ST. THOMAS AQUINAS:
SOME BASIC RELEVANT TEACHINGS
CHRIST is the center of St. Thomas’ life. The Angelic Doctor says: Jesus, “who possessed all, and through whom all things are, became poor, lest anyone, believing in him, would dare to boast of worldly riches. He did not wish to be made a king, for He pointed out the way of humility. He who fed all, hungered; He, who created all drink, thirsted; He, who opened up the way to heaven, grew tired on his journey; He, who ended our afflictions, was crucified; He, who awakened the dead, died for man” (Quoted by Dr. Martin Grabmann, The Interior Life of St. Thomas Aquinas).
The author of the Adoro te devote writes: “For the love of Jesus Christ I have studied, kept vigil, and struggled; indeed, it was you, Jesus, that I preached and you that I taught.”
Chesterton writes that “The Angelic Doctor produced books enough to sink a ship or to stock a library.” However, St. Thomas’ writings will not be fully meaningful to us unless we re-encounter in faith the God who inspired him (S. Pinckaers). The Dominicans - with so many others who love him - are obliged to show Thomas’ relevance today. The Angelic Doctor continues teaching us many permanently significant points on God, Christ, creation, the human person, happiness, virtue, grace, love, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. We are asked to make those points significant for our time, for our world, which is permeated by globalization, technology, relativism, violence, injustice, wars, materialism and consumerism, insensibility towards the poor and different.
The Doctor of Divinity is also a mystic and poet: with St. Albert the Great, he has been called “mystic on campus.” How could otherwise be able to write the awesome and sublime hymns to the Holy Eucharist? He approached the search of truth – the Truth – intellectually and affectively: through reason and faith; through acquired and infused contemplation; through love as way of knowing. St. Catherine, who always calls St Thomas, il glorioso Tommaso, says in her Dialogue: “The glorious Thomas Aquinas acquired his science more from his dedication to prayer, the elevation of the mind and the light of the intellect than from human study.” The Angelic Doctor was a contemplative man. In his life, there was no opposition but integration between prayer and study, contemplation and action (cf. STh, II-II, 181, 3).
The Angelic Doctor’s teachings on virtue and private property, for instance, continue fascinating many people today. Virtue ethics is a current paradigm for ethics, bioethics and moral theology. The practice of virtues gives meaning to life, freedom, character, and it makes people happy – and happier: “Happiness consists in the practice of virtue” (Thomas Aquinas). A. Sertillanges says that “learning goes hand in hand with virtue-ing. The Doctor of the Eucharist is an exemplar of intertwined learning and virtue-ing.”
Thomas’ unwavering love for truth - veritas - is truly amazing. He was “veritatis unice amator,” lover of truth solely: Every truth, he wrote, “regardless of who said it, comes from the Holy Spirit”: “Omne verum a quocumque dicatur, a Spiritu Sancto est” (I-II, 109, 1 ad 1).
On love: “All things issue from charity as from a principle, and all things are ordered towards charity as to an end” (In Jn. XV, 2). Love is always the value and the virtue of life, a love or charity that is peaceful, joyful and merciful, and is, as Thomas proves well, the “form” and motor of all virtues.
Two main qualities characterize Aquinas’ writings: clarity and brevity (Cf. Summa Theologiae, STh, I, Prologue). A wonderful exemplar for all. Nowadays, teachers, preachers, writers, leaders, politicians are asked to strive for clarity and brevity in a world overcrowded with empty words, loud noise, “fake news,” and post-truth.
Among his many written works, the Summa Theologiae continues to be the most quoted and studied. What is a Summa Theologiae? It is “a brief, ordered and complete explanation of all and each of the parts of Catholic doctrine” (S. Ramirez). The Summa Theologica is “like the pyramids of Egypt (Lacordaire), like “the ordered columns in the naves of a cathedral” (S. Pinckaers). St. Thomas is a master in theology and above all, in his Summa Theologiae
Some years ago, I read the news that the translation of the Summa in Japanese had been finished: 45 volumes, 20 of them – including the last ones - by philosopher Ryosuke Inagaki who, when asked if the work was difficult, answered: “It was not hard. Thomas’ writing is like a piece of Bach, with a rhythm that makes it easy to approach.” Inagaki himself published a pocket edition of the Summa entitled My Way of Life. Why this title? He answers: “This title really brings out the defining feature of the Summa Theologica. St. Thomas wanted to write a roadmap for people who really and truly seek happiness.” Writes Benedict XVI, who followed mainly the lane of St. Augustine and St. Bonaventure: “In our catechesis on the Christian culture of the Middle Ages, we now turn to St. Thomas Aquinas, known as the Doctor Communis, whose life and teaching have always been revered as an outstanding model for theologians… Among the many commentaries and systematic works, the great Summa Theologiae reveals his critical gifts and his conviction of the natural harmony between faith and reason (Address: June 2, 2010).
The Summa of St. Thomas is divided into parts; parts into questions, and questions into articles. Usually, every question is subdivided into articles (exceptions: I, qq. 71 and 72; II-II, q. 128 and q. 143. See Ceslada, 18).
John XXII canonized Thomas Aquinas on July 18, 1323. The Pope made reference then to the Summa Theologica with these words: It contains “As many miracles as articles.” The Summa has more than three thousand articles.
Let me add another important point! St. Thomas faced the relevant questions of his time in his famous Quaestiones Disputatae (disputed questions), such as questions on evil, truth, virtue, religious life, etc. Today we have to follow – as some are already doing well - Thomas’ practice of facing, from the perspective of reason and faith, the pervading topics of the day. We are asked to answer the questions our contemporaries ask: on the meaning of life, fundamentalism, pluralism and tolerance, dialogue, morality in liberalism and socialism, violence and war, technology and artificial intelligence, transhumanism, new evangelization, happiness and virtue, justice and mercy – charitable justice.
Indeed, Thomas Aquinas, Saint, doctor of the Church, mystic, and poet has much to say today through his writings - on philosophy, theology and spirituality – and with his holy life.
The Angelic Doctor is a saint and, therefore, for him, as for all saints: “Prius vita quam doctrina,” or First life, then doctrine.
After having written 34 volumes in IV “major” and two columns, Thomas had a special encounter with Christ, a vision of God, which prompted the theologian to utter humbly: “All that I have written is straw.” It was on December 6, 1273 during the Mass of St. Nicholas in the Church of St. Dominic in Naples. After this mysterious vision, just a few months before his death, Thomas did not write anything anymore, and even abandoned the instruments of writing. After the intimate encounter with the Word, Thomas kept silent, the contemplative silent love of a mystic: no more words, no more writings, just silence, total silence - the mystic’s sound of silence! (FGB)