On Tuesday 28 January we celebrated the liturgical memorial of St Thomas Aquinas, the great Dominican philosopher and theologian. St Thomas Aquinas: A relevant thinker for our times
In the first of his three catechesis on this great saint and Doctor of the Church, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said: “Thomas Aquinas showed that a natural harmony exists between Christian faith and reason. And this was the great achievement of Thomas who, at that time of clashes between two cultures that time when it seemed that faith would have to give in to reason showed that they go hand in hand, that insofar as reason appeared incompatible with faith, it was not reason, and so what appeared to be faith was not faith, since it was in opposition to true rationality; thus he created a new synthesis which formed the culture of the centuries to come.”
Throughout his various writings Thomas showed this incredible harmony between Christian faith and reason. This does not mean that it was easy for this great philosopher and theologian to, actually, present such a synthesis. We can easily imagine that he had to grapple with many challenges. However, the humble Thomas was always available to God’s Spirit that worked in and through him all the time. The Church gave Thomas the title Doctor Angelicus and Doctor Communis. As Benedict XVI rightly explained to us in his cathecesis, he is called Doctor Angelicus due to “his virtues and, in particular, the sublimity of his thought and the purity of his life.” Furthermore, Thomas is often referred to as Doctor Communis because, as Fr Romanus Cessario OP explicates so well in his article Thomas Aquinas: A Doctor
for the Ages, he “has something to offer everyone who is serious about searching for the truth. He is a Doctor for the ages.”
What does Thomas tell us about God? To begin with, in his teaching, Thomas clearly espouses what the Letter to the Hebrews tells us regarding faith when it says: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb 11:1). Fully adhering to what the Bible says, Thomas has this comment to make regarding faith: Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope in things that are not at hand. But this faith, which is deeply connected with things that are not visible to the phyiscal eye and certainly related to hope that is not under the domain of material things, how can it prepare us to be always connected to God?
As a great master and spiritual companion, Thomas offers us the following piece of advice: Three conditions are necessary for penance: contrition, which is sorrow for sin, together with a purpose of amendment; confession of sins without any omission; and satisfaction by means of good works. This act of humble submission on our part to God is pivotal, otherwise we end up engaging ourselves in a spiritual path towards fulfilling our dreams, and not doing God’s will. Thus, Thomas opens our eyes by telling us: It is clear that he does not pray, who, far from uplifting himself to God, requires that God shall lower Himself to him, and who resorts to prayer not to stir the man in us to will what God wills, but only to persuade God to will what the man in us wills.
This last observation by Thomas squarely tells me how this brave philosopher and theologian was an outstanding psychologist too. In fact, if one reads his writings well, one can easily detect that Thomas gives us ample description as well as very valid suggestions as to how to behave rightly and reasonably.
For Thomas, the human person is not created to live alone by himself or herself, but always, and primarily, as a social being. This reflects itself in the possessions he owns. He writes: Man should not consider his material possession his own, but as common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need. Contary to the rampant individualism we are living in our times Thomas advises us to be communitarian people who prefer the community rather than isolating ourselves into mere, destructive and individualistic existence. The greatest proof for such a tenable philosophy of life is the notion of virtue. The latter directly opens me for God in others. Virtuous acts not only bond me with others but also give me the happiness I need to live meaningfully. Thus, Thomas writes: Happiness is secured through virtue; it is a good attained by man’s own will.
The latest affirmation is so important for our contemporary times since many of us are gullibly believing that, due to the tragic circumstances that occur to them, they cannot be happy. Thomas is telling us that if we want to, we can be happy, provided of course that we engage ourselves in virtuous acts. In an age where, due to the spiritual void we are living in, hedonism seems to be the easiest of solutions for happiness to be attained, Thomas clearly offers us this golden advice: Man cannot live without joy; therefore when he is deprived of true spiritual joys it is necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures.
When one’s relationship with God is rectified, it is easily measured by the way that person behaves with his fellow human beings. A powerful instance of this is surely the concept of law. For Thomas, law, which is the product of the appropriate use of reason, brings the common good for that society’s members. In that perspective, every person in that community starts to shoulder his and her responsibility towards the wellbeing of others. The Doctor Communis writes: Law is nothing other than a certain ordinance of
reason for the common good, promulgated by the person who has the care of the community.
Obviously one’s responsibility for the community does not take away one’s responsibility for himself and herself. In fact, every act of justice starts with the person’s conscience vis-avis what is right in itself. Thus, Thomas says: Justice is a certain rectitude of mind whereby a man does what he ought to do in the circumstances confronting him. In another part of his writings Thomas has this to say about the human person’s conscience: Every judgment of conscience, be it right or wrong, be it about things evil in themselves or morally indifferent, is obligatory, in such wise that he who acts against his conscience always sins.
In his encyclical letter on the relationship between faith and reason, Fides et Ratio, Saint John Paul II writes: The Church has been justified in consistently proposing Saint Thomas as a master of thought and a model of the right way to do theology (no. 43). It should be clear in the light of these reflections why the Magisterium has repeatedly acclaimed the merits of Saint Thomas’ thought and made him the guide and model for theological studies... The Magisterium’s intention has always been to show how Saint Thomas is an authentic model for all who seek the truth. In his thinking, the demands of reason and the power of faith found the most elevated synthesis ever attained by human thought, for he could defend the radical newness introduced by Revelation without ever demeaning the venture proper to reason (no.78).
This is in fact the strongest reason why Saint Thomas Aquinas is so relevant for our times!
It is clear that he does not pray, who, far from uplifting himself to God, requires that God shall lower Himself to him, and who resorts to prayer not to stir the man in us to will what God wills, but only to persuade God to will what the man in us wills