Monday Morning Motivational Message - 12 Life Lessons from St. Thomas Aquinas (Part 2)

How much do you focus on your spiritual development and growth?

We all strive to be better leaders, become more resilient, or have more confidence. We spend time working on our bodies at the gym, eating better, or reducing the stress in our life.

But what about the spiritual side of our life? How much time every day, or every week, or each month, do we work on the unseen, and often overlooked part of our being?

Thomas Aquinas was a 13th-century Italian friar, philosopher, and theologian who was canonized as a saint by the Church in 1323.  Thomas was a proponent of natural theology and the father of the school of thought encompassing both theology and philosophy, Thomism. He is considered the most influential thinker of the medieval period.

​In the second part of this two-part Monday Morning Motivational Message, we are going to look at the final six life lessons we can learn from St. Thomas according to Kevin Vost in his book, 12 Life Lessons from St. Thomas Aquinas. 

7. Hate the sin, love the sinner – We are all children of God. We may not like or agree with the way people live their lives, but charity demands we include and support them.

8. Be a man (or woman) – In this world of wokeism, standing up for what is right has come under attack. We need to find the strength to live upright lives in an exceptionally morally challenged society.

9. Go to mass, not to the woods, every Sunday – While communing with the Creator during a walk in the forest is a great spiritual act, going to mass not only lets us receive the Body of Christ, but it also allows us to be part of the Body of Christ as a member of a religious community.

10. Listen to the angel on your shoulder – We’ve all seen the cartoon depiction of an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. We are all flawed human beings. We will make mistakes. However, we should try to listen to that “angel” on our shoulder whom God has given to guide and guard us.

11. Be a saint – Saints are not perfect. They falter and sin as we all do. But their lives are role models of how to take an imperfect person and use it for the greater glory of God.

12. Get Jesus – Jesus is both God and man. He was sent to make the ultimate sacrifice for our sinful ways. He is the manifestation of God on earth. We should live as if Jesus truly is our way, our truth, and our life.      

Please leave me a comment about what you think of these six life lessons from St. Thomas Aquinas and are there others that you think should be included?