THE WORD AND THE SAINT
January 28, 2023: Remembering St. Thomas Aquinas
Hebrews 11: 1-2,8-19; Mark 4: 34-41
One of the clearest signs of faith in a person is what we get to hear in the Word today: Keeping calm! It is not keeping calm when everything is going well and everything is under control. While even that is getting into the list of rarities, the call today is specially and particularly, to keep calm under pressure situations and situations of trouble. That is the true test of faith.
The Saint we celebrate today was a great exponent of Christian faith and a person who loved the Lord and grew in that love without ceasing. St. Thomas Aquinas who was such a great proponent of theological truths, did not consider those truths as great as one simple and absolute truth: that immense love of God.
Our growth in faith is marked by our unassailable trust in that love of God, and an unhindered growth in our relationship with God. Yes, we are called to grow in our faith, in our way of feeling connected to God, in our consciousness of the presence of God with us.
There are some qualities that can help us keep calm... as indicated in today's readings: I can keep calm, ...- if I consider God someone close to me;
- if I am convinced that everything that is happening in my life is known to God;
- if it doesn't matter to me what's happening, because I am forever convinced that God is in-charge, God is in control, and that God is in love with me!