Aquinas Academy is transitioning from courses on-site to resources on-line.  A new web site is being built at the moment to accommodate this transition.  It is expected that this new web site will be up and running by mid-December 2021.
We had hoped to have some more courses this year before that transition was made. However, the long lockdown has made that impractical.  There will be no more Aquinas Academy events on-site this year. Next year we will hold some celebratory events to mark the ending of the onsite phase of the Aquinas Academy from 1945 to 2021. Seventy six very fruitful years!

Reading our way into the heart of the Word of God

Sadly, Course Cancelled
The Gospels present the crucifixion as being the fullness of the meaning of the Scriptures; the words of God are fulfilled in the Passion of the Incarnate Word of God. In a like manner, St Paul wrote that instead of concerning himself with miracles and philosophical wisdom he preached the word of the Cross.

Sadly, Course Cancelled.
Pope Francis’ 2020 encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, is a companion and complement to his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’. The latter addressed the ecological crisis and its manifestation in climate change, offering some constructive responses. The former, whilst naming some elements and potentially devastating consequences of the crisis of relationships in the human family, focuses on the possibilities of “fraternity and social friendship”.

 Sr. Patty Andrew osu 
Sadly, Course Cancelled
Four sessions will be presented by Sr. Patty Andrew osu, featuring several men and women from the Christian mystical tradition who have illuminated the mystical path for those seeking a heart understanding of the divine. The series is a continuation of the work presented in 2020, however it is not necessary to have attended these sessions before taking part in the 2021 series.

Sadly, Course Cancelled
The film centers on Joseph Silberg (Jules Sitruk), who is about to turn 18 years old and serve in the Israeli Defence Forces. During routine tests, his family discovers his blood type is different from theirs. Through further testing, including DNA testing, the family discovers that Joseph is not their son.

An investigation is conducted by the hospital Joseph was born in. Due to a bombing attack that occurred on the night he was born, Joseph and another baby were taken to shelters for safety and switched by mistake.

Sadly, Course Cancelled
Cinema Paradiso is told largely in the flashback of a successful film director Salvatore to his childhood years.  It also tells the story of the return to his native Sicilian village for the funeral of his old friend Alfredo, the projectionist at the local "Cinema Paradiso". Ultimately, Alfredo serves as a wise father figure to his young friend who only wishes to see him succeed, even if it means breaking his heart in the process.

Intertwining sentimentality with comedy, and nostalgia with pragmatism the film explores issues of youth, coming of age, and reflections (in adulthood) about the past – touching into our own reminiscences!

By Michael Whelan SM

Three months before he died on 7 March 1274, St Thomas Aquinas had an extraordinary “experience” while celebrating Mass. As a result of this “experience”, St Thomas refused to do any further work on the Summa Theologica – his major life project. The English Dominican Thomistic scholar, Brian Davies, tells us that Aquinas’ secretary, Reginald of Piperno, begged him to return to the writing. St Thomas replied: "Reginald, I cannot, because all that I have written seems like straw to me" (Brian Davies, The Thought of Thomas Aquinas, Oxford University Press, 1993, 9).

Notes by Michael Whelan SM

•“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:

‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.’

 Notes by Michael Whelan SM

 “I will be with you!” [Exodus 3:12] This is not only a promise, it is an expression of the very nature of God. To be God is to be with! Jesus enfleshes this same promise and the Divine Nature: “And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time” (Matthew 28:20).

We are made in the image and likeness of the One whose nature it is to be with. It is also our nature to be with. We are at our best when that “being with” is embraced generously and allowed to shape our lives. We thrive in constructive and life-giving relationships, we wither in the absence of such relationships. “Relationship is written into the very nature of human beings. As the Bible sees human beings, you cannot think about them, without recognizing that they are, as it were, made for relationship” (Aelred Squire, Asking the Fathers, SPCK, 1972, 20).

Gospel Notes by Michael Whelan SM

Click for a video presentation of the Homily 

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:25-28 & 34-36 – NRSV).