Tertia Pars
Lecture 96: Christ's Public Life and Way of Living

Transcript
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To the third it should be said, that the divinity of Christ ought not to be, what, made known to all in his nativity, but more to be hidden in the defects of, what, his infantile age, right, no? But when he has arrived at his perfect age, in which it is necessary for him to teach and to do miracles, and to convert men to himself, then, by the testimony of the Father, his divinity was indicated, that his teaching might be more, what, yeah. Whence also he says, John 5, that the Father who sent me, yeah, he gives testimony about me. And this, especially in baptism, to which men are reborn as adopted sons of God, because he adopted sons of God, instituted to a likeness of the, what, natural son, according to that of Romans 8, 29, whom, what, he foreknew, these also he predestined to become, come conformed to the image of his son. Whence Hillary says upon Matthew, that upon Jesus baptized, he sent the Holy Spirit, and the voice of the Father was heard, he's saying, this is my beloved son, that from these things, which were completed in Christ, we might know, after the washing of the water, and from the, what? The Holy Spirit applies upon us. Yeah. By the adoption of the eternal voice, we become, what? Sons of God. Okay, maybe we should stop there, huh? Yeah. Now, this is Chapter 4, or Question 4, begins a new partner, right? Make sure I say that first off before we did that. In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, amen. Thank you, God. Thank you, Guardian Angels. Thank you, Thomas Aquinas. Deogatius. God, our Enlightenment, Guardian Angels, strengthen the lights of our minds, or to illumine our images, and arouse us to consider more correctly. St. Thomas Aquinas, Angelic Doctor. Praise God. Help us to understand our children. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen. I say thank you, God, twice. First, for himself, and secondly, for giving us our Guardian Angels and Thomas Aquinas. So that's why I began by saying thank you, God. End up with Deogatius. That's not just show off my Latin. That's just a flop. No, it's because I'm thanking him for my Guardian Angel. I'm thanking him for Thomas. He's done that. Okay, now, question 40 is beginning with the second of the four parts about what? Life, what he did and underwent in this life, huh? And the way Thomas divides it, those things that pertain to his coming into this world, right? The way he puts with that is what? Baptism, that sort of stuff, because it's kind of preparatory. And now, in this part beginning now, it's kind of the public life of Christ, huh? Then there'll be a third part later on, which will be about his, what, suffering and death. And there'll be a fourth part, which will be his, what, exaltation beginning with his resurrection and his ascension and sitting at the right hand of the Father and so on, right? And when he gets through with all that, then he'll go to the, what, treat us on the sacraments, huh? Which we maybe won't do, but it's a beautiful way it's worded there, right? Notice the difference between that and the creed there, according to the Trinity, right? Because the sacraments are attached to the Holy Spirit, huh? But here they're attached to what? Yeah, yeah. And either one is in his reason to do both, obviously. But in some ways, I just think this is more interesting, right, huh? Just like, you know, St. Paul says, when you were baptized, you were buried with Christ and so on, right? And the Eucharist is very much Christ and so on, huh? His body and blood, soul. Divinity, too, but that's common to us. But it's very much Christ, you know, so there seems to be a special connection between the sacraments and Christ. And Thomas will often say, you know, sacraments are like Christ insofar as they have a spiritual element and a sensible element, right? And they fit our nature, which is double of its kind and so on, right? So, like Augustine says, the word comes to the element and it becomes a sacrament. It's almost like incarnation, right? The word comes, the word was made flesh and so on. So, there's a special connection between that and the incarnate word, right? So, it's interesting, right? Well, you see in the creed there, obviously, I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the Queen of Saints, the Guinness of Sins. We're kind of getting into the sacraments a bit there, right? And so, all these things are attached to the Holy Spirit by a kind of appropriation, I suppose, huh? There's something refreshing for the mind, though, to come and read these things in kind of different orders, right? One time I was getting so carried away with this idea of the symbolic theology, right? That I said, well, I'm going to go through all these things and find the metaphors, right? And other things for what you learn in the Summas, right? And I don't think I've ever completed such a task, but they're really beautiful, beautiful things, right, huh? And you know how the fire, for example, is a metaphor in part for the divine nature, where the light represents the divine understanding, and then