Radio Maria England WORD FOR TODAY - Fr Toby - Closed Fist or Open-Hand?
Jan 28, 2026
A reflection on St Thomas Aquinas and how prayer can make us more receptive than study alone. A simple gesture exercise contrasts open-handed receiving with clenched control. Humility and silence are highlighted as fertile ground for wisdom. The piece weaves faith, reason and Eucharistic devotion into an invitation to let go and receive.
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Receptive Wisdom Over Grasping
- St Thomas Aquinas embodied receptive wisdom by preferring prayerful receiving over grasping for answers.
- Fr Toby shows the open palm as a posture that holds more than a clenched fist because it welcomes truth rather than forces it.
Hands Exercise Demonstration
- Fr Toby asks listeners to clench one fist and open the other to illustrate two life dispositions.
- He uses the physical gesture to show how an open palm receives more than a closed fist can hold.
The Dumb Ox's Spacious Mind
- Chesterton's image of the 'dumb ox' captures Thomas's spacious, patient mind that lets reality come to him.
- Fr Toby contrasts the open palm's receptivity with the closed fist's drive to conquer and control reality.
