In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 
In today's Gospel, Jesus is simply telling us to be close to Him, to be like a family member to Him. We are to become like His mother who did the will of God, and truly our Lord is pointing to His mother as the example because no one did the will of God most perfectly than His mother. "Whoever who are my mothers and sisters and brothers? Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother." And so Jesus is once again just pointed to His mother as the example for us to imitate, that we may imitate her in loving Him and following Him so that we may always be close to Him. And we can ask Our Lady each day to help us to do the will of God, to grant us the graces we need to fulfill God's will for this day, that we may carry it out according to His plan perfectly with love and generosity.
Today we honor in the Liturgy very special Saints. St. Thomas Aquinas, who died in 1274, and of course St. Thomas Aquinas is known as the Angelic Doctor for his great works of theology, and also he was known as the Dumb Ox. But St. Thomas Aquinas his story is extraordinary in that as a young man when he had discerned the call to religious life and wanted to enter the Dominicans, he made a vow of chastity. And his family was very much against his vocation, and they actually locked him in a tower and they would put two prostitutes in there with him to tempt him, and he chased them out and chased them with a torch, with a fiery torch chased them out. In the end he converted these two women, but after this episode, two angels appeared to him and gave him a cord to place around his waist that would always protect him from temptation.
St. Thomas Aquinas, of course, we know has contributed greatly to the Church's theological teaching and understanding. And his great work was—he had many great works—but probably his most famous is called the "Summa Theologica," in which he expounded upon various doctrines of the faith. When it is said that when he completed the chapter on the Holy Eucharist, our Lord appeared to him or our Lord spoke to him from the cross and said, "Thomas, you have written well of Me. What do you ask of Me?" And Thomas replied, "I only desire You, Lord. I only want You." That our Lord was his whole heart's desire and longing.
In another time, when he was writing the "Summa Theologica," during Mass, he had celebrated Mass, and this was more towards the end of his life, he had a vision. And some expressed it may have been a glimpse of the Beatific Vision of God, a glimpse of heaven, but it was an extraordinary vision that he had, and that he said after this vision, "Everything I have written is straw," meaning that it doesn't—even though it is an initial explanation of the things of heaven and of God—it is only like the eye of a needle, so forth a pinpoint of what is to await us in this, what is to await us in heaven and the Beautiful Vision of God and the joys of heaven. "Everything I have written is straw."
St. Thomas Aquinas was also very practical. He had practical advice. He said, "Sorrow can be alleviated by a hot bath, a good sleep, and a glass of wine." So he was very practical as well in his understanding of human nature and so forth. He had many very famous quotes such as, "For those who have faith, no explanation is necessary." 
And of course, we owe to St. Thomas Aquinas some tremendous gratitude for some of the most beautiful hymns that we sing, such as the hymns that we sing at exposition and Benediction were written by St. Thomas Aquinas, and the "Pange Lingua" and so many more hymns. We are grateful to St. Thomas Aquinas. So he was not only a theologian but also very much involved in many aspects of the Church such as liturgical music.
This great saint is someone that is so wonderful to reflect upon and study his life and his journey and all that he contributed to the Church. He is an extraordinary saint, and we can ask him today to help us to keep our hearts always on heaven and the joys that await us in heaven and the vision of God, and that we keep ourselves close to Christ. And he teaches us above all to not be afraid or intimidated about reading and reflecting upon all the doctrines and teachings of our faith which open our heart and our mind to understand God more and bring us closer to God and help us to live our Christian life ever more faithfully and heroically. 
May St. Thomas Aquinas pray for us today that we may seek only to please God in the time that we have in doing His will and keep our hearts and eyes always directed towards heaven, our true home. 
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.