FEAST of Saint Thomas Aquinas
The crown of the elderly, wide experience; their glory, the FEAR
of the Lord.
We used to say in the military to the younger troops fresh out of high school that joined the military that beyond showing us normal military courtesy they really should listen and follow what we do because “We survived youth.” The fact is experience is the best teacher and experience teaches us that God is real and the older ones have learned that fear of the Lord is more than a crown of glory it is the key to reaching old age.
One of the most curious phenomena of our modern society is
that in the year 2020 we had five generations working together: Each with
different values and views of life.
The
Johnsons report[1] that
each generation has been influenced by the major historical events, social
trends, and cultural phenomena of its time. These forces shape ideas about
everything from expectations and perceptions about what the workplace will
provide and how employees should behave, to company loyalty and work ethic.
Generational
characteristics identified After studying generational characteristics
of the five major working generations, the Johnsons identified distinct
generational characteristics that impact work styles, team behavior, and
communication styles. By understanding the differences between generational
groups, conflicts can be avoided, they say. The father-daughter team explains
generational differences as follows:
Traditionals:
Born before 1945, “The Depression Babies.” Influenced by the Great
Depression and World War II. Traits: Loyal, respectful of
authority, stubbornly independent, excellent work ethic, dependable, and have
advanced communication and interpersonal skills.
Baby
Boomers: Born 1946-1964, “The Woodstock Generation.” Influenced by the
Vietnam War, the ’60s, and postwar social change. Traits: Well-educated,
question authority, excellent teamwork skills, and thrive on
adrenaline-charged assignments.
Generation
X: Born 1965-1980, “The Latchkey Generation.” Products of divorced
parents. Traits: Independent, family-focused, intolerant of bureaucracy,
critical, hardworking, and socially responsible.
Generation
Y: Born 1981-1995. “The Entitled Generation.” Influenced by technology
and doting parents. Traits: Highly socialized, loyal,
technologically savvy, socially responsible, and require work-life balance.
Linksters:
Born after 1995. “The Facebook Crowd.” Influenced by a media-saturated
world. Traits: Technologically dependent, closely tied to
parents, tolerant of alternative lifestyles, involved in green causes and
social activism.
How
to resolve intergenerational conflicts
How do
you work with or manage the different generational groups? The Johnsons offer
the following six tips:
1.
Understand work styles. Traditionals and baby
boomers don’t like to be micromanaged, while Gen Y’ers and linksters crave
specific, detailed instructions about how to do things and are used to hovering
authorities.
2.
Consider generational values. Each generation is
protecting a distinct set of values, and conflict may threaten these values.
For example, baby boomers value teamwork, cooperation, and buy-in, while Gen
X’ers prefer to make a unilateral decision and move on—preferably solo.
3.
Share perceptions. When employees of two or more
generations are involved in a workplace conflict, they can learn a great deal
by sharing their perceptions. A traditional may find the lack of formality and
manners of a Gen Y’er offensive, while a Gen Y’er may feel “dissed” when this
older employee fails to respect his or her opinions and input.
4.
Find a generationally appropriate fix. You can’t
change people’s life experiences, but you can work with the set of workplace
attitudes and expectations that result. If there is a knowledgeable boomer who
is frustrated by the lack of experience of a Gen Y’er, coupled with his or her
sense of entitlement, turn the boomer into a mentor.
5.
Find commonality. Traditionals and Gen Y
employees tend to value security and stability. Traditionals and boomers resist
change. But both crave training and development. Gen X and Gen Y employees
place a high value on workplace flexibility and work-life balance. Boomers and
linksters are most comfortable with diversity and alternative lifestyles. Gen Y
and linksters are technologically adept and committed to socially responsible
policies.
6.
Learn from each other. Each generation has
valuable lessons to teach the next. Traditionals and boomers have a wealth of
knowledge and tricks of the trade that younger workers need. Generation X employees
are widely known for their fairness and mediation abilities. Generation Y
workers are technology wizards. And Linksters hold clues to future workplace,
marketing, and business trends.[2]
St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church[3]
Thomas Aquinas
thoughts on Fear
Article
1. Whether God can be feared? I answer that, Just as hope has two objects, one
of which is the future good itself,
that one expects to obtain, while the other is someone's help, through whom one
expects to obtain what one hopes for, so, too, fear may have two objects, one of which is the very evil which a
man shrinks from, while the other is that from which the evil may
come. Accordingly, in the first way God, Who is goodness
itself, cannot be an object of fear; but He can be an object of fear in the
second way, in so far as there may come to us some evil either
from Him or in relation to Him. From Him there comes the evil of
punishment, but this is evil not
absolutely but relatively, and, absolutely speaking, is a good.
Because, since a thing is said to be good through
being ordered to an end, while evil implies
lack of this order, that which excludes the order to the last end is altogether
evil,
and such is the evil
of fault. On the other hand the evil of
punishment is indeed an evil, in so
far as it is the privation of some particular good, yet
absolutely speaking, it is a good, in so
far as it is ordained to the last end. In relation to God the evil of
fault can come to us, if we be separated from Him: and in this way God can and
ought to be feared.
