12 lekcji św. Tomasza. Duchowa mądrość na burzliwe czasy

by Kevin Vost, Elżbieta Kopocz (Translator)

Książka dla tych, którzy potrzebują konkretnych rad: jak żyć w pogmatwanej codzienności współczesnego świata. Kevin Vost zabiera nas w podróż po Summie teologii św. Tomasza z Akwinu i udowadnia, że jest to dzieło na wskroś praktyczne. Na nim opiera dwanaście lekcji, których treść można by opisać zdaniem: „Wybieraj w życiu to, co najpiękniejsze i najlepsze – czyli Boga”. Porusza zagadnienia naszej wiary i stawia trudne pytania, które zadaje sobie wielu współczesnych katolików, a odpowiedzi szuka właśnie u Akwinaty, którego mądrość bez wahania określa jako ponadczasową.

Każdy z nas, dzięki ludzkiej naturze danej przez Boga, obdarzony intelektem i wolą, pragnie wiedzieć, co uczyni go szczęśliwym i co należy zrobić, aby to osiągnąć. Szczęście jest tym ostatecznym dobrem. Jeśli spędzamy nasze życie w pogoni za przyjemnością, pieniędzmi, władzą czy sławą, to dlatego, że wierzymy, iż takie rzeczy są najwyższymi dobrami, które uczynią nas szczęśliwymi. Tomasz jednak, podobnie jak przed nim św. Augustyn, dobrze wiedział, że nasze serce zawsze będzie niespokojne, póki nie spocznie w Bogu - czytamy w 12 lekcjach św. Tomasza z Akwinu. Duchowa mądrość na burzliwe czasy.

Tytułowe 12 lekcji to 12 pytań. Każdy rozdział rozpoczyna się pytaniem, pod którym K. Vost umieszczona odpowiedź w postaci cytatu ze św. Tomasza, omówionego następnie w danym fragmencie. Każdy rozdział kończy praktycznym krótkim podsumowaniem – jako kolejną lekcją nazwaną – „Suma”

Genres: Catholic, Nonfiction, Religion

320 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Kevin Vost, Psy. D. (b. 1961) has taught psychology at the University of Illinois at Springfield, Lincoln Land Community College, and MacMurray College. He is a Research Review Committee Member for American Mensa, which promotes the scientific study of human intelligence.

He enjoys reading the Classics (especially Aristotle and the Stoics) and St. Thomas Aquinas in his spare time.

Reviews

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I freely admit to being a fan of Dr. Kevin Vost's writings. And have been since first encountering them in 2006. That was the year he published his first Catholic book, since that time he has published 20 works. They cover a wide range of topics. But the two he returns to often are memorization and the good doctor. This volume draws both of those areas of interest together. In the previous volume, How to Think Like Aquinas, Vost uses examples from Saint Thomas Aquinas to help us learn how to build a memory palace, and to use the powers of the intellect and the will and to train both. This one is about lessons we can learn from Aquinas.

The introduction begins with this statement:

“I strive to write positive, uplifting books that inform and inspire readers with the kind of love of God and His Catholic Church that was restored to me after twenty-five years in the atheistic wilderness, courtesy of the stirrings of the Holy Spirit and the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. I certainly hope to do the same in this one, but the last thing I want to do is offer haloed-smiley-face Band-Aids to place over the festering sores of our individual souls, of our culture, and, alas, of elements within our holy Church. All times have been turbulent in the two millennia of our Church’s history, as the Church consists of sinners seeking holiness, but today the waves of ambiguity and aimlessness, of confusion and chaos, of scandal and secularization, are cresting at all-time highs into a very imperfect storm that puts all our souls at serious risk of spiritual shipwreck. These issues cannot be ignored.”

But he goes on to state:

“The Church in America had suffered and shrunk in so many ways decades before the clerical sexual abuse crisis reared its ugly head again in 2018. Since my childhood in the 1960s, the number of priests has decreased by one-third, while the U.S. population increased by two-thirds. We have more than 40 percent fewer Catholic schools, while parish after parish proceeds to shut its doors.”

And in answer to these we turn to Saint Thomas, Vost says:

“The turbulent world of our times needs Thomas’s timeless spiritual wisdom as it never has before. Our Church needs it too, and so do we as individual members of the Mystical Body of Christ. We need to learn to focus on what matters most, to set our hearts, minds, and souls upon God, and to order our lives in accordance with His will as expressed in the two books He wrote for us: the book of nature, which we read with our senses and reason, and the book of revelation, which we grasp in Scripture through the gift of faith.”

