;
Here am I Lord; I come to do your will. Ps 40:8a and 9a
We can all recall the times in our faith life when we have responded in faith to God’s call. We can also recall those times when we have been slow to respond or even ignored God’s invitation to open ourselves up to this challenge of following God’s will. It takes courage to accept God’s invitation. Saints and sinners alike who have gone before us, and those who stand with us in the present day share our successes and failures that this call to discipleship affords us.
Today we celebrate the life and gifts of Saint Thomas Aquinas. As a Doctor of the Church, Thomas Aquinas is considered one of the Catholic Church’s greatest theologians and philosophers. Early in life, Thomas felt called to religious life and planned to enter the Dominican religious community. The Dominican’s charism is to be teachers and preachers. He met great opposition from his family and endured a certain amount of abuse in trying to answer his calling, even to the point of imprisonment. With his brilliant mind he was able to author important texts that continue to educate the ordained, professed and lay ecclesial ministers for service in our church. He took his call to serve as teacher and minister to all peoples seriously for which our church owes him a great debt of gratitude.
As we ponder and reflect on our call to service to all God’s people, may we hold Saint Thomas Aquinas and all educational and formational leaders in prayer and may we respond joyfully ‘Here am I, Lord, I come to do your will!’
Blessings on this Jubilee Year of Hope!
Theresa Secord is a retired Pastoral Associate at St. Agnes Parish, Louisville, Kentucky.