“Do you love her more than anything else in the
universe?”
“Who is she?”
“She is not any particular woman you may know,
because she is wisdom”.
“Oh, I majored in philosophy! I’m in love with
Sophia! Now I’m studying theology. Ha, ha, ha…”
The word, “philosophy” etymologically means “love of
wisdom” (philosophia), in which philo means “loving”, and sophia means “wisdom”.
St. Thomas Aquinas could enjoy such a conversation
as the above one with his friend, given his love of wisdom. In fact, not only that Thomas Aquinas loved
wisdom but also that he promoted wisdom. Of course, the kind of wisdom that he
sought with love and encouraged others to pursue is the wisdom associated with
humility (James 3:13; cf. Proverbs 11:2), as opposed to the wisdom leading to
the denial of the truth and other vices (James 3:14-15). Therefore, the kind of wisdom that Aquinas
loved and pursued with passion is what James described as “pure, then
peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a
trace of partiality or hypocrisy”, for she is from God (James 3:17).
So Aquinas wrote with scriptural references on the pursuit of wisdom:
Among
all human pursuits, the pursuit of wisdom is more perfect, more noble, more useful,
and more full of joy.
It
is more perfect because, in so far as a man gives himself to the pursuit of
wisdom, so far does he even now have some share in true beatitude. And so a
wise man has said: “Blessed is the man that shall continue in wisdom” (Sirach
14:22).
It
is more noble because through this pursuit man especially approaches to a
likeness to God Who “made all things in wisdom” (Psalm. 103:24). And since
likeness is the cause of love, the pursuit of wisdom especially joins man to
God in friendship. That is why it is said of wisdom that “she is an infinite
treasure to men! which they that use become the friends of God” (Wisdom. 7:14).
Summa Contra Gentiles, Book I, Chapter 2, Paragraph
1
With the above words, St, Thomas Aquinas shares his
love of wisdom from God with us and encourages us to make it our priority to
pursue the wisdom not only because the wisdom is our infinite treasure but this
pursuit draws us closer to join to God in friendship. Aquinas also consider
that it is to have our share in true beatitude. And the way Aquinas expressed
his love of wisdom and significance of pursuing her in the Book I, Chapter 2,
of Summa Contra Gentiles, is
reflected in the First Reading for his memorial feast Mass (January 28): Wisdom
7: 7-10, 15-16.
The First Reading (Wisdom 7:7-10,15-16) actually reflects
Solomon’s humble request of wisdom to God as he began governing the kingdom of
Israel after his father, David (1 Kings 3:1-15; 2 Chronicles 1:1-13). This was before Solomon fell out of the state
of grace because of the fame and the riches that he had enjoyed and
accrued. Though he began his kingship with
his desire for wisdom from God, as reflected in this reading, rather than fame
and power and riches, he lost himself to what came with wisdom, such as the
riches and fame as king of Israel (1 Kings 3:13), distancing himself from God,
as he pursued more women than wisdom later during his reign (i.e. 1 Kings
11:1-13). According to St. Thomas
Aquinas, keeping a pursuit of wisdom from the above, which keeps us humble
(i.e. James 3:13), rather bring closer to God, instead of separating from Him.
Perhaps, God was testing Solomon to see if he would keep walking God’s ways
with the wisdom given by Him without distracted by the riches and exceptional
kingly glory also given by Him. Alas, Solomon failed.
This problem of Solomon gives an important lesson
that even we may pursue the wisdom from God and enjoy beatitude for the wisdom,
there is always a danger to lose our sight as be lured by Satan with his evil
wisdom, leading to vices and arrogance (i.e. James 3:14-16). Perhaps,
understanding this, St. Thomas Aquinas wrote Summa Contra Gentiles in defense of the truth, the true wisdom,
which is of the divine origin, against falsehood and heretical teachings, in
addition to Summa Theologiae.
James tells that one way of knowing who among us
pursue, embrace, and act on the kind of wisdom that Thomas Aquinas pursued and
defended in his Summa Contra Gentiles
is reflected in πρᾳΰτης (prautes)
which can mean humility and gentleness (meekness) (James 3:13). And Jesus taught that being πρᾳΰτης (prautes) leads to beatitude
(Matthew 5:5). It means that pursuing, embracing, and acting on the true wisdom
from God keeps us in the state of grace for being πραΰς (praus) – meek and humble, against the false wisdom that
makes us the opposite – arrogant and selfish (James 3:14-16).
So, the Gospel Reading to honor St. Thomas Aquinas
on his memorial feast (Matthew 23:8-12) reflects the importance of humility,
which is connected to the true wisdom (James 3:13; cf. Proverbs 11:2), the kind
of wisdom that St. Thomas Aquinas not only pursued as Solomon first did but
retained and advocated and defended against false kind, as reflected in his Summa Contra Gentiles.
If you love her above all….if you love the wisdom
above anything in the universe, then, you truly love the source of wisdom: God,
and Jesus, who is not only the incarnated Word (John 1:1, 14) but also the
incarnated wisdom (i.e. Proverbs 8:22-31), in intimate conjoining friendship,
as Aquinas has said (Summa Contra
Gentiles, I, 2, 1), in one with Christ (John 17:21-23). And we remain πρᾳΰτης (prautes) (meek, humble), as it
is a sign of embracing the true wisdom from God (James 3:13). Therefore, we are
blessed for being πρᾳΰτης (prautes)
for having the wisdom (Matthew 5:5; cf. Matthew 5:3) and will be exalted by God
(Matthew 23:12).
So, we have a good reason to love her above all in
the Creation – she who is the wisdom of the divine origin. And she is pure, peaceable,
gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of
partiality or hypocrisy (James 3:17).
And this is she, whom St. Thomas Aquinas was in love with and ardently
pursued from God while being drawn to conjoin her source: God. How about us?
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