in the warmth of fire, the divine love, and the power to transform things to the divine power, right? And then the fire becomes also metaphor for the, what, trinity, where the substance of the fire represents the Father, and the light proceeding from it, right, represents the Son. And then from that light, in a way, in the fire, comes, what, eventually warmth, right? And then later on, of course, you apply it to the effect upon us, because the sun, the fire, lightens the world before it warms it. And so God lightens us with the light of faith before he warms us with, what, charity, right? Like that beautiful passage that they have in the premium to D.F. Erwin there in Vatican II, you know, from Augustine, you know, that the whole world, by believing, might come to hope, and by hoping, come to love. So in the order of generation there, huh? Faith gives rise to hope and hope to love. So Abraham begot Isaac, and Isaac begot Jacob, and the church father said, faith begot hope, and hope begot love. And it's just beautiful, you know? It's something very refreshing for the mind, to see something that's stated properly appearing in another, what, form, and when you said figuratively in symbolic theology, right? I kind of enjoy this here, when you're going to read the Gospels, right? Because you're getting, in a sense, a continuous account of the life of Christ here through all four Gospels, right? Which Gospels has something kind of, what, unique about it, huh? Augustine was mentioning, I just happened to be reading the, going through Luke a little bit here, and he says, well, the mocking of Christ and the betrayal there of Peter, right? Peter's denial. In the Gospels, they're recounted, but in reverse order. Some give the betrayal first, and then the mocking, like I guess in Luke, and then in Matthew and Mark, it's the reverse, you give the mocking of Christ, and then betrayal, right? So, different order in the narration, right? But there's no contradiction there, as Augustine would say, you know? But he notes all these little things, you know? And so it's beautiful the way these things are brought out. So here's a premium here to the second part of the four parts here, right? As I mentioned this, in comparison with this and Thomas' division of Matthew, right, we have just into three, right? Well, then the third and the fourth part here would be put into his third part, right? Okay? That's his exit from the world, huh? It's his death and resurrection, where he's going to go back. So, look at the second part here. Consequently, after those things which belong or pertain to the entry of Christ into the world, or to his, what? Beginning, huh? We're not to consider about those things which pertain to his, what? Progress, huh? I can't help but remember what Aristotle says in Praise of Homer, right? He taught all the other Greeks how to tell, write a good, what? Plot. That had a beginning, a middle, and end, right? Yeah, something like that here, right? Okay. And first, we ought to consider about the way of his, what? Conversationis. I never know exactly how to translate that. It's not just conversation. It's what? What? His association with other men, right, huh? Mm-hmm. Okay. Secondly, about his, what? Being tempted, right? Third, about his teaching. And doctrina is the Latin word for what? Teaching, right? Ishipina is more the one for what? Learning. Yeah, yeah. And so I've talked about how that appears in the two sciences, sacra doctrina and mathematics. Mm-hmm. Because sacra doctrina is named from what? The teacher, right? And mathematics is named from the learner. I think that's significant, right? Because the student, you might say, is most, not completely selfishly, as you know, but the student is more capable of these things than anything else, right? But in the case of sacra doctrina, you're most dependent upon the teacher, right? Most dependent upon revelation and so on, right? So it's appropriate that the one be named from doctrina and the other from learning, right? Fourth, about what? Miracles, huh? Now, about the first four things are asked. Whether Christ ought to have led a what? 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Secondly, whether he ought to have, what? Led an austere life, huh? In food and drink and clothing. Or, what? Right, a whole lot. Yeah, yeah. Thirdly... Thirdly, he ought to have lived abjectly in this world, or with wealth and honor. Fourthly, he ought to have lived according to the law. That's the law of the Old Testament, I suppose. Okay. Thirdly, he's sitting here, huh? He should have kept up with the fine side. He should have kept up with the fine side. That was a joke. Oh, I saw. He was a Jew. He was. To the first, therefore, it should be, one precedes us, it seems that Christ ought not to converse with men, right, and be with them, but to have led a, what, solitary life, huh? For it is necessary that Christ, by his way of living, we could say, should show himself not only to be man, but also, what? God. But it does not belong for God to be conversing with men, huh? For it is said in Daniel chapter 2, accepting the gods of whom there is not conversation with men, huh? And the