And that is what he leads us through in this book. The chapters in this volume are:

Turbulent Times in Need of Timeless Wisdom
Accept Only the Best
Focus on Things That Matter the Most
No Harmony, No Peace!
Justice Begins at Home
Our Brothers (and Sisters) Ain’t Heavy
Be Your Own Best Friend
Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner
Be a Man (or a Woman)!
Go to Mass, Not to the Woods, Every Sunday
Listen to That Angel on Your Shoulder
Be a Saint
Get Jesus
Out of the Church and Into the World
Appendix

Each of the 12 lessons is presented in a separate chapter. The chapter begins with a question. Followed by a Thomistic quote. Followed by the meat of the chapters. And the chapter ends with a ‘Life Lesson’ Taken directly from the Summa. For example, Chapter 3 begins with:

“Question 3

How can we have peace on earth?

Thomas answers that . . .
“Concord denotes union of appetites among various persons, while peace denotes, in addition to this union, the union of the appetites even in one man.”
— Summa Theologica II-II, 29, 1”

And the lesson at the end of that chapter is:

“Life Lesson 3 Summa

We will never achieve true peace with others unless we strive for harmony in our own hearts and souls by rejecting wrath and the culture of victimhood and seek to temper our worldly desires and reach out to our neighbors in a spirit of love expressed in the simple, friendly warmth of affability extended to all. We can pray to God for this peace in our hearts, with special attention to the prayer that Christ gave us and to His Sacred Heart. We must remember as well that our truest fonts of harmony and peace during our time on earth are found in the Church’s sacraments, which bind us together in concord with our neighbors as we harmonize our wills with the will of God.”

The book is wonderfully written. Drawing from the wisdom of Saint Thomas Aquinas in such a way as to make it easily applicable and yet tacking some of the hardest topics we face this day. It is written to encourage, but also to arm, to challenge and to inspire and foster growth. It is another excellent volume from Dr. Vost. One I know I will read again. And one that I look forward to sharing with my children when they are a few years older. These 12 lessons and the extensive appendices are great resources for your life, and for living in these troubling times. I highly recommend the book!

Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More and reviews of other books by Dr. Kevin Vost. As well as an author profile and interview with Kevin.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2019 Catholic Reading Plan!

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

12 Life Lessons from St. Aquinas attracted my attention largely because of the author, whose works on Stoicism and the Seven Deadly Sins I’ve read before. Here, Vost adapts some lessons from Summa Theologica to share with a modern audience, but despite my affection for the author, I found it slightly disappointing. Some of the chapters were superficial; the twelfth chapter, for instance, bids readers to keep Jesus central: surely that’s a given for most readers interested in Aquinas? There was substance here, though, particularly the chapter that hooked me into buying this book in the first place, that on Acedia. I’ve come to realize that Acedia, commonly translated as Sloth, is misunderstood. Vost builds on that, expounding on the fact that sloth is not laziness, but rather apathy – a neglect of the inner life, particularly, but also of one’s duties. Acedia strikes me as the polar opposite of mindfulness, and so it’s worth considering if a reader is interested in living mindfully — and of course, its applicability is not limited to any religion or philosophy. Although 12 Life Lessons from St. Aquinas has definite merit, it’s not as substantial as one might expect from an author of Vost’s caliber, and drawing from the Summa as he does.

[David Rees · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read with a lot of intellectually stimulating life lessons. At times, the content was a little too "heady" or difficult to grasp, but the author does a good job of breaking down each life lesson and making it easily digestible.

Would not recommend dragging out this book, as it would be best to finish in less than two weeks, as the lessons build upon each other.

Overall, 5/5.

[JessicaPJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing. With everything going on in the world it is easy to get saddened by the downfall of humanity, this book helps put things back into perspective. Very timely and wonderfully written to show how to “Get Jesus,” and stay true to God.

[Rosa Macpherson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well laid out book, well written and clear. I dont agree with all of Kevin Vost's views but the scholarship seems beyond question.

[Alicja · Rating 5 out of 5]

W głowie została mi zwłaszcza lekcja nr 1: Przyjmuj dla siebie tylko to, co najlepsze.

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is must be read by all Catholics! We are in a time where it seems drifting off in the wrong direction.