St Anselm of Canterbury is the subject of our reading today from In Caelo et in Terra. He was born in Italy in 1033. He became Archbishop of Canterbury and twice opposed the king, which got him exiled from his own see.
But he's mostly known for his philosophy. He made what is known as the ontological argument for God's existence, which philosophers have been learning and studying and debating ever since. He wrote copiously, and was recognized as a saint and made a Doctor of the church in 1720.
The take away lesson today from St Anselm is that we are not discouraged from thinking. God doesn't want us to have faith in spite of reason. He wants our faith and our reason to go hand in hand. The problem many people face as they grow older is their faith is still a childish faith, and hasn't grown into a faith mature enough to handle the questions their adult minds throw at it. In college, many young people grow their intellect but ignore their faith life, and as their intellect grows it makes their faith seem silly and childish, so they discard it.
St Anselm, and other great, deep thinkers like him, encourage us to grow our intellect along with our faith. Then we realize that there are answers to those deep questions that our intellect asks us.
You can read more about St Anselm here.
God, thanks for giving us a great thinker like this Doctor of the church. Saint Anselm, pray for us.
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