Ordinary Form:

Sunday Gospel Scripture Study.  Video.  As I write this the video is not yet available so keep checking.

John Paul II Catholic University.  Video, approx. 5 minutes.  I’ve been having problems with my computer; could someone tell me if the sound quality of this video is bad?

Daily Word: Text and Commentary on the readings taken from the Navarre Bible.

• 1st Reading
• 2nd Reading
• Gospel Reading

Daily Gospel.  Another great daily resource.  Contains the Gospel reading of the day, a link to a brief reflection, usually by a Church Father or Saint.  The If you are viewing the page on a day other than Sunday, July 26 you must click the blue arrow and select the date.  You can get this resource daily via email.

• Readings.
• Commentary.  By St Hilary.  Very brief.
• Saint of the day.  Very brief.

Word Sunday.  Contains a podcast, the Scripture readings with brief commentary, children’s readings, and suggested family activities.

Word On Fire.  Audio sermon by Father Robert Barron.

Extraordinary Form: Please note that the readings for the EF differ from those of the OF.

The Pulpit Orator.  Outstanding sermons from Father Johann Evangelist Zollner.

• Homiletic Sketch #1: Why We Must Mortify The Deeds Of The Flesh.
• Homiletic Sketch #2: The Parable Of The Unjust Steward.
• Dogmatic Sketch: On The Particular Judgment.
• Liturgical Sketch: On St Mary Magdalen, St James the Greater, and St Anne.

St Thomas Aquinas Homily Notes:

• On the Epistle.
• On the Gospel.  Please not that the Gospel reading in St Thomas’ day differed from that of the 1962 Missal.  I’ve included the link because these notes are excellent sources for reflection and meditation.

Instructions for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.  Includes a Moral Lesson Concerning Detraction.

Homily by St Jerome.  Includes Gospel Reading.

Sermon on the Unjust Steward.

St Alphonsus Ligouri.  Sermon on the Unjust Steward.  The text is faded, increase text size or use the “zoom in” feature for easier reading.

Sermon on the Death of the Just.

Homily on the Epistle Reading. By Bishop Bonomelli

The first video series is Anthony Kenny On Aquinas And Medieval Philosophy, in five parts totaling about 45 minutes.

The second video series is from one of the foremost historians of philosophy, Frederick Copleston On Schopenhauer.  This too is in five parts totaling about 45 minutes.

The third video series is from Ralph McIrnerry On Aquinas, Metaphysics, And Morality.  It will be posted before 6 AM tomorrow, June 16 on my OTHER BLOG.

The nominees for BEST DAMNED BLOG EVER BY A MEGALOMANIAC are: (Please vote in the combox)

1. The Divine Lamp
2. Hitler Was A Nice Guy Blog.

As readers of this blog may be aware, I’ve established this sister site because it allows me certain publishing features not availble to me on this blog.  The content of both blogs will be substantially the same, and whenever I post something on the sister site that cannot be posted here, I will post a notice and link to it on this blog.

UPDATE: I’ve also posted St Thomas’ sermon notes for the third Sunday after Easter (That’s tomorrow), which also includes a sermon by Bishop Bonomelli

St Thomas Aquinas was by all accounts an outstanding preacher; not surprising since he belonged to the Order of Preachers (i.e., the Dominicans). Thomistic Philosopher Ralph McInerny, in the foreward he wrote for the book ST THOMAS AQUINAS: THE THREE GREATEST PRAYERS, Commentaries on the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, and the Apostles Creed writes: “We are told by a contemporary Neopolitan (john Coppa) that ‘almost the whole population of Naples went to hear his sermons every day.’ And Willian of Tocco writes that ‘he was heard by the people with such revrence that it was as if his preaching came forth from God.’” Sadly, Aquinasleft behind very few of his actual sermons, however, fortunately for us, he did leave behind about one hundred of his sermons notes. In the near future I would like to begin posting a series of my own notes on those notes of his. They were published in English in 1867 by their translator, John M. Ashley, B.C.L., who also wrote a preface to that translation; it is this that I reproduce here.

