Faith & Life Inspirational Message

Today is the saint day for medieval theologian, Thomas Aquinas.   St. Thomas, as he was known after being declared a saint, is arguably the most famous theologian in the Catholic Church and even the greater Christian community.   Although I don’t recall hearing about him until I bumped into his writings in college in a class on Christian history, I suspect that is not quite true.   I am sure many high school European history classes have some material about Thomas Aquinas.            Thomas lived during the period that often is called the “High Middle Ages.”   It was a time in which the Catholic Church played a huge role in medieval European society.   Thomas was born in a well-to-do family in 1225 in southern Italy.   His early education came at the hands of the Benedictines monks, who had already been around for more than six hundred years. With Thomas’ religious bent, it might have been expected th...

A few days ago, I pulled up behind a car, which was stopped at a red light.   For some reason I like randomly to read license plates on cars.   My eyes went to the plate on the car ahead of me and I was surprised to read “Being.”   “That’s great,” I whispered to myself.   For a second I thought that I would be happy to have that plate on my car.   But then, I had to laugh. I am sure I have my share of vanity---being too prideful of ourselves or our things.   I care about how I look, etc.   But if asked, I would doubtlessly say that I am not very vain!   The plainness of my clothes, my car, etc. would substantiate that, at least compared to my peers.   I am also sure I was more vain when I was younger!   Maybe there is a connection between vanity and hormones!   I do think maturity and, certainly, becoming more spiritual should simultaneously begin eroding our vanity. One thing I am fairly confident is I won’t spend extra m...