Faith and Reason

Faith and reason are the shoes on your feet. You can travel further with both than you can with just one.

(J. Michael Straczynski, “The Deconstruction of Falling Stars“)

Today¹ is the Feast of the Universal Doctor of the Church and one of my name Saints, Thomas Aquinas.

When (certain) people, told of my conversion, said to me “oh, you’re Catholic – you don’t need to think any more”, I always pointed them to Thomas Aquinas.

Here’s a guy who was observed to simultaneously dictate three different books to three different scribes seated around him in a circle.

I’d like to share for your reflection two quotes today, one about a book about Saint Thomas (so that’s a third class quote, yes?) and one by the Saint himself.

Many years ago, my friend Father Bryan Dolejsi introduced me to a book on the spirituality of Saint Thomas by Father (now Bishop) Robert Barron, which I can highly recommend. In it, the author explores the intersection of faith and reason, a topic that particularly fascinates me.

Bishop Barron uses the Saint’s writings to easily dispel the notion that no such intersection exists.

The greater part of the book, however, is aimed squarely at those who accuse Saint Thomas of overintellectualizing the faith.

Here’s Bishop Barron himself taking the subject in hand:

One Amazon reviewer summed up the book beautifully:

Whether we mean to or not, we do have concrete ideas about the mystery of God. To the extent that our ideas are mistaken, our faith can never lead us to the heart of the True Mystery we seek.

Aquinas’ project was to clear away the dead-ends our unexamined reason produces for us, so that we can find our way to the abyss of God.

In today’s Office of Readings in the Ordinary Form Liturgy of the Hours, Aquinas himself speaks eloquently to the ultimate focus of theology, which is the science of the intersection of faith and reason. That focus is, simply, the cross of Christ.

Whoever wishes to live perfectly should do nothing but disdain what Christ disdained on the cross and desire what he desired, for the cross exemplifies every virtue.

If you seek the example of love: Greater love than this no man has, than to lay down his life for his friends. Such a man was Christ on the cross. And if he gave his life for us, then it should not be difficult to bear whatever hardships arise for his sake.

If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid.

Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth. Therefore Christ’s patience on the cross was great. In patience let us run for the prize set before us, looking upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who, for the joy set before him, bore his cross and despised the shame.

If you seek an example of humility, look upon the crucified one, for God wished to be judged by Pontius Pilate and to die.

If you seek an example of obedience, follow him who became obedient to the Father even unto death. For just as by the disobedience of one man, namely, Adam, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man, many were made righteous.

A very good subject for today’s Lectio, I think.

I’ve recently been attending some adult catechism classes taught by Rev. Edward Brodsky, FSSP at the nearby parish of Saint Joseph. The classes are based entirely on the Summa. It’s been months and we’re still working through the attributes of God. Quite an education!

1. At least it is in the modern calendar. My Benedictine Ordo has his feast on March 7, the day of his death. I’ve no idea why it was moved to today, which is the day in 1369 when his remains were enshrined in the Church of the Jacobins in Tolouse.