Article
2. Whether fear is fittingly divided into filial, initial, servile and worldly
fear? I answer that,
We are speaking of fear now, in so far as it makes us turn, so to speak, to God or away
from Him. For, since the object of fear is an evil,
sometimes, on account of the evils he fears, man
withdraws from God,
and this is called human
fear; while sometimes, on account of the evils he fears, he
turns to God
and adheres to Him. This latter evil is
twofold, viz. evil
of punishment, and evil
of fault. Accordingly if a man turn to God and
adhere to Him, through fear of punishment, it will be servile fear; but if it
be on account of fear of committing a fault, it will be filial fear, for it
becomes a child to fear offending its father. If, however, it be on account of
both, it will be initial fear, which is between both these fears.
Article
3. Whether worldly fear is always evil? I answer that, moral acts and habits take
their name and species
from their objects. Now the proper object of the appetite's
movement is the final good: so
that, in consequence, every appetitive
movement is both specified and named from its proper end. For if anyone were to
describe covetousness
as love of work because men work on account of covetousness,
this description would be incorrect, since the covetous man seeks
work not as end but as a means: the end that he seeks is wealth,
wherefore covetousness
is rightly described as the desire or the love of wealth, and
this is evil.
Accordingly, worldly love is, properly speaking; the love whereby a man trusts
in the world as his end, so that worldly love is always evil. Now
fear is born of love, since man fears the
loss of what he loves, as Augustine
states. Now worldly fear is that which arises from worldly love as from an evil root,
for which reason worldly fear is always evil.
Things to do:[4]
·
Read
G.K. Chesterton's biography, St. Thomas Aquinas, The Dumb Ox, which is full of Chestertonian
profundity and wit online or purchase it from Amazon.
·
Dive
into the intellectual depth and beauty of St. Thomas' thought in his Summa
Theologiae. Familiarize yourself with his method of inquiry by reading his
section on God's attributes, especially the goodness of God. Here is a Bibliography in English.
·
Nearly
everyone, especially young people, knows and appreciates the story of St.
Thomas chasing the prostitute from his room with a burning log. (She was sent
by his wealthy family to tempt him away from the religious life.) After he
drove away the temptress, two angels came to him and fastened a mystical
chastity cord around his waist. Buy or fashion your own chastity belt, easy to
make from braided yarn or thin, soft rope. (St. Joseph chastity belts are
available at some Catholic shops.) This would be a beautiful alternative or
addition to the "True Love Waits" chastity pledge and ring. It is a
wonderful low-key symbol for self-conscious teens. It also serves as an
excellent reminder to pray daily for the virtue of chastity.
·
Meditate
upon the profound humility of St. Thomas Aquinas, whose intellectual capacity
far surpasses any since his time. He stopped writing at the end of his life
after having a vision of the glory of God, claiming that 'All that I have
written seems to me like straw compared to what has now been revealed to me.'
How often do we take pride in our own intellectual achievements, fully
crediting them to ourselves?
·
If
you are a student or teacher, or at all concerned about the crisis of Catholic
education, make ample use of the Prayer to
St. Thomas Aquinas for Schools
and the Prayer to
the Angel of Schools.
·
Read
Pope Leo XIII's encyclical, Aeterni
Patris,
strangely relevant to our time in its exhortation towards a renewal in
philosophical study with a focus on the Angelic Doctor, Saint Thomas Aquinas.
·
Finally,
read Pope John Paul II's encyclical, Fides et
Ratio,
especially the section on The enduring originality of the thought of St.
Thomas Aquinas. He expresses a similar intent to that of Pope Leo XIII's in
the following words, "If it has been necessary from time to time to
intervene on this question, to reiterate the value of the Angelic Doctor's
insights and insist on the study of his thought, this has been because the
Magisterium's directives have not always been followed with the readiness one
would wish."
·
From
the Catholic Culture library: Light from
Aquinas , The
Meaning of Virtue in St. Thomas Aquinas and The
Philosophy of Woman of St. Thomas Aquinas. For many more documents search the library for
"aquinas".
Life First[5] 9 Days for
Life
Day Nine:
Intercession: May the tragic practice of abortion come to an end.
Prayers: Our Father, 3 Hail Mary’s, Glory Be
Reflection:
Today, on this 47th
anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we mourn the many children’s lives ended by
abortion and remember in prayer those who suffer the aftermath. The Church
comes together today to pray for the protection of all unborn children and to
make reparation for abortion, trusting that the Lord hears our prayers. Pope
Saint John Paul II wrote, “A great prayer for life is urgently needed, a prayer
which will rise up throughout the world. Through special initiatives and in
daily prayer, may an impassioned plea rise to God, the Creator and lover of
life, from every Christian community, from every group and association, from
every family and from the heart of every believer” (Evangelium vitae,
100). May that prayer arise in our hearts today and each day forward until
every human being is protected in law and welcomed in life.
Acts of Reparation (Choose one.)
·
Abstain
from snacking today. Eat three meals only.
·
Learn
how to pray the Angelus (www.usccb.org/angelus), and consider saying it every day
for the next week—on awakening, at noon, or at 6 p.m. (or all three times).
·
Offer
some other sacrifice, prayer, or act of penance that you feel called to do for
today’s intention.
Recognizing
that God the Father created man on Friday the 6th day I propose in
this blog to have an entry that shares on how to recreate and renew yourself in
strength, mind, soul and heart.
When
the fast is over make some Minestrone di riso.
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: Binding and
suppressing the Devils Evil Works
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
[1]Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to
Linksters – Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work .
[5]http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/january-roe-events/nine-days-of-prayer-penance-and-pilgrimage.cfm
Comments
Post a Comment