Friday, January 28, Third Week in Ordinary Time
Second from left, detail from Gozzoli's Triumph of St. Thomas,1471; and second from right, St. Thomas from a fresco by Fra Angelico, ca 1435.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (Tomasso d'Aquino] (Italy, 1225-1274)
Dominican , Philosopher-Theologian, Doctor of the Church (Doctor Angelicus)
Born the son of a count in a castle that still stands not far from Rome, Thomas was sent to the Benedictines at Monte Cassino at age 5. His parents expected him to grow up to become its abbot like his paternal uncle. But at 18, when studying in Naples, he was attracted to the Dominican Order. Two years followed during which his family 'imprisoned' him in the hope of dissuading him from joining the Dominicans. But eventually his mother helped him escape in a face-saving gesture, and he went on to Paris for further studies. Albertus Magnus was one of his teachers, and when he was sent to Germany, Thomas followed him to Cologne. In 1252, he returned to Paris where he was named master of theology at the university. In 1259, his order recalled him to Naples to set up a school, then went on to Rome in 1965 for the same purpose, at which time he began work on his masterpiece, the Summa Theologica. He returned to Paris in 1268-1272 for a second turn as master of theology at the university, after which he returned to Naples. During all this time, he wrote volume upon volume of what are considered to be the bedrock texts of scholastic theology. En route to the Second Council of Lyons in 1274, he struck his head on a tree and never fully recovered. A year before he died, he decided to stop writing, saying famously that "all I have written seems like so much straw compared to what has been revealed to me". He is a towering figure in the history of Western thought. Compared to what has been written about him as a thinker, not much is generally written about his spiritual life, but in many medieval images, he was portrayed as a mystic.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/nab/readings/012811.shtml
OR today.
Illustrations: Main gate to Auschwitz today; modern icon depicting the death of St. Ephrem the Syrian; and the Qa'aba in Mecca, Islam's holiest place.
The only papal news in this issue is the publication of the Holy Father's prayer intentions in 2012, but there is a report on a lecture commenting on Benedict XVI's address to the French world of culture in September 2008 (translated and posted above). The main story is the commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day yesterday. Theologian Inos Biffi writes an essay on St. Ephrem the Syrian and another one on St. Thomas Aquinas, whose liturgical feast is marked on the same day. International news includes continuing protest demonstrations against President Mubarak in Egypt; severe winter weather in northeastern United States, and the federal deficit ballooning to 1.3 trillion dollars this year, or almost 10% of the US GDP; and the Pew Center report estimating there are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world today (compared to 1.2 billion Catholics - and more than 2 billion christians in general), projected to be 2.2 billion by 2030, as the Muslim birth rate, although declining, is twice that of the mon-Muslim world.
PAPAL EVENTS TODAY
The Holy Father met today with
- Mons. Antonio Maria Vegliò, President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Workers
- Mons. Zygmunt Zimowski, Emeritus Archbishop of Radom (Poland) and President of the Pontifical Council
for Pastoral Ministry to Healthcare Workers
- Mons. Faustino Sainz Muñoz, former Apostolic Nuncio to the United Kingdom, with members of his family
(Mons. Sainz was incapacitated by a severe stroke several weeks before the Pope's visit to the UK last year)
- H.E, Francis Martin-Xavier Campbell, Ambassador from Great Britain, and
- H.E. Suprapto Martosetomo, Ambassador from Indonesia - both on their farewell visit.
- Participants in the meeting of the Mixed International Commission for Theological Dialog between
the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Address in English.
- The Executive Summary of the Pew report on a global overview of Islam may be found on
pewforum.org/The-Future-of-the-Global-Muslim-Population.aspx
- In today's Il Foglio, Paolo Rodari has a lengthy analysis of what may be involved in the Holy Father's impending choice for Archbishop of Milan to succeed Cardinal Tettamanzi, who is retiring in March aftr the two-year extension he requested of the Pope when he turned 75. Rodari says that, as usual, the Pope will listen to all sides pushing their respective candidate, but he will make up his mind alone, uninfluenced by partisan advocates. Three names have been prominently mentioned as the most likely candidates - Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, who is Milanese; Cardinal Angelo Scola, now Patriarch of Venice; and Mons. Pizzaballa, head of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land - but Rodari says there are equally compelling reasons why none of the three may be considered by Benedict XVI to be the right pastor at this time for the world's largest diocese.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 28/01/2011 21:13]