Student Reflection: Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas

Good Morning Friars! My name is Elissa Scholtens, a member of the Class of 2026. Today, January 28, is the feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas, a saint you might recall seeing with a book or a scroll on hand in a few of the various statues and pictures throughout our halls. As a renowned theologian and Doctor of the Church, Aquinas devoted his life to an endless search for an understanding of our world and its Creator during the early years of the Dominican Order.

Pope Pius V, who declared Aquinas as a Doctor of the Church, also called him “the most brilliant light of the church.” Being a “light” is a phrase that many of us have probably heard before. We might use it to describe a true friend, a person whose presence simply elevates a room, or a source of joy in our lives. In reflecting on today’s Gospel reading from Matthew where Jesus tells his disciples, “You are the light of the world,” I began to realize the depth of what this common phrase means to us as Christians.

The concept of Jesus calling me the light of the world can feel difficult to wrap my mind around. Some of you might feel the same way. I’m a sinner, why should I deserve this gift? Upon pondering this question, a further inspection of Jesus’s words reveals the gentle and vulnerable truth of this statement: we already are lights of the world. Jesus isn’t saying “go try to be the light of the world.” He is giving us an identity in Him by saying that we are the light of the world and then encouraging us to spread it to all nations. No goal needs to be met, no price paid; by simply being a follower of Christ we are the light of the world. It is a grace. It is a gift. 

Now you might be asking, why is being a light a gift? Well, let me set a scene for you. It’s January, one of the coldest, driest and darkest months of the year. As Fenwick students, we are very busy, and each week we might feel like we're going through the motions of school, practice, homework, repeat, often coming into weekends feeling very burnt out. Days blur together and, for me, it becomes hard to remember what I even did each day. I get so focused on accomplishing tasks or achieving goals that, before I even realize, a test or project has become the crux of my week. Even when grades come back good or a project is done well, I’m still burnt out and this is what makes me realize: I am trying to define myself based on the things that I do or accomplish.

Yet, how was Aquinas, a man who wrote and studied all day just like us, able to be one of the brightest lights of the Church? What did he center his identity around?

St. Thomas focused his studying and writing on his search for God throughout our world, treating each task as a vessel in which he could better understand God and His creation. By sharing his learning through writing, he was a light and brought others to God. So, being a light of the world is a gift because it is an identity that gives us a purpose and motivation in all that we do: loving and knowing God and others.

Now, I have a challenge for you as January ends and February, another cold and dark month begins. Continue to give your school work your all, as Aquinas definitely did not slack off, but in these grind-filled days when your head is down and the gas pedal is floored, every so often just stop. Look up. Look around. Remember that you already have an identity. God made YOU the light of the world. God made YOU the light of the world. No good grade or accomplished assignment will satisfy this longing to know who you are. Jesus won the battle, the gift of light is yours. How will you use it? So sit with someone new at lunch, study each subject like it is revealing to you the wonderful mysteries of God’s creation, and smile at others in the hallways.

Being the light of the world is being kind, being humble, and knowing God, just how Jesus shows us to be.