The Pope praises the deep relationship with God of St. Thomas Aquinas


Pope Francis praised Saint Thomas Aquinas’ deep relationship with God “which was manifested, for example, in the adoration of Jesus in his real presence in the Eucharist.”


In a prepared speech for the “Fraternity of Saint Thomas Aquinas Groups” (FASTA)and not pronounced by the Pope, but delivered to the members and disseminated by the Vatican on September 30, the Pope highlighted some teachings of this great theologian of the Church.


The Holy Father underlined the testimony that Saint Thomas left us with “his deep relationship with God, which is manifested, for example, in the adoration of Jesus in his real presence in the Eucharist” and recalled that “he was the author of beautiful Eucharistic hymns used to this day in the Liturgy of the Church”.


The Pope explained that Saint Thomas’s spirituality “helped him discover the mystery of God, while his talents made it possible for him to put it into writing.”


Along these lines, the Holy Father stressed that “this is an important piece of information: to unravel the presence of the Lord in the world, in events, it is necessary to pray, to have one’s heart united to that of Jesus in the tabernacle.”


“In this way our spirit is fed, strengthened, human powers, such as intelligence, are perfected, and we are able to see each situation in a transcendent way, even those that before human logic can only present a discouraging panorama,” he warned.


In this way, the Pope indicated that “precisely, faith and reason, when they walk hand in hand, are capable of enhancing the culture of the human beingimpregnate the world with meaning, and build more humane, more fraternal societies, and consequently, more full of God”.


In addition, the Holy Father pointed out that “Saint Thomas discovered that much of Aristotle’s works were in accordance with Christian Revelation. and added that St. Thomas “was able to show that there is a natural harmony between faith and reason.”


In this sense, the Pope concluded that “by realizing this richness, which is essential to overcome fundamentalism, fanaticism and ideologies, a wide path is opened to bring the message of the Good News to the various cultures, always with proposals that are compatible with the intelligence of the human being and respectful of the identity of each people”.


affectionate encounter


For its part, the FASTA Press Office reported that during the audience it took place in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace in a “pleasant and confidential” atmosphere in which the Pope left aside “protocol issues” delivering the speech to the president, Fr. Cesar Garcés Rojas, to “share anecdotes of his youth” and of the priestly path he shared in Buenos Aires with the founder of FASTA, Fray Aníbal E. Fosbery OP


“The Pope began his account of the first years shared with the Founding Father with whom, according to what he said, he played soccer in a small field in the San José de Flores neighborhood,” described a FASTA statement.


According to the official note, the Holy Father said about Fr. Fosbery that “he has always been a man and a priest faithful to the Church” and also “referred to the importance of thanking the Dominicans for giving Hannibal the opportunity to leave him.” to do, that is to say, to have allowed him and accompanied him in the foundation of FASTA”.


According to the stories, at the end of the meeting, Pope Francis encouraged them to continue “with this blessed FASTA that he left them” and exhorted them to be “faithful to the charism.”

The Pope praises the deep relationship with God of St. Thomas Aquinas