philosopher himself says in the first book of politics that the man who lives a solitary life is either a beast, right, if on account of his savageness he does this, or he's a god if he does this on account of, what, contemplating truth, huh? We've seen Tom's little advice, you know, to the student who wants some advice about studying, right? He says, you want to be, you know, thinker, he says, love yourself, right, huh? Close the door. Be quiet there, and you're solitary, right, huh? Thinking about these things, huh? When I was first trying to learn the syllogism, I'd say, I can't take a room all by myself or nobody else around. No distractions whatsoever. That's a solitary life, right? And I can understand this now. Therefore, it was not suitable for Christ to be among men, right? He's God, right, huh? Moreover, Christ, when he lived in mortal flesh, ought to have led the most perfect life, huh? It's funny we use that word led, huh? Dootery, huh? We use it in English, too. But the most perfect life is a contemplative life, as has been had in the second part when he takes up the end of man, huh? So Mary has chosen the better part, right? The contemplative life. But to the contemplative life, most of all is suitable solitude, right? According to that of the prophet O.C. I will lead him into, what? Solitude. And therefore, I will speak to his, what? Heart. I will speak to his heart. Therefore, it seems that Christ ought to have led a solitary life, huh? Moreover, the conversation of Christ with living ought to be, what? Uniform. Because always in him there ought to appear what is best. But sometimes Christ sought solitary places, huh? Fleeing, huh? You might say the crowds, huh? I guess the word, what? Disturbed, huh? Must come from terms, right? Disturbed? Is it like out of the crowds? Yeah, yeah. Once Remigius says upon Matthew, three places of refuge, I guess, the Lord is read to have had, right? One was the boat, huh? One was the mountain, and one was the, what? Desert. To one of which, one of these, as many times as he was oppressed by the crowds, right, huh? He went down to, right? Therefore, always he ought to have led a, what? Solitary life, huh? Against all this is what is said in Baruch. I've always loved this quote from Baruch. After this, he was seen on the earth, right? And he conversed with men, huh? He associated with men, right? Well, how does Thomas go about handling this thing? He says, I answer it should be said that the conversational way of life of Christ ought to be such as is suitable to the end or the purpose, huh? Of the Incarnation. That seems like a good beginning, huh? According to which, or by which, he came into the world, huh? But he came into the world first in order to make known the truth. For he himself says in the 18th chapter of John, and he says this to Pilate, huh? For this was I born, and for this I came into the world, that I might give testimony unto the, what? Truth. That's the quote that Thomas uses in the premium to my favorite book, Summa Contra Gentiles, huh? Well, as you know, Alphonsus, huh, and his Meditations on the Passion takes, you know, what Christ says, I came on earth to cast fire, right? What do I will but that I've been kindled, right? So he says both, right? I think they've both chosen the exact quote, you might say, from what Christ says, huh? For the purpose of their particular, what? Work, right, huh? Because the Summa Contra Gentiles is ordered to, knowing the truth, huh? And the Meditations of the Passion of Alphonsus ordered to, in kindling charity, right? And therefore he ought not to, what? Hide himself, right? Leading a solitary, what? Life. But he ought to proceed to the public, or come into the public, preaching, what? Publicly, right, huh? Whence, in Luke chapter 4, he says to those who wish to, what? Detain him. It is necessary for me to evangelize in other cities, right? To evangelize the gospel, I mean, the kingdom of God, right, huh? Because, for that reason, I am, what? Sent. Now, secondly, he came for this, that he might liberate men from, what? Sin. According to that of 1 Timothy chapter 1, Christ came into this world to make sinners save them. To save us. And therefore, as Christendom says, although remaining in the same place, Christ is able to draw all to himself, right? So that they would hear his preaching, right, huh? Nevertheless, he did not do this, right, huh? Giving for us an example that we would, what? Walk. Walk around and seek, I suppose, huh? Yeah. Just as the shepherd, the lost sheep, and as a doctor goes to the infirm, because he doesn't do that anymore. Yeah. Yeah. If you're going to get in. Get in, yeah. Okay. Third, he came that to him we might have excess, or approach to God, right? Okay. As is said in Romans 5, 2. And therefore, in a familiar way, living with men, right? It was suitable that he, what? Give to men confidence, huh? To receiving or approaching him, right? Once it is said in Matthew 9, 10 was made, him sitting down in the house, that many publicans and sinners coming sat down with Jesus and his, what? Disciples. Which Jerome, expounding, says, we see the publican changed from sin to better things, right? To