FOR the large circulation which has fallen to the lot of the several portions of these Homilies, now collected into one volume, for the favourable criticism accorded to them by the press, and for the number of private expressions of approval which the Editor has received from fellow Priests, he feels deeply grateful ; yet his gratitude is not so much on his own account, or on that of his little book, a^ that this portion, at least, of the writings of S. Thomas Aquinas is allowed to be capable of supplying one of the wants of the present day a really sound help to sermon- making. It is a most cheering and encouraging fact, that the men of the present day are willing in any degree to acknow- ledge, that they can learn something of value from the great Schoolman. Despite all the undeserved contempt and obloquy heaped upon the Schoolmen, both at the time of the so-called revival of letters and ever since ; despite the vast advances which have been made during the last half century in every department of theological learning and criticism ; and, lastly, despite the growth of that spirit of infi- delity, a combined product of the nominalism which accompanied the religious convulsions three hundred years ago, and of the Protestant dogma of right of private judgment the sermons of the “Angelical Doctor” are
being not only read, but preached, in substance, if not in form, in many churches, both at home and in the Colo- nies. The Translator’s work has been indeed a labour of love, sweetened by the thought and strengthened by the belief that this little book must contribute, in some small degree, to a revival amongst us of the Scholastic Theology. There are many reasons which render such a revival desirable, and at the present time especially so ; but there is one reason above all others which claims to be stated here. In so far as things divine have an intellectual basis, and can be shadowed forth by any operation of the mind, they must be represented to us by conceptions which far surpass any possible earthly manifestation of them. The ” hypos- tasis of things hoped for’ r can only spring from the abiding conviction, that we are now to rest upon certain ideas which hereafter shall be exchanged for their realities. Now, we can form but an idea of what the absolutely good, and true, and beautiful may be like; by-and-by we expect to see these ideas realized, in God, and in our glorified selves. Yet perfect goodness, and truthfulness, and beauty, and holiness are not mere ideas; they are realities, finding their true archetype in the mind and being of God realities of which, by our union with Him through our Blessed Lord, we may hope to be partakers. The teaching of the four great Schoolmen, of Abert the Great, as well as of the Seraphic, Angelical, and Subtle Doctors, was, in common with that of Plato and the New Testament, essentially and entirely realistic. However the Scotists differed from the Thomists on some questions of Theology, they were quite agreed upon this point. However Luther may have differed from Zwingle, and Zwingle from Calvin, in their “views” of
Sacramental grace, they were ” consented together ” in support of that nominalism which would reduce the deep mysteries of the Kingdom of Grace to mere names, and would limit our conceptions of them, and endeavours after them, to what it seems now possible to attain. It is not too much to say, that the Sadduceeism which is now sapping all the vitality of our faith and morals, is but the legitimate product of that nominalism which has lain at the root of all religious belief ever since the religious movement of the sixteenth century. Because the Scholastic Theology is realistic in its teaching, it is the only antidote which will be powerful enough to counteract the effects of that pernicious influence which the Teutonic Upas-tree has cast over so large a por- tion of Christendom. In these skeleton sermons, the realistic teaching is, with one single exception (Epiph. Horn. I., iii.), indirect, giving to them an anti-monastic tone and temper, at the same time not leading to the sacrifice of any portion of their practical bearing. Short and unpretending as they are, they admit of a threefold use. Firstly, they can be taken as profitable guides in directing private or devotional reading ; for they are full of vigorous and condensed thoughts they bring things new and old together in a striking relationship. We notice a few such thoughts. In the Advent Homilies (I.) the sevenfold benefit of our Blessed Lord’s second coming; and the moral aphorism, that “a man is in the judgment by thinking upon the judgment ;” that goodness has its precepts, counsels, and promises (Horn. IV.); the threefold cry of Christ (Horn. IX.) In the Lenten Homilies, the fast in Paradise, and our Lord’s fasting as joined with His Baptism (Horn. I.) ; the seven things that our Lord did upon the Mountain (Horn. VIII.) ; and the threefold nature of the Word of
