Introductory Knowledge

Appreciating the unfathomable mystery of the human person

01/28/2019

Mark 3:22-30 The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "By the prince of demons he drives out demons." Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property  unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.  Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin." For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."

I am so happy to celebrate the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas today, January 28. He is one of my many, many patron saints and I gladly mention his name at the end of my rosary during the litany of saints. I fell in love with St. Thomas Aquinas in the seminary for a very mercenary motive: I needed his help to survive seminary studies. He is the patron saint of students and universities. He is arguably the most brilliant theologian in church history, and yet they nicknamed him “the dumb ox” because he was so quiet and pensive. So, I didn’t feel so bad when I felt like a dumb ox through much of seminary.

I love to read not only book written by St. Thomas, but also books written about St. Thomas. One book I am plowing through very slowly like a dumb ox is called The Christian Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, written by the French theologian Etienne Gilson. But I cannot finish the “Introduction,” even though I have started to read it five times. Maybe it is too much merlot? But this struggle to get past the Introduction and bite into the meat of the matter made me wonder if we ever get past mere introductions with one another in this life. No matter how many books I read by or about the Angelic Doctor (another nickname for Aquinas), will I ever really have more than an introductory knowledge of him? I believe that is the fate of all human knowledge of other persons on earth: it is inevitably introductory. Only in heaven will we truly know not only God, seeing him face to face, but also one another, seeing each other finally face to face.

In the gospel today, we see Jesus trying to introduce himself to the Jewish scribes, but not getting very far. Before Jesus can even open his mouth and say who he is – “Hello, I’m Jesus” – the scribes conclude “He is possessed by Beelzebul” and also, “By the prince of demons he drives out demons.” They had already jumped to conclusions about Jesus before they had even read a word of the “Introduction” to the book of Jesus’ story. I struggled to finish the Introduction to a book about Aquinas, but the scribes didn’t even bother with the introduction to Jesus, because of their preconceived notions and their prejudices. In other words, all our earthly knowledge of another person, especially if that Person is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, is always “introductory knowledge.” And sadly, sometimes it’s not even that much. Only in heaven will we fully and finally know others, and be known by them.

My friends, would you take a moment this morning and think about people you think you really know well? I would submit to you that your knowledge of them, no matter how many years you have known them, is only introductory knowledge. Some of you have been married for 20, 40 or 60 years, and feel confident your opinion about your spouse is spot on and infallible. But you would be wrong. A human being is an unfathomable mystery and can always surprise us. The one thing science and technology, no matter how much they advance, will never be able to predict is what I will do next.  At the core of each person lies an inalienable freedom, and that freedom makes me a mystery to you, and the most you can know of me is my “Introduction.”

But there are also people whom we have never met but we already have an opinion about them. Republicans have some opinions about Nancy Pelosi, and Democrats have some opinions about Donald Trump. And those opinions are not very different than what the scribes thought about Jesus in the gospel today, “Prince of demons.” But how foolish to say we know someone like that. We haven’t even started to read the Introduction to the story of their life, because we settle for our prejudices and preconceived notions. That’s why gossip is so wrong: we are talking about people we do not really know.

You know, the Introduction to Gilson’s book is only 25 pages long, so I hope I can finish is someday soon! But in another sense, I will always be reading introductions about everyone I meet on earth. I will have to wait till heaven to finally get beyond the introductory knowledge, and know other people, and be known by them.

Praised be Jesus Christ!