THERE was a great story of the wisdom of St. Thomas Aquinas. When St. Thomas Aquinas was just a seminarian, his professor in Metaphyiscs and some of his Formators in the Seminary called him to see that a cow was jumping over the moon.
The poor Thomas hurried to see what the priests were telling him. He went out and looked for the animal that was supposedly jumping over the moon. The priests broke in loud laughter after seeing Thomas looking for the animal.
His professor told him, “I thought you were that brilliant that you argued in the class that no being could jump over the moon.” St. Thomas said “I believe on that predicament in the class but what I could not believe now is that you priests, my mentors, professors and formators are lying.” St. Thomas went back inside the seminary with a heavy and sad heart.
January 28 is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas. He was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, Catholic priest, and doctor of the church. He is until today, an immensely influential philosopher, theologian, and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism. He was given the titles of “Doctor Angelicus” and the “Doctor Communis”. He wrote the voluminous and illustrative book about the doctrines and beliefs of the Catholic Church, the “Summa Thelogica”.
St. Thomas Aquinas’ teachings in Ethics are still and very relevant today. In our world, we live a life of sensualism and sensationalism. What appeals to the senses becomes “good” and even “moral”. Those issues that we are interested with become essential and real but those that really affect our relationship with God and others are considered “taboo” or outdates.
Allow me to share some points about St. Thomas’ ethics. His ethics are based on the concept of “first principles of action”.
“All acts of virtue are prescribed by the natural law since each one’s reason naturally dictates to him to act virtuously. But if we speak of virtuous acts, considered in themselves, i.e., in their proper species, thus not all virtuous acts are prescribed by the natural law, for many things are done virtuously, to which nature does not incline at first. But that, through the inquiry of reason, have been found by men to beN conductive to well living.”
A good life must be lived with prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude. He called these four as the four cardinal virtues of human existence. These virtues could only be completed once they are founded on the theological virtues of faith, hope and love. These three virtues complete our whole being in God.
Prudence simply means that we think before we act. We are given the faculty of rationality and what comes after adherence to natural law is a product of human reason and decision. Temperance means that man has the capacity to withhold and to pursue under free will. God has given us the freedom to choose, He (God) never decides for us. God allows all circumstances. Justice, as defined by Aquinas, is giving to one what is due him. This classical definition is still relevant. Fortitude is beautifully defined as courage in pain or adversity.
Each one is called to be courageous and fearless in loving God and fellow even in the most uncomfortable situation or circumstance. It is this virtue that makes us respond to our calling to become “saints”.
St. Thomas also gave a very comprehensive definition of “law” as a determinant for ethics. He defined law as an “ordinance of reason, promulgated by those in-charge of society, and always for the common good.”
This is what law is all about as an objective norm to moral decisions. However, rational man should always balance law and conscience as norms of morality.
So, as we celebrate the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, let us ask his intercession for all of us to have open hearts and minds in facing the realities of today.
St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.