a found place for penance. And that they also did not, what? Despair, right, of their salvation. I like the guy who climbs up in the tree, you know, to see him and say, come on down for the future house tonight. You know? He didn't expect that kind of familiarity, right? He was trying to get a glimpse of Christ, and he was a short man, I guess, and so he ran ahead and climbed the tree so he could look down. We do that sometimes. I think people are trying to see the president or somebody, you know, and they rush to find a place where they can get up, you know, and see something. And so it's just a human scene, just even a part of the man himself, right? He seemed quite, quite... Well, that's a minority there, huh? And today, yeah, today, it's like it's a terrorist of all of you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Terrorist. So those are interesting, those arguments, aren't they? I think there's reasons. Oh, they're all interesting reasons. There seem to be a way to do that. Well, that truth's got to come first, right? Truth has got to come first. In a sense, the fiducius is like hope, isn't it? To a fiducius. But even his name seems to come from faith, right? When we say confidence, with faith, it doesn't do with faith. But it comes from it. Although, you know, in listening to, you know, preachers, and they always, you know, I think they kind of equivocate the word faith, right? And they use faith, in a sense, for hope, right? Because there is some ambiguity in the language there, I think. And also, like, with this devotion to the mercy of God, mercy really corresponds more to what? Hope, the virtue of hope. But, you know, in the translation, at least, they use the word trust, right? Trust, yeah. Well, you see, you know, you might say, you know, Burkwes trusts St. Thomas, right? You know, what does that mean? And then you're talking more about human faith, you know, our faith. It's already formed by the church, you know, or convinced Thomas. But that's not exactly the virtue of hope, you know? It's interesting. It's the prayer from Phanima that the children were taught by the angels is often translated as, my God, I believe, I adore, I trust, and I love you. But it's actually, it's Portuguese, it's hope. I hope, and I love you. And they generally are, because we never usually say, I hope you. We say, I hope in you. But then we say, well, I trust you. That's what it means. But strictly speaking, it's not that these are hope. Yeah. Because it's... Spare on him. Spare on him. I believe I adore hope. But I've often seen a trend that just, I trust in him. I love you. So to the first, it should be said that Christ, through his human nature, right, willed to make known his divine nature, and therefore conversing with men, which is appropriate to man, or the property of man, you might say, right? He made known to all his divinity by preaching and by doing, making miracles, and living among men in an innocent way and a just way, right? Divinity by preaching. Because it says it often in the Gospels that the crowds came, and everybody always said, well, they always came from America, but how many times in the Gospels, it says they came to hear him speak? Yeah, he spoke of one having authority, as if he could transform the law, even, you know, because he had authority over it. I think he spoke. Now, what about the contemplative life? Well, it seems to be living an active life, huh? To the second, it should be said that, as has been said in the second part, the contemplative life, simpliciter, right, is better than the active, which is occupied about bodily acts, right? But the active life, according to which someone preaching and teaching hands over to others the things that he has, what, contemplated, huh? Is more perfect than the life which is only contemplative, huh? I know it's, if you know, the Dominican order, right? Contemplata alis tradere, right? That's the thing. So it's sort of the superiority to the Dominican order, or the order that's purely contemplative, right? Or only contemplative, and the order that's purely practical, right? This one here has got the excellence of the contemplative, and then it's, what, overflowing into others, right? Contemplata alis tradere. Thank you. Because such a life presupposes the abundance of contemplation, huh? I used to hear this quote from Cardinal Cagetan, who I think became Master General of the Dominicans, but... I forget the exact amount of time, but someone like, you know... Any Dominican who doesn't, you know, study, you know, eight hours a day, whatever it was, is living in mortal sin. So, I mean, this order has got to be, what, an abundance of contemplation that you have when you go... that you put out there and preach, right, from the abundance of your contemplation. And therefore, Christ, what, chose such a life, and he chose to be Dominican, right? You know, was it the white garments that the Pope wears now? He didn't always wear, I mean... It was Pius V. Yeah, he was Dominican, yeah. So they adopted that. Yeah, because he always... Yeah, he always... He was a... Since he was a Dominican, he just continued to wear his white hand as a Pope. And I