God (Horn. X.) The Easter Homilies explain the three kinds of flowers in our Lord, and the three typical Maries (Horn. II.) ; what it is for a man to be at peace with him- self (Horn. V.) ; the three gifts of Christ His Body, His Blood, His Soul (Horn. VI.) ; three reasons why the Ador- able Son came forth from the Father (Horn. XIII.) In the Trinity Homilies, we read of the Heavenly Feast, its makers, ministers, and guests (Horn. IV.); how the Holy Angels stand before God in contemplation, love, and praise (Horn. VI.) ; why the Holy Angels desire the creature’s future glory (Horn. VII.) ; the seven loaves with which she feeds the faithful (Horn. XIV.) ; three witnesses against the sinner in the Judgment God, conscience, creation ; it is a momentary thing which delights, an eternal thing which crucifies (Horn. XX.) ; unity of the intellect, of the affec- tions, of the life (Horn. XXXIII.) ; the security, the pleasantness, and abundance of the City of God (Horn. XXXVII.); the translation of the Saints (Horn. XL VII.) Such as these are the lines of reflection which S. Thomas offers to the contemplation of the thoughtful and devout reader, ^presenting the subject in germ, leaving its develop- ment to the effort of individual minds. As neither moral nor spiritual truth affects any two persons in precisely the same way, such a method of presenting truth as this is, leaves for the initiated mind nothing to be desired; whilst the uninitiated soul would scarcely be capable of receiving the generalizations of S. Thomas in any form. * Secondly, these Homilies are valuable as giving the scholastic interpretation of many texts of Holy Scripture; valuable as shewing how the Schoolmen saw our Blessed Lord as shadowed forth in type and prophecy in God’s
servants of old. Amongst a vast number of explained texts, we select the following, as worthy of special notice : In the Advent Homilies, Joel iii. 18, a prophecy of the Incarnation (Horn. I.); Hos. xiii. 14, the spoliation of Hades ; Eph. i. 18, the reparation of Heaven ; Isa. Ixi. 1 fully commented on ; 2 Sam. xxii. 36 applied to our Blessed Lord (Horn. II.) ; Ps. cxlviii. 6, universal service of God by creation (Horn. ILL.) ; Ps. xxxix. 3, the fire that burned, that of contrition. In the Lenten Homilies, Heb. ix. 10, the ” reformation,” as of the Jew ; Prov. i. 8, the ” mother ” is Holy Church (Horn. I.) ; Rev. xvi. 13, the frogs are spirits of detraction (Horn. IV.) ; Job xvi. 22, the walk of death (Horn. V.) ; Ezek. xxviii. 16, interpreted of a devil (Horn. VI.) ; Ps. xxxi. 21, the “shining city” is the City of God; Isa. xxxi. 9, fire and furnace symbols of charity (Horn. VH.) ; S. John xiv. 30, our Blessed Lord walking dryshod over the sea of this world ; Exod. xxxv. 30 gives the twelve breads with which our Lord feeds the faithful (Horn. VIH.); Zech. ix. 11, the deliverance of the Saints from Hades (Horn. IX.) ; Job iv. 12, the mental word (Horn. X.) ; Coloss. i. 30, recruiting of the Heavenly Ones (Horn. XII.) In the Easter Homilies is noted Ex. xii. 21, Numb. ix. 3-5, Jos. v. 10, the three mystical Passovers (Horn. I.); Cant. ii. 12, flowers are the splendour of the Lord’s glorified Body ; S. Matt, xxviii. 2, the earthquake a leaping of the earth for joy (Horn. II.) ; Ezek. xxxvi. 25, clean water of Holy Baptism (Horn. III.) ; Jer. xi. 19, our Blessed Lord the Lamb brought to the slaughter (Horn. V.); Ezek. iv. 14, the Lord feeding His flock (Horn. VI.) ; Judges ii. 1 proves sadness of this present world ; Nah. i. 13 applied to eternal
happiness (Horn. VIII.) ; Lam. iii. 26, the elevation of the mind to God. The Trinity Homilies are very rich in deep and thoughtful readings of Holy Scripture. Isa. xxv. 5, the feast of the new Creation (Horn. IV.) ; Isa. vi. 5, seraphims of purifica- tion (Horn. VI.) ; Ps. cv. 6, the reparation of the Heavenly City (Horn. VII.) ; Isa. xxvi., the lost gift of glory (Horn. IX.); Isa. iii. 14 explains the “council” of S. Matt. v. 22 (Horn. XII.) ; Ps. cxxxii. 15, the Eternal Bread (Horn. XIV.); Job xx. 27 referred to final Judgment (Horn. XVIII.) ; Isa. xxx. 1-8, shews the nature of the trust of the wicked (Horn. XXIII.); S. Mark vii. 33, mystical fingers put into ears (Horn. XXIV.) ; Ps. Ivii. 3, healing power of Holy Baptism (Horn. XXVI.); Ps. Ixxvi. 2, Salem, the Tabernacle of Peace (Horn. XXVII.); Isa. xxxiii. 20, a description of the City of God (Horn. XXXVIII.) ; Isa. iii. 14, army of Saints final ministers of punishment (Horn. XL.); Prov. xviii. 4, “deep waters” represent the Old Testament, the “flowing brooks” the New Testament (Horn. L.) These Homilies are, to a limited extent, a commentary upon many difficult passages of the Inspired Canon. Thirdly, the great use of these Homilies is for sermon- making. They bring a text of Holy Scripture to bear upon each statement ; they adopt a natural division of the subject ; they take up minute details which signify much, but which at first sight seem to be wholly unworthy of notice; they con- trast in the strongest possible way nature with grace. These four statements can be proved with the utmost ease by a careful reading of only a few of the Homilies. There are two methods by which these outlines can be expanded into a sermon of the required length for the present
