"Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church"

Friday, 28^th January 2022: 

3^rd week of Ordinary time

Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, 

Priest and Doctor of the

 Church.

Dear brethren in Christ, in today’s liturgy of the word we are called to remember that we have to sow the seeds of faith in our hearts as well as in others hearts and provide them such conditions and environments which are very much needed for our faith to grow more and more. As we grow in our faith we are obliged to guard ourselves and our souls as well from all those ways and situations which lead us to sin and evil so we will not go into the depth of sin.

In today’s first reading which is taken from the second book of Prophet Samuel we read about the King David’s kingdom and the works of king David of Israel. We read in the life history of King David that God had indeed blessed him with abundant blessings. Even the Lord granted him prosperity and happiness. However King David was very much influenced by the beauty of one named Bathsheba who was the wife of one of his arm captains named Uriah, known as the Hittite. King David desired for Bathsheba and was led towards her when he saw her bathing.

King David had an affair with Bathsheba and which in resulted they had a child that was of King David’s. King David got afraid and frightened that his affair would be revealed by Uriah and others, king David was desperate in trying to trick him into sleeping with his wife as to hide the fact of the sin that he has committed before God and others. Uriah was a righteous man and he did not do as David intended, and as such, King David with the help of his cunning advisors he had, sent Uriah in the crowded place of the battle against Amorites and it ended up leading to Uriah’s death.

But God knows each and everything what we do whether it is in open place or hiding, including David’s wicked act as well for God nothing is hidden even we try our level best to hide but before God we are nothing. Even the King David such a righteous and faithful servant of God could fall in the snare of sin and evil indeed reached far and wide as those past examples have shown us thus far who we are We are nothing. Unless we are prudent and vigilant enough in our defense and preparedness against the forces of sin and evil we will find ourselves in the wrong side during the day of Judgment because sins and wickedness become hurdles and obstacles on our way towards salvation in God.

In today’s Gospel passage all of us heard that Jesus is speaking in parables to His disciples namely the parable of the sower and the mustard seed. Through these parables Jesus wants to say clearly in the same context of what the people understood, how building the Kingdome of God requires effort and handwork and our faith is not one which can easily live in idleness and positive attitude instead all of us as Christians are called to live our lives with great zeal, spending time to follow the Lord in all our actions, deeds, words and interactions.

It very clear that we all are called to be enthusiastic in our faith and to follow our Lord Jesus Christ, His teaching, obeying His will and ordinances, living according to what His commandments had shown us and giving an exemplary life in our contributions as Christians and in being role models for one another. It is important that we do so just as mustard seeds require water, sunlight, manure, nurturing and best conditions to be able to grow to the great size it will attain when mature and how the sower will earn a lot of returns if he toll great carte of the fields.

Today we are celebrating the feast of a truly great saint namely, St. Thomas Aquinas. He was one of the greatest minds of the Church, a most faithful and ardent servant of the Lord dedicated to the glory of God. St. Thomas Aquinas was a Dominican friar and priest who is remembered for his amazing treaties and works in theology and philosophy, Church Law and other things, especially in his works in the Summa Theologiae which is his most famous work of all.

St. Thomas Aquinas spent a lot of years in immersing himself in his works, gaining insight over various areas of Christian philosophy and theology. He was known later as the Angelis Doctor or Doctor Angelicum and is recognized as a great Doctor of the Church, a very important person in the history of Christianity and who is still inspired by many even to this day .

Through the life of St. Thomas Aquinas we all are invited to recall our own duty and responsibilities to become true follower the Lord with whole heart and mind and to do what is necessary in order to serve the Lord by our way of life and deeds, even in our day to day activities. We are all invited to be steadfast, loyal and  true to our faith and avoid the various temptations come to our life in everyday life. Therefore, we need to reflect what the Word of God reminds us to do in order to become true followers of Christ as St. Thomas became and attain the divine wisdom from Jesus Christ our Lord.

May the Lord be with us always and may He pour out His Holy Spirit upon each and every one of to fight against the temptations of sin and to be honest and just in all our lives. We also pray to the Lord our God that we may bless all our action and deeds, and bless us always with His truth and love so that we may always walk faithfully in the path of His servants especially that of St. Thomas Aquinas whose memory we remember today, now and always.  Amen.