St. Thomas Aquinas is a Model for the New Evangelization

1/29/2013

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seek the example of love: Greater love than this no man has, than to lay down his life for his friends. Such a man was Christ on the cross. And if he gave his life for us, then it should not be difficult to bear whatever hardships arise for his sake."

"If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross".

"Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid. Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth."

"Therefore Christ's patience on the cross was great. In patience let us run for the prize set before us, looking upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who, for the joy set before him, bore his cross and despised the shame."

"If you seek an example of humility, look upon the crucified one, for God wished to be judged by Pontius Pilate and to die.If you seek an example of obedience, follow him who became obedient to the Father even unto death. For just as by the disobedience of one man, namely, Adam, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man, many were made righteous."

"If you seek an example of despising earthly things, follow him who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.Upon the cross he was stripped, mocked, spat upon, struck, crowned with thorns, and given only vinegar and gall to drink".

"Do not be attached, therefore, to clothing and riches, because they divided my garments among themselves. Nor to honours, for he experienced harsh words and scourgings. Nor to greatness of rank, for weaving a crown of thorns they placed it on my head. Nor to anything delightful, for in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."
- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Thomas Aquinas, new Evangelization, St Thomas, Thomistic, theologians, Third Millennium, New Evangelization, Mission, Deacon Keith Fournier

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1 - 3 of 3 Comments

Emmanuel Tio
1 month ago
April 3, 2013

"St. Thomas knew that all truth finds its source - and its fulfillment - in the One who is Truth Incarnate, Jesus the Christ. In this way, he was a pioneer of a New Evangelization of his own second millennium and a model for our efforts to do the same in the Third."

I apologize for my intrusion right now but I think there seems to be lacking with St.. Thomas Aquinas' philosophies regarding sainthood and sanctity.

Of course, Our Lord Jesus Christ is apparently invisible and His presence is impossible to be perceived. I think, St. Thomas should have stated the importance of the Sacred Scriptures as the concrete advocates in introducing Our Lord God in the present age.

Talking about Him (God) may not be enough since man may not be enough to talk about everything that God proclaimed and achieved in His whole lifetime - God, The Father, in the Old Testament and God, the Son and God, the Holy Spirit, in the New Testament.

I think, the Bible should not be forgotten in terms of the introduction of the meaning of God in the present age since, for sure, listeners or readers will find it impossible to understand the meaning and essence of God without the providence of the Scriptures save miracles and wonders of God, directly from God.

St. Thomas' works are surely great but his humanities limit the limitations of human capacity of grasping the messages of/from God since all the important Word(s) from God may be grasped only in the Bible, and not from anybody alone.

God's "DIRECT" messages came from the Bible and not just from human tongues. And these messages, I think, are the most substantial, the most significant and the happiest experiences humans may have in their entire lives.

If St. Thomas Aquinas is still alive. I think, he will surely put the importance of the Bible in the world of theologies, humanities and philosophies for everything came form the Bible.

No one could disregard the Word of God save God Himself.
Bill Sr.
3 months ago
Deacon Keith
On behalf of all who are blessed by your many articles here on COL and your love of our Lord and his Church we hope many of us will accept your invitation to sainthood.

We can agree that this life of ours is but for a season and how we live and share it with others is of eternal consequence for the body and soul which envelops it. This is why it is so important that as parents we honor our obligation to instill deeply within the hearts and minds of our children those very first two rules of the catechism to know and to love God. Children without a true understanding of their heavenly father and why they were created and given life have little hope to perform the third rule of Christian life, to serve Him. Hopefully we can see to it our little children develop the perspective that life here is like a playground where we sinners can train ourselves to become saints. The games or activities designed for us require only active loving participation and service at all times and a willingness to assist anyone needing help achieving the goals our heavenly Father has for us.
As grown ups we become so entrenched in our often drab day to day existence by the requirements of producing and providing that we forget that we too are children, God's children. We look at our little children playing and think of how worry free they are since we have taken on all their cares for them. We forget that "Our Father" through the Holy Spirit has lovingly provided our Lord Jesus who invites us to place our cares and worries upon him so that we too enjoy freedom to become children of God, His saints. It has been said that a saint is someone who deep within his heart believes God loves him and offers him eternal life through Christ's sacrifice and resurrection and desires to use their life to witness, inform and assure others of the same truth about themselves. It's that simple.
So, who are the saints? They are people like you and me who believe and hope in their Creator and begin their heaven here on earth living Christ's prayerful request by helping build "thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven". We all have an invitation to sainthood and can respond according to our own abilities, gifts, and station in life willingly in the name of Jesus who relieves our burdens and has freed our spirits to be among the saints. Hopefully many of us will be among that great number which no man could count spoken of in Revelations which will eternally be the "communion of saints".
Father God, we pray that we can rejoice fully in the world as children of light and holiness so men can witness and know the truth of your merciful love and accept Jesus as their "personal" savior through and within the eternal "One body of Christ".
Jesus has shown us how to suffer for the sake of our Father and his people. As redeemed Christians we are by choice now a family of suffering souls who can rise above pain, rejection, abuse, or ridicule and not wonder why or seek answers for its presence in our lives. We know because our brother, the crucified, has set the tone of our transformation by and through His glorious cross.
All Christians, through original sin, are justly tied to the cross with Jesus and should welcome a personal measure of suffering that we might share in His resurrection. To deny or avoid that cross or that measure would be to deny Christ. Accept and cherish our Holy Cross for it is truly God's gift of eternal life for us; our shared symbol of love for Truth.
Lord Jesus, though we have chosen to follow in your footsteps to the cross of our salvation, our human weaknesses often tempt us to recoil at the thought or sight of suffering. We pray your infinite mercy will help us to remember always the celestial love of the Father and His willingness to suffer through and with you on the cross for us knowing that we are truly fortunate for any opportunity to share and offer our portion with you that we may one day share eternity with Him.
Paul-Emile Leray
3 months ago
Now, my fuel tank is overflowing for yet another week!
Paul-Emile Leray

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