day : by enlarging upon the divisions of each and every head, lengthening the whole sermon equally. But by far the most telling result is obtained, in the majority of cases at least, by confining the expansion to only one head. Take, for example, Homily X., for Lent: “The Word of God and its Hearers.” Omitting the first head, the three ways in which the Saints are of God ; the third and fourth heads, the foolishness and misery of those who hear not ; we treat alone of the second head, the Threefold Word of God which the Saints hear. ” 1. Eternal: S. John i. 1, ‘In the beginning was the Word.’” This naturally leads to the mention of all the utterances of God the Son, whether as the Word creative or prophetical, before the Incarnation ; of what our Lord did in that infinite abyss of past time, in that eternal to-> day of God when the Son went out to create the worlds. The pre-Incarnate naturally links itself on to the Incarnate Word, to our Lord’s eternal words which He spake in time ; eternal in import, containing an eternal consequence either for life or for death. These eternal words He is speaking in His Body the Church now ; as He spake, so speaks the Church, proclaiming those words of truth and life, which became as wells of water in the souls of the faithful, springing up into everlasting life. So for ever to His Elect will the Saviour speak words of encouragement, and hope, and love ; at the end of all things of love only, when charity alone remains. The Eternal Word, “I am Alpha and Omega.” Abel heard His voice ; all the Patriarchs and Prophets of the Elder Church all the Saints, Virgins, Martyrs, Con- fessors of the New Covenant; the Voice of the Beloved, eternal as His own nature is, eternal in power and action upon ourselves. The Saints “hear by faith.” He it is Who
is speaking in His Holy Sacraments, by the mouths of His Priests. Meet it is that the Eternal High Priest should speak in the Eternal Mysteries of His Church and Kingdom. “We need faith in these Mysteries, in order that we may hear His ” Eternal Word.” 2. Mental: Job iv. 12, “A thing [word, Vulg.] was secretly brought to me.” Not that secret word which, as S. Gregory says, the heretics pretend to hear, who represent the Woman of Solomon saying (Prov. ix. 17; Vulg. 7), ” Stolen waters are sweeter, and bread eaten in secret is more pleasant.” Not that secret word which would lift some above others, and which can only be obtained by secret means, but that communication of inward inspiration when the secret word is delivered to the minds of the Elect, of whom S. John says (1 S. John ii. 27), “His anointing teacheth you all things.” This is that mental word which is received in the heart by the utterance of the Holy Ghost ; secret, to be felt, not expressed in the noise of speech ; it sounds secretly in the ear of the soul. Seek we to have our souls silent before God, freed from pleadings of all emotion, to catch the accents of the mental word. This mental word is the fruit of contemplation ; and, by the chinks of such con- templation, God speaks to us, not in voice, but through mind ; not fully developing Himself, yet revealing something of Himself to the mind of man. As we bore through the strata of earth to find that water which is silently circulating through its crust, so we, by contemplation, boring through the strata of the letter, find the ever-flowing grace which reveals itself as a mental word : the Saints hear this ” by inspiration (Ps. Ixxxv. 8), ‘ I will hear what God the Lord will speak ‘ ” (p. 18). 3. Vocal : S. Matt. iv. 4, ” Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceedeth,” &c. Vocal words: God’s commands, His promises, the dogmatic teaching of the Catholic faith this the Saints learn and hear ” by preaching (S. Luke viii. 8), ‘ He that hath ears to hear, let him hear’ ” (p. 19). Take heed how ye hear. Office of preaching in the Church. Duty of hearers and of preachers. Sum up these words : Incarnate Word, to be believed on ; Inspired Word, to be felt ; Preached Word, to be lived upon. After all, it must be left to the preacher’s own peculiar habit of thought to determine which of the heads shall be expanded ; and the manner in which this is to be done. The Homily upon which the attempt has been made is not as favourable as some others for the experiment; it seemed fairer to take a more unlikely one to illustrate in the process, as far as the translator had the power to do so. Almost a course of Sermons could be founded upon Homily XLV., for the Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity. In regard to the Author of these Homilies, he was born A.D. 1224, in the castle of Aquin, in the territory of Lahore, in Italy, being descended from the Kings of Sicily and Aragon. Educated firstly in the Monastery of Mount Cassino, afterwards at Naples. In 1244, studied at Cologne under Albertus Magnus. Doctor of Paris, 1255. Returned into Italy, 1263. Professor of Scholastic Theology at Naples. Died 1274, in the Monastery of Fossanova, near Terracina. An old distich prefixed to his portrait runs thus : Nobilibus Thomas generatus utroque parente Terrarum scriptis claret ubique suis. And he will shine as long as profound Scriptural
Theology shall continue to hold its own in the world. May this little book be but a first fruit of the revival amongst us of the study of the writings of S. Thomas Aquinas. S. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, Feast of S. Matthew, 1867.

