Love and Knowledge

Solemnity of St. Thomas Aquinas

            I remember hearing at one point that, as children are first learning to draw people, they emphasize the aspects that stick out to them.  Tall people may be the entire height of an 8½ x 11” page; someone who is really intelligent may have a really big head; if the child notices that the person has beautiful eyes, they may be out of proportion to the person’s face, and the same could be said about a smile.

            It is interesting the things that we highlight.  In classic artistic representations of St. Thomas Aquinas, our parish patron, he is depicted in his Dominican habit, usually with the black cappa, and a sun at the level of his heart.  It might seem strange to us to consider that, arguably, the greatest mind Christianity has ever known, does not have a light by his head, the bodily seat of wisdom, but near his heart, the bodily seat of the passions and of love. 

            If St. John of the Cross is true, and at the end of our lives we will be judged on our loves, then it makes perfect sense that iconographers and religious artists focus on the heart, rather than on the mind.  And while St. Thomas’ mind certainly did not hurt his cause of sanctity, one is welcomed into heaven not because of knowledge (even the demons know the precepts of the faith), but because of the love of God and love of neighbor. 

            Why did St. Thomas study and write so much?  Because he loved so much.  But love and knowledge are not two opposed avenues, but work in symphony with each other.  Those of you who are married: think back to when you met your spouse, and when you first had an inkling that the person you wed was not just any relationship, but was “the one.”  You probably had a great desire to get to know that person much better: favorite food, favorite movies, outlook on life, faith, etc.  Even those who aren’t really in love, but think they are, the young who have a crush on someone, want to know all they can about the person for whom they have fallen head-over-heels. 

            When I talk about discerning my vocation, I use the imagery of dating someone as I learned more about the Church.  The more I can to know about her, the more I fell in love with her, truly, madly, deeply in love, and wanted to spend the rest of my life with her and at her service.  I had to learn a lot in my years in seminary, but I loved it, because I could learn about her and be with her and love her. 

            Even the Biblical phrase for the greatest expression of love between a husband and wife, the height of a physical expression of love, is connected with knowledge of the other.  Knowledge and love are not two separate things, but are intimately connected and intertwined with each other. 

            Love of God and the love which flows from and gives witness to it, the love of neighbor, cannot be divorced from knowledge of God.    Both love and knowledge have to be emphasized.  Why have people stopped going to Mass?  While there are a variety of reasons, no small reason is the fact that, due to a lack of catechesis and formation, more and more people are estranged from God.  They do not know Him.  They may know about Him, but they do not know Him.  And when times become difficult, simply knowing about someone doesn’t heal the pain, doesn’t provide support, doesn’t comfort.  This is, perhaps, most true at times of death.  If people only know that there’s this guy whom others say came back from the dead, that doesn’t help.  If people know Jesus, and have experienced His love in very personal, real ways, then when death comes, as it does for us all, they can truly lean on Jesus for support, and know that His love is stronger than death, and will remain forever, even after the presence of friends and family withdraws, and the cards and the dinners, have started to decrease. 

            Now, we don’t have to be a St. Thomas Aquinas and write copious volumes of theological instruction to have that real relationship with God.  But we have to know God.  We have to know Jesus.  We have to know the Holy Spirit, not just on paper, but in real life.  We have to be as comfortable with God as we are with a spouse or a best friend.  Only that way will we be truly happy.

            This week we celebrate Catholic Schools Week, under the patronage of St. Thomas Aquinas.  He is our model, not just because he was smart, but because he knew God and loved God intensely, which gave him the motivation to write about God, and then even to realize that all that he wrote was like straw compared to the love and majesty of God.  While other public schools, especially those in our parish, can tend to the academic needs of a child, it is my firm conviction that Catholic schools, with the necessary and foundational support of parents in the home, do the best job of helping children to love God and love their neighbor.  It certainly cannot happen without the support of the first teachers of a child, his or her parents, but with that support, a child can not only learn about God, but can get to know God personally, and then share that love with others.

            In the end, that’s what this Year of Faith is all about: the pastors of the Church, from Pope Benedict XVI all the way down to me, the parochial vicar of St. Thomas Aquinas parish, want all of you to know the joy and peace of knowing and loving God.  We can’t force you to get to know and love God, any more that we can force you to truly get to know and love another person.  But we want to offer you opportunities to know God and love God, so that you, like St. Thomas Aquinas, can have that ray of light emanating from your heart out to others, that light that comes, not just from knowing about God, but from truly knowing God, and falling in love with Him, just as He knows you, and is in love with you.  Lord, help us to want nothing other than you; nothing other than you.

