Jan 28th - Thomas Aquinas

Often people try to weight the merits of a saint through the eyes of history. Sometimes we come to conclusions that make us question the Church's wisdom in declaring someone a saint. But it is not about the merits of history but the merits of a spiritual life and the grace of God.
Certainly Thomas has his detractors, first and foremost his own contemporaries. He also has his champions among his contemporaries. He is responsible for both the height and the depths of Catholic theology. His brilliant integration of Aristotelian language into Medieval theology brought clarity and deep insights into the toolbox of Catholic theology. But the power of scholastic skepticism that he brought to theology gave rise to a humanism which both inspired and repulsed Martin Luther. It also created a legalism and rigidity that turned people away and fostered a counter laxness and individualism.
But it is the saint. It is his poetry and music, his mystical and spiritual writings given birth and nourished by his sound theology which we celebrate. These are his gifts to us.
We also celebrate that which Paul mentions to Timothy: that we should not be discouraged by others because of their/our perceived faults and shortcomings but fix ourselves on God and with a discerning spirit be led to holiness.

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Pange lingua gloriosi
Corporis mysterium,
Sanguinisque pretiosi,
Quem in mundi pretium
Fructus ventris generosi,
Rex effudit gentium.

Verbum caro, panem verum
Verbo carnem efficit:
Fitque sanguis Christi merum,
Et si sensus deficit,
Ad firmandum cor sincerum
Sola fides sufficit.

Tantum ergo Sacramentum
Veneremur cernui:
Et antiquum documentum
Novo cedat ritui:
Praestet fides supplementum
Sensuum defectui.

-- Pange Lingua, v 1, 4-5