In the very manner of the Passion of Our Lord its effects are foreshadowed.  In the first place, the Passion of Our Lord had for its effect the salvation of the Jews, many of whom were baptized in his death.

Secondly, by the preaching of these Jews, the effects of the Passion passed to the Gentiles also.  There was thus a certain fitness in Our Lord’s Passion beginning with the Jews and then, the Jews handing him on, that it should be completed at the hands of the Gentiles.

To show the abundance of the love which moved him to suffer, Christ, on the very cross, asked mercy for his tormentors.  And since He wished that Jew and Gentile alike should realise this truth about His love, so he wished that both should have a share in making him suffer.

It was the Jews and not the Gentiles who offered the figurative sacrifices of the Old Law.  The Passion of Christ was an offering through sacrifice, inasmuch as Christ underwent death by his own will moved by charity.  But insofar as those who put him to death were concerned, they were not offering a sacrifice but committing a sin.

When the Jews declared, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death (Jn 19:31), they may have had many things in mind.  It was not lawful for them to put anyone to death on account of the holiness of the feast they had begun to keep.  Perhaps they wished Christ to be killed not as a transgressor of their own law but as an enemy of the state, because he had made himself a king, a charge concerning which they had no jurisdiction.  Or again, they may have meant that they had no power to crucify-which was what they longed for-but only to stone, as they later stoned St Stephen.  Or, the most likely thing of all, that their Roman conquerors had taken away their power of life and death-ST III., 47, 4

1. Christ died for the ungodly (Rom 5:6).  This is a great thing if we consider who it is that died, a great thing also if we consider on whose behalf he died.  For scarce for a just man will one die, that is to say, that you will hardly find a man who is innocent, nay even it is said, The just perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart (Isa 52).