guess, out of reverence for his person, the subsequent folks just chose to continue that. Yeah. Just to wear white garments. I don't know if they had a particular outfit on it. Do you ever get a Franciscan in the Pope when they switched to Browns? There have been several Franciscans in the Pope. There's been a bunch of Franciscans in the Pope. The last one was... No, he was Benedictine. But I know Clement, the one that suppressed the Jesuits, he was a Franciscan. He might have been the last one. He might have been the last one. No, I don't know. 1700s. But this is funny, since our current Holy Father always sort of surprised himself in saying how he's not at the Tomas. And someone asked him if he was at the Tomas, and he says... What's that? Someone asked him if he was at the Tomas, and he says, well, the Pope has to get, though. What did people... official theology, isn't he a Dominican? Usually by office? Ex-officio? Yeah. Master of the palace, what do they call him? Who is it now? Is it still George Cotier, or did he retire? No, he's gone. He's gone. I don't know. I don't know who it was. I don't know who it was. So, to the third, it ought to be said that the action of Christ was our, what, instruction, right? Something to be there. And therefore, that he might give an example to preachers, right? That they ought not always to give themselves to the, what, being public. Therefore, sometimes, our Lord withdrew from the, what, crowds, huh? Which is read to have done an account of three things, huh? Sometimes an account of bodily what? Quiet. When it's in Mark chapter 6, it is said that the Lord said to the disciples, let us go into a deserted place and rest a little bit, huh? For there were those who came and, what, returned many? Okay, so they did not have even the space to eat, right? That's pretty bad. But sometimes, by reason of what? Prayer, right? Once it is said in Luke chapter 6, it was done in those days that he went into the mountain or on the mountain to pray, right? And he was praying throughout the night, I guess, prayer. Nakta, through the night, in prayer, huh? Whence Ambrose says that to the commands of virtue, he informed us by his own, what, example, right, huh? Sometimes that he might teach us to avoid human, what, favor, huh? Whence that he might, whence upon that of Matthew 5, Jesus, seeing the crowds, went up in the mountain. And Christendom said, huh? By this, that he was not in the city or the forum, but in the mountain, and that he sat on the mountain and in solitude, he instructed us, huh? To do nothing, to show off, huh? And to withdraw from the tumults, right? And most of all, it was necessary to dispute about necessary things, huh? Of course, for the human teacher, the purely human teacher, you'd have to withdraw to study sometimes, huh? He's been in this life now of Dalzon, you know, the founder of the Assumptionists, right? Because you'd go in and study, you know, many hours of nighttime, you know, but because he's very active in the day, you know, but you'd have to have some time to study. What was his name? Emmanuel Dalzon. Is that Spanish? No, he was from Nimes there in Languedoc in southern France. Oh. Yeah. Years, like 1780? No, he's 1810 to 1880. So he's kind of right in the middle of the 19th century. He has something on it, you know. We're going on his pilgrimage with some people, you know, in the second half of May there, you know, 19th. So we'll go over to Paris where he studied and go down to Nimes and then go over to Rome, you know, where he studied too, you know. He was a paratress in Vatican I, right, for the bishop there. He wanted to make him a bishop, but he always refused to be made a bishop, you know. There's some interesting things there. Was it basically teaching Augustinians, or what was his assumption? Well, the title of it was Augustinians of the Assumption, right? Okay. I guess there were no Augustinians of that time in France, you know, because of the Revolution and so on. I guess they pushed out the Jesuits, too, during his life, I think. Well, the Jesuits didn't come back from distance until 1830 or something. I forget when they came back. But during his lifetime, I think they were being forced out, you know. Yeah. I think there was some sort of forced out. Well, if it was at the time of the Commune or something, or was it before? I don't know. It's kind of funny. He said to us, the Jesuits, he's a little bit, you know, sufficient of himself, you know, but he wanted to make a retreat. He went to the Jesuits, you know, and he spoke to the Holy Men in there, you know. But he said, I'm going to go and be scrubbed and washed. Because I'm so dirty, he says. Anyway. That's like Philip Neri when he was dying. He said, well, he was resolved that if he got better, he would change his life. And, you know, live a better life. Yeah. My daughter took us into his place there in Rome, yeah. So, I guess she had connections there and so on. So, they gave her the key to the place. The oratory, yeah. Okay. I guess, was he the spiritual advisor of Palestina, I think he was? I think so. Yeah. I think he used to write news for his days. Well, they're little oratories, yeah. Yeah.