So often today we find people separating faith and reason saying they are not compatible. But this is not true. Today is St. Thomas Aquinas' feast day, and he was the guy who wedded the common sense self-evident truths of Aristotle with the revealed truths given to us in Scripture. As our own Pope John Paul II said, "in his thinking, the demands of reason and the power of faith found the most elevated synthesis ever attained by human thought."
The language of St. Thomas' theology is incredibly dry but nevertheless page turningly interesting. He is like today's talking heads that keep us listening in just to hear what they are going to say next. It's exciting to see what St. Thomas is going to prove next, even if he does it in the most dry almost emotionless way possible. Occasionally though we are treated to some glimmers of his emotion when he speaks on things he is particularly passionate about. Also I find it very amusing reading his formal arguments on the necessity of humor.
Being a life-long student, always wanting to learn new things, but being limited with the brain I have been given, it is encouraging to know that the greatest thinker in history also had some difficulties. After all his fellow classmates called him a "dumb ox", and he had to work hard to get things to click. But eventually they did, and that ox bellowed so loud that 700 years later he is still the reference and master of philosophy and theology. And for the rest of us struggling with our own studies he left us a prayer to help us out. I particularly like the 'with charm' line at the end.
Student's Prayer by St. Thomas
The language of St. Thomas' theology is incredibly dry but nevertheless page turningly interesting. He is like today's talking heads that keep us listening in just to hear what they are going to say next. It's exciting to see what St. Thomas is going to prove next, even if he does it in the most dry almost emotionless way possible. Occasionally though we are treated to some glimmers of his emotion when he speaks on things he is particularly passionate about. Also I find it very amusing reading his formal arguments on the necessity of humor.
Being a life-long student, always wanting to learn new things, but being limited with the brain I have been given, it is encouraging to know that the greatest thinker in history also had some difficulties. After all his fellow classmates called him a "dumb ox", and he had to work hard to get things to click. But eventually they did, and that ox bellowed so loud that 700 years later he is still the reference and master of philosophy and theology. And for the rest of us struggling with our own studies he left us a prayer to help us out. I particularly like the 'with charm' line at the end.
Student's Prayer by St. Thomas
Creator of all things,
true source of light and wisdom,
origin of all being,
graciously let a ray of your light penetrate
the darkness of my understanding.
Take from me the double darkness
in which I have been born,
an obscurity of sin and ignorance.
Give me a keen understanding,
a retentive memory, and
the ability to grasp things
correctly and fundamentally.
Grant me the talent
of being exact in my explanations
and the ability to express myself
with thoroughness and charm.
Point out the beginning,
direct the progress,
and help in the completion.
I ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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