Rightly therefore does St Paul say scarce will one die.  There might perhaps be found one, some one rare person who out of superabundance of courage would be so bold as to die for a good man.  but this is rare, for the simple reason that so to act is the greatest of all things.  Greater love than this no man hath, says Our Lord Himself, that a man lay down his life for his friend (Jn 15:13).

But the like of what Christ did himself, to die for evildoers and the wicked, has never been seen.  Wherefore rightly do we ask in wonderment why Christ did it.

2. If in fact it be asked why Christ died for the wicked, the answer is that God in this way commendeth his charity towards us. He shows us in this way that He loves us with a love that knows no limits, for while we were as yet sinners Christ died for us.

The very death of Christ for us shows the love of God, for it was His son whom He gave to die that satisfaction might be made for us.  God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son (Jn 3:16).  And thus as the love of God the Father for us is shown in His giving us His Holy Spirit, so also is it shown in this way, by his gift of his only Son.

The Apsotle says God commendeth, signifying thereby that the love of God is a thing which cannot be measured.  This is shown by the very fact of the matter, namely the fact that he gave His Son to die for us, and it is shown also by reason of the kind of people we are for whom He died.  Christ was not stirred to die for us by any merits of ours, when as yet we were sinners.  God (who is rich in mercy) for his exceeding charity wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ (Eph 2:4).

3. All these things are almost too much to be believed.  And work is done in your days, which no man will believe when it shall be told (Habakkuk 1:5).  This truth that Christ died for us is so hard a truth that scarcely can our intelligence take hold of it.  Nay it is truth that our intelligence could in no way discover.  And St Paul, preaching, makes echo to Habakku, I work a work in your days, as work which you will not believe, if any man shall tell it to you (Acts 13:14).

Numbers 1 and 2 above are taken from St Thomas’ commentary on Romans.  A Modern translation of the work can be found HERE.  Number 3 is taken from his commentary on the Creed.

1. The gospel deliberately says opened and not wounded, because through Our Lord’s side there was opened to us the gate of eternal life.  After these things I looked, and behold a gate was opened in heaven (Rev 4:1).  This is the door opened in the ark, through which enter the animals who will not perish in the flood.

2. But this door is the cause of our salvation.  Immediately there came forth blood and water, a thing truly miraculous, that, from a dead body, in which the blood congeals, blood should come forth.

This was done to show that by the Passion of Christ we receive a full absolution, an absolution from every sin and every stain.  We receive this absolution from sin through that blood which is the price of our redemption.  You were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver, from your vain conversation with the tradition of your fathers: but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled (1 Pet 1:18).

We were absolved from every stain by the water, which is the laver of our redemption.  In the prophet Ezekiel it is said, I will pour upon you clean water, and you will be cleansed from all your filthiness (Ezek 36:28).  And in Zechariah, There shall be a fountain open to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for the washing of the sinner and the unclean woman (Zech 13:1).

And so these two things may be thought of in relation to two of the sacraments, the water to baptism and the blood to the Holy Eucharist since, in the Mass, water is mixed with the wine.  Although the water is not of the substance of the sacrament.

Again, as from the side of Christ asleep in death on the cross there flowed that blood and water in which the Church is consecrated, so from the side of the sleeping Adam was formed the first woman, who herself foreshadowed the Church.St Thomas Aquinas, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF ST JOHN

1. As far s the Jews were concerned Our Lord was crucified with the thieves on either side to encourage the suspicion that he too was a criminal.  But it fell out otherwise.  The thieves themselves have left not a trace in the remembrance of man, while His cross is everywhere held in honor.  Kings laying aside their crowns have broidered the cross on their royal robes.  They have placed it on their crowns; on their arms.  It has its place on the very altars.  Everywhere, throughout the world, we behold the splendor of the cross.

