As a young student, St. Thomas Aquinas was mocked by his classmates and called “the dumb ox.”
He was big. He was quiet. He didn’t argue for attention or rush to prove himself.
They mistook silence for stupidity.
But his teacher, St. Albert the Great, saw what others missed and famously replied:
“You call him a dumb ox, but his bellowing will one day be heard throughout the world.”
And it was.
Thomas Aquinas would become one of the greatest minds the Church has ever known—not because he demanded recognition, but because he practiced humility, patience, and obedience to truth.
This story has stayed with me, and it echoes something I explore deeply in True Mercy Has Teeth:
Mercy is not weakness.
Silence is not surrender.
Meekness is not the absence of strength—it is strength rightly ordered.
Sometimes God is doing His deepest work in us while the world is busy mislabeling us.
If you’ve ever felt underestimated, misunderstood, or dismissed for being “too quiet,” take heart. God may be forming something far greater than appearances suggest.
True Mercy Has Teeth: A Catholic Journey to Forgiveness and Healing
Available now.
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