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.
