Catholic University Celebrates Mass of St. Thomas Aquinas

     Members of the Catholic University of America community gathered on January 31, 2017  to celebrate Mass in honor of University Patron, St. Thomas Aquinas. The Mass was celebrated in the Upper Church of the The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception by Reverend Thomas Joseph White, O.P., Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the Dominican House of Studies and Director of the Thomistic Institute. The Mass was also broadcast live on both The Eternal Word Television Network and CatholicTV.

     The Mass in Honor of St. Thomas Aquinas is celebrated annually by the Catholic University community at the start of the spring semester, close to the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, which is on January 28th. St. Thomas Aquinas was a Dominican friar and is the patron saint of education and of Catholic Schools.

     During his homily Rev. Thomas Joseph White, O.P. spoke on St. Thomas Aquinas, specifically St. Thomas’ devotion to knowledge, truth, and to God. He called the congregation to consider the “Little Church of the Mind.”

     “The University also is a kind of church of the mind, where we are invited to worship at the altar of truth. This is an altar before which we learn to live with our intellectual vulnerability in the face of realities we don’t fully comprehend, and subjects we do not master,” said Rev. White. “We should stop to worship, then, at this altar of God’s truth at the heart of the university, so that we may become what we are called to be.”

     Rev. White referred also to contemporary culture that is “characterized by conflict, restlessness, profound discontent, and violence, be it spiritual or physical,” and implored that the congregation embrace the love and nonviolence of God.

     Rev. White’s homily embodied Thomism—the theological and philosophical school which follows the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas—as he spoke of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the necessity of “something ever ancient, ever new: a university consecrated to the truth, a university that is Catholic. The Catholic University.”

     “It’s important that as a community we come together to the Eucharistic table,” said Pamela Tremblay, Associate Campus Minister for Women’s Ministry and Pro-Life Ministry at Catholic University. “This table gives us strength and nourishment, as well as gives us a sense of responsibility to how we are called to act as we enter into a new semester and school year.”

     Also speaking of community was Matt Cipriano, senior History major and member of the Knights of Columbus. “As a Knight, community means the most,” said Cipriano about participating in the Mass in Honor of St. Thomas Aquinas. “One of our pillars as knights is to bring things back to charity. Being a part of this mass is a way to give back to Catholic.”

     This past week, January 29th through February 4th, marks National Catholic Schools Week. John Garvey, University President, spoke briefly at the beginning of the mass. “May the example of the angelic doctor be a source of inspiration for all of those involved in the important work of Catholic Education,” Garvey said.  National Catholic Schools Week began in 1974 and serves as a celebration of Catholic Education, a product of prominent Catholic intellectuals like St. Thomas Aquinas.