Sermon on the First Sunday of Advent¹

Another Sermon of Brother Thomas of Aquino given on the same Sunday in the house of the Preachers at Paris before the University of Paris.

Luke 21:33

Heaven and earth will pass.

Prologue

Dearest brethren, how great the delight, how great the pleasure, how great the sweetness that is in the heavenly words of wisdom! This is even obvious in the words of the natural philosopher,¹ who writes in book 10 of Ethics about created knowledge: all delights are at some point cut off. The greatest, however, is the delight that is in accordance with the operation of wisdom, and the most delightful operation is the one that is in accordance with the operation of wisdom.² Also the theological philosopher³ writes in Wisdom 7:8 that he loved it more than gold and outward appearance; “it” is the heavenly wisdom about which we speak.⁴

Because of this we will ask, at the beginning of this homily, our Lord Jesus Christ, the fountain of all wisdom (cf. Sir 1:5), who is, according to St. Dionysius¹ in book 6 part c of The Hierarchy of the Angels, the principal instructor of all heavenly spirits and devout souls, to illumine our understanding, to kindle our hearts, and to make my mouth eloquent for the honor of his name in accordance with the Gospel teaching and the edification of our souls.²

Sermon

Heaven and earth will pass (Luke 21:33). In these words¹ the situation of the just and the unjust is described according to a spiritual knowledge. Our most providential and meek Savior commended these words²—out of care for his sheep’s salvation in faith (cf. John 10:13)—to his disciples and in them to all believers for serious attention to the Last Judgment, without mentioning the term, because it is clear. (1) By the noun heaven the marvelous loftiness of the heavenly man is mentioned, and (2) by the noun earth the deserved lowliness of the worldly person is mentioned, and (3) by the verb will pass he carefully refers to a distinctive quality of each.³

1. So, as he describes the marvelous loftiness and the worthy eminence of the heavenly man, he calls him heaven. Yet we must consider that the heavenly man is signified by the noun heaven for four reasons:

1.1. Heaven is of a great brightness,¹ as the Philosopher demonstrates in book 2 of On Heaven and Earth.² Thus it is shown that the just man ought to be full of light by heavenly wisdom, as we read in Sirach 24:4: I have made my home in heaven, so that perfect light may rise.³

1.2. It has a splendid appearance, as the Philosopher demonstrates in book 2 of On Heaven and Earth.¹ Thus it is shown that the just man ought to be like a circle by a wide mercy, or like an orbit by a broad devotion and perfect love.² I alone have gone round the canopy of heaven,³ says eternal Wisdom in Sirach 24:5.⁴

1.3. It sets in motion,¹ as the Philosopher shows in book 8 of Physics.² Thus it is shown that the just man ought to be moved always by a spiritual carefulness.³ Job 38:37 reads: who will narrate the heavens’ thoughts, and who will put to sleep what they contain?⁴

1.4. It is high¹ in location, as the sight and the effect of it prove. By this it is pointed out that the just man ought to excel in holiness² by eminence. Because, as we read in Sirach 43:1: the firmament of highness—that is, the highness of the firmament—is his beauty, the sight of heaven in a vision of glory.³

2. The worldly man is absolutely not comparable to him; he is compared to the earth,¹ [as follows:]

2.1. On the ground of his capacity of understanding, as we read in Genesis 1:2: darkness was over the face of the abyss. The earth was void and empty.¹

2.2. On the ground of the weakness of avarice,¹ as we read in Colossians 3:2: taste the things that are above, not those upon the earth and Psalm 44:25 says: our stomach is stuck to the ground.²

2.3. On the ground of the aridity of wickedness (cf. John 4:10–15),¹ as we read in Genesis 1:10: and God called the arid land ‘earth.’

2.4. On the ground of the immutability of the soul, or of the life,¹ or opinion, as we find it in Ecclesiastes 1:4: the earth truly stands forever. And this is preceded by: the generation of the good ones passes, and the generation of the just ones arrives (ibid.).² Why? Because an evil person is not led in the right direction, nor is he changed.³

3. Well, now that the most deserved disdain toward the worldly man and the marvelous loftiness of the just have been described, the quality of the way of life of each of them must be distinguished, in view of the verb to pass. Indeed, we must note that passing is said (3.1) of the just in a different way than (3.2) of the unjust.

3.1. For the just passes on,

3.1.1. first, from sin to justice,¹ as it says in Isaiah 45:14: lofty men and proud sinners will pass over to you, and they will be yours.

3.1.2. He passes, second, by advancing from virtue to virtue,¹ as it says in Sirach 29:26: pass, stranger; prepare the table, meaning, “prepare your conscience for the heavenly spouse” (cf. Prov 9:1–6).²

3.1.3. He passes, third, from labor in the present to the eternal refreshment, as it says in Psalm 66:12: we have come through fire and water, and you have led us out into refreshment.¹

3.2. Yet the unjust passes,

3.2.1. first of all, from innocence to guilt,¹ as Sirach 28 reads: he passes from justice to sin (Sir 26:19 or 26:28).

3.2.2. He passes, second, from guilt into guilt,¹ as Proverbs 14:16 has it: a wise man fears and turns away from evil; a foolish man passes on and is self-confident.²

3.2.3. He passes, third, from guilt into eternal punishment, as Job 36:12 reads: if they will not listen, they will pass through the sword, namely, through eternal punishment.¹

So in view of the short description of the marvelous loftiness of the heavenly man in the noun heaven, also in view of the very well deserved disdain toward the worldly man in the noun earth, and in view of the difference of the life of these two in respect of the verb to pass, let us apply ourselves to renouncing earthly things and to loving heavenly things (cf. Col 3:1), in such a way that we disdain the worldly life and embrace the heavenly life, that we may pass over from labor to rest (cf. Heb 4:10), from the world to glory, which may he grant us, et cetera.