Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church

Peter H. Davids

Ordinary Time Homilies • Sermon • Submitted a year ago

Psalm 37:3–6

Psalm 37:30–31

John 17:11–19

Wisdom of Solomon 7:7–10

Wisdom of Solomon 7:15–16

Truth

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Truth is personal as well as objective. In the OT it is truth as Wisdom, personal and related to God. In the NT is truth as the Word of God, Jesus, who speaks himself to us and with whom we become one. That is the basis for the unity of the Church. Truth is objective and factual, but if we do not get beyond this to its being personal we will miss it and miss our mission. This is truth as Thomas Aquinas grasped it.

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Title

Truth is Personal

Outline

There are two things that the Church says about truth

The first is that truth is objective

Therefore it is not subjective, personal truth in that sense - pace postmodernism

The second is that truth is personal

Truth is more than an object, more that a demonstration, more than a theorem

Pace historical Protestantism and sometimes historical Catholics

Therefore apologetics cannot end with facts but must end with an introduction to a person

The Wisdom of Solomon, as Proverbs, speaks of truth in personal terms

“I pleaded and the spirit of Wisdom came to me” - he pleaded with someone and “the spirit of Wisdom came,” not just facts

“I preferred her to scepter and throne” - Wisdom is feminine in Hebrew and in Greek, and here and following she almost sounds like a wife

And ultimately Wisdom is traced back to a personal source, God. And God is the ultimate unity as well.

Jesus speaks of the unifying and sanctifying function of truth

This is a personal unity as God is a personal unity: “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” The Church’s unity depends on divinization, being one as the Father and Son are one.

The Church is also sent into the world as the Son was sent into the world, again a comparison with relationship to the Trinity. Likewise the Christian and the Church is hated by the world as Christ was hated by the world, for in neither case do they belong to the world. The Church and Jesus have the same enemy, “the evil one.”

The Church has joy, and it is “my joy fulfilled in themselves.”

The Church is holy in that Jesus says, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth,” and the Word which the Father spoke was Jesus, including his speaking the Word in both Old and New Testaments. And if there is to be a sanctification there is also a consecration, so Jesus says, “for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.” We are consecrated in the consecration of Jesus and he is truth.

Sisters, there is so much more one could say about this topic, but the topic is the Triune God and his relationship with us

Now Thomas Aquinas realized that truth was objective and factual and logical - no one can accuse him of failing on that front.

But he became a Dominican out of love of God and proclaimed truth because it expressed the nature of the one whom he loved. He proclaimed it so that others might come to love God and/or be protected from the Evil One.

Most of all he studied and proclaimed as an act of devotion - this is what so many miss about Thomas Aquinas whom they see as Mr Logic and the embodiment of Scholasticism as depersonalized truth - and that is why he is a saint and many of his sources and of his scholastic disciples are not. Thomas Aquinas gave his life for Truth because he knew who Truth was and love him with all his heart.

Let us learn and be thankful for the truth that he has left us, but, more than that, let us fall in love with the Lord who is Truth and Word, the one who prays for us and has consecrated himself for us and sanctifies us, for then we will be true disciples of Thomas Aquinas and not just know about truth but personally know Truth himself.

Readings

Catholic Daily Readings 1-28-2023: Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church

FIRST READING

Wisdom of Solomon 7:7–10, 15–16

7 Therefore I prayed, and prudence was given me;

I pleaded and the spirit of Wisdom came to me.

8 I preferred her to scepter and throne,

And deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,

9 nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;

Because all gold, in view of her, is a bit of sand,

and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.

10 Beyond health and beauty I loved her,

And I chose to have her rather than the light,

because her radiance never ceases.

15 Now God grant I speak suitably

and value these endowments at their worth:

For he is the guide of Wisdom

and the director of the wise.

16 For both we and our words are in his hand,

as well as all prudence and knowledge of crafts.

Response

(Ps 37:30) The Mouth of the just murmurs wisdom

Psalm (Ps: 37:3-6, 30-31)

Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition Chapter 37

3 Trust in the LORD, and do good;

so you will dwell in the land, and be nourished in safety.

4 Take delight in the LORD,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD;

trust in him, and he will act.

6 He will bring forth your vindication as the light,

and your right as the noonday.

Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition Chapter 37

30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

and his tongue speaks justice.

31 The law of his God is in his heart;

his steps do not slip.

Alleluia (John 17:17b, 17a)

Alleluia, Alleluia

Your word, O Lord, is truth;

consecrate us in the truth.

Alleluia, alleluia

Gospel (John 17:11b-19)

Lifting his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying:

11 ¶ [And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.] Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 ¶ While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 ¶ I have given them your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one.k 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.

Notes

Catholic Daily Readings 1-28-2023: Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2023 | MEMORIAL

SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

YEARS 1 & 2 | ROMAN MISSAL | LECTIONARY

WHITE

Catholic Daily Readings (1-28-2023: Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church)

First Reading Wisdom of Solomon 7:7–10, 15–16

Response Psalm 37:30

Psalm Psalm 37:3-4, 5-6, 30-31

Gospel Acclamation John 17:17b, 17a

Gospel John 17:11b-19

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