In God’s plan Christ was crucified with the thieves in order that, as for our sakes he became accursed of the cross, so, for our salvation, he is crucified like an evil thing among evil things.

2. The Pope, St Leo the Great, says that the thieves were crucified, one on either side of him, so that in the very appearance of the scene of his suffering there might be set forth that distinction which should be made in the judgment of each one of us.  St Augustine has the same thought.  “The cross itself,” he says, “was a tribunal.  In the center was the judge.  To the one side a man who believed and was set free, to the other side a scoffer and he was condemned.”  Already there was made clear the final fate of the living and the dead, the one class placed at his right, the other on his left.

3. According to St Hilary the two thieves, placed to the right and to the left, typify that the whole of mankind is called to the mystery of Our Lord’s Passion.  And since division of things according to right and left is made with reference to believers and those who do not believe, one of the two, placed on the right, si saved by justifying faith.

4. As St Bede says, the thieves who were crucified with Our Lord, represent those who for the faith and to confess Christ undergo the agony of martyrdom or the severe discipline of a more perfect life.  Those who do this for the sake of eternal glory are typified by the thief on the right hand.  Those whose motive is the admiration of whoever beholds them imitate the spirit and the act of the thief on the left-hand side.

As Christ owed no debt in payment for which a man must die, but submitted to death of his own will, in order to overcome death, so also he had not done anything on account of which he deserved to be put with the thieves.  But of his own will he chose to be reckoned among the wicked, that by his power he might destroy wickedness itself.  Which is why St John Chrysostom says that to convert the thief on the cross and to turn him to Paradise was as great a miracle as the earthquake.

1. It was by Christ’s own will that he was exposed to  temptation by the devil, as it was also by his own will that he was exposed to be slain by the limbs (minions) of the devil.  Had He not so willed, the devil would never have dared to approach him.

The devil is always more disposed to attack those who are alone, because, as is said in Sacred Scripture, If a man shall prevail against one, two shall withstand him easily (Eccles 4:12).  That is why Christ went out into the desert, as one going out to a battle-groun, that there he might be tempted by the devil.  Whereupon St Ambrose says that Christ went into the desert for the express purpose of provoking the devil.  For unless the devil had fought, Christ would never have overcome him for me.

St Ambrose gives another reason too.  He says that Christ chose the desert at the place to be tempted for a hidden reason, namely that he might free from his exile Adam who, from Paradise, was driven into the desert; and again that he did it for a reason in which there is no mystery, namely to show us that the devil envies those who are tending towards a better life.

2. We say with St Chrysostom that Christ exposed himself to the temptation because the devil most of all tempts those whom he sees alone.  So in the very beginning of things he tempted the woman, when he found her away from her husband.  It does not however follow from this that a man ought to throw himself into any occasion of temptation that presents itself.

Occasions of temptation are of two kinds.  One kind arises from man’s own action, when, for example, man himself goes near to sin, not avoiding the occasion of sin.  That such occasions are to be avoided we know, and Holy Scripture reminds us of it.  Stay not in any part of the country round about Sodom (Gen 19:17).  The second kind of occasion arises from the devil’s constant envy of those who are tending to better things, as St Ambrose says, and this occasion of temptation is not one we must avoid.  So according to St John Chrysostom, not only Christ was led into the desert by the Holy Ghost, but all the children of God who possess the Holy Ghost are led in like manner.  For God’s children are never content to sit down with idle hands, but the Holy Ghost ever urges them to undertake for God some great work.  And this, as far as the devil is concerned, is to go into the desert, for in the desert there is none of that wickedness which is the devil’s delight.  Every good work is as it were a desert to the eye of the world and of our flesh, for good works are contrary to the desire of the world and of our flesh.

To give the devil such an opportunity of temptation as this is not dangerous, for it is much more the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, who is the promoter of every perfect work, that prompts us than the working of the devil who hates them all.-From the Summa Theologica, III, 41, 2