St. Thomas Aquinas, who lived in the 1200s, was far ahead of his time in understanding the significance of emotions and the role they have in us. He understood that emotions are neither good nor bad in themselves, but they can influence our behavior in ways that leads to virtue (goodness) or vice (evil) in our lives.

God created us with an ability to think (called the intellect) and to choose (called the will). Our emotions are part of our human nature that we have been given by God and will steer us as we choose and take action in our lives— hopefully toward what is good! One of the greatest gifts of the Catholic faith is that we understand that the human person and all of God’s creation is good and can lead us toward God, our Creator, the end toward which we all are moving! Our bodies, our emotions, all that is in us, is capable of directing us to God.

For the next several columns, we will consider one of our emotions, how it can help us and how it can trip us and look at a saint and how they used that emotion to help them grow in virtue! This issue, we will just consider emotions in general.

• How do you think about your emotions?
• Do you think your emotions tell you about reality?
• When do they help you understand reality or distort reality?
• What do your emotions tell you about what is important to you?
• How do your emotions shape your thinking?

After taking some time to think about these questions, can you think of any ways that your emotions could come into line with reason better?

The martyrs are great examples of people who were able to direct their emotions to help them endure suffering, even death! Although they were likely frightened at the thought of dying, they allowed their joy in knowing they were loved by God and their happiness at the reality of being united to him in heaven to be stronger, so they were able to suffer death and humiliation with interior peace and hope!

All you Holy Martyrs, pray for us!