Born into wealth, Thomas Aquinas was given by his parents to the Benedictines as an oblate when he was only five years old in the hope that he would one day become a monk and eventually be the abbot. Thomas, however, followed a different path went to Paris to study. Soon afterwards, he joined the Dominicans, a mendicant community committed to simplicity and poverty.
Upset, his parents sent this older brother to "capture" him and forced him to return to their home, but Thomas, determined to remain with the Dominicans, left home after a year and returned to Paris and his studies. A student of Albert the Great, it was not long before Thomas outshone his mentor and became the most prominent teacher of the middle ages.
Folding the wisdom of Aristotle into Catholic thought, Thomas challenged scholars to look at the world, philosophy and culture in a fundamentally different way. The church was not the only font of wisdom, Thomas's teaching implied. Theologians needed to study the scriptures and church teaching, as well as the discoveries of science and philosophy in order to know the fulness of truth at the center of God's revelation.
What a lesson for us. As Catholics we should have no fear of the world and its wisdom. Neither should be resist what music, art, and literature teach us about beauty and wonder which ought only enhance the awe we have for God.
Today, thank God for the beautiful
Have any of the great thinkers helped you grow in faith?
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