What do you Fear?

Epiphany of the Lord

            On a most cloudy, 42-degree day, on Saturday, 4 March 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was sworn in for his first term as president of the United States of America.  After taking the oath of office, President Roosevelt gave his first inaugural address, including one of the most famous phrases he ever uttered: “let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” 

            Fear is a very powerful motivator and catalyst.  Think of the small child, lying in bed in the dark, not able to sleep, heart pounding almost out of his chest at the thought that the creaking of the house is actually a monster waiting to get him.  Think of the adolescent, willing to try any illicit activity because he is afraid of not being popular if he doesn’t do what the crowd wants.  Think of an adult, tossing and turning in bed, afraid that he will lose his job and afraid of what that will mean for his family.  Fear can really make us act.

            Fear is what overtook King Herod.  He was afraid that his kingdom was threatened by this newborn King of the Jews, as made known to him by the magi from the East.  His rule was already quite tenuous, as it was under the benevolence of the Romans, and amidst a people who did not accept him as their king.  He was afraid of losing all that he had built for himself.  And so he tries to use the Magi as his spies, to find the place of the newborn king so that Herod can kill the child and eliminate His reign.  And we all know the story: after the magi return by a different route, and Herod hears nothing, he orders the death of all male children ages 2 and younger, in the slaughter of the Holy Innocents, those first ones who died in place of Christ.

            And yet, as Jesus reveals Himself today in the Solemnity of the Epiphany; as He makes Himself known not just to the Chosen People but also to the Gentiles, to those outside of the Chosen People, represented by the magi, His message is not one of fear.  The magi come, and they see the Mighty God in the body of a little child.  This same child, after many years, proclaims to the apostles, the disciples, and to us today: “Do not be afraid!”  Herod had nothing to fear, if only he truly would have done Jesus homage as the King of Kings.

            And yet, even though Jesus tells us to be not afraid, as He reveals Himself to us, we still fear.  And the fear can lead us to do many things that we otherwise wouldn’t.  Think back 13 years ago to the fear that permeated society because the computers couldn’t handle the number 2000 for the year.  Or more recently, the perceived danger due to the end of the Mayan calendar on 21 December.  Or the recently averted so-called fiscal cliff.  Despite Jesus telling us year after year, “Be Not Afraid,” we still seem to act in fear, and it causes us to act in ways of which we would otherwise be ashamed.

            Of what are we afraid?  What personal kingdoms do we fear losing that we think Jesus is going to make us give up?  What things are we so afraid to lose if we lay them down at the feet of Jesus, the King of Kings?  Power?  Control?  Wealth?  Security?  Lifestyle?  A grudge?  How hard it can be to trust Jesus and not be afraid to put everything at His feet!

            I know it’s certainly hard for me.  I’m a type A personality (no shock for most of you, I’m sure!), and I love to have things under control.  I love to plan out events and how they’re going to go.  I like to have contingency plans in case something goes wrong.  It’s not wrong to want to keep things ordered, but they have to be ordered according to the will of God, not my will.  And it is hard to let Jesus have control, because, it means that I might have to change.  And nobody likes change.

            But the happiest people in life are those who laid their kingdom, whatever it was they were attached to, at the feet of Jesus and did not let their fear keep them from letting Jesus direct their lives.  Look at St. Ignatius of Loyola: he had everything figured out as a mercenary.  Then his leg was severely damaged in battle, and while recuperating he was eventually to not let his fear control him (though this took a great deal of battling with himself), and he became a knight for God.  Or American’s own St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, who gave up a life of great wealth in order to serve the Church in American, especially the African Americans and Native Americans who did not receive the same level of education because they were on the fringes of society.  It would have been so much easier for St. Ignatius to continue his soldiering; it would have been so much easier for St. Frances to live in the lap of luxury in Italy.  But they were able to conquer their fear with the help of God, and even though it meant that they had to abandon familiar people, places, and lives, they found life so much better in serving Jesus. 

            When King Herod feared a rival power, it led him away from God.  When we act out of fear, especially fear of having to make changes in our life because we are more devoted to Jesus, we move away from God.  When, instead, we choose to trust God in the face of fear and allow Him to truly be King of our hearts, we find that we lose nothing of who we are meant to be, and gain everything, because we have Jesus.  Do not be afraid to trust Jesus and give Him control of your life!  Will you have to change?  Jesus calls all of us to conversion.  But that relationship with Jesus, no matter what we have to abandon in order to follow Him, is the pearl of great price, which is worth more than anything the world could ever offer us.  “Do not be afraid!”