Judge Eliza B. Yu, LLMPHL 811 (St. Thomas Aquinas)

St. Thomas Aquinas: Teacher(William J. Hill, O.P. (2002). The Thomist, Volume 66, pages 9 to 13)

A.G. Sertillanges, O.P. declares “Learn to look and compare what is before you” in his work, The Intellectual Life, p. 74. This principle of parallelism is the core of this article’s reflection as it humbly looked and compared Fr. Norberto Castillo, O.P. to St. Thomas Aquinas, who are both our teachers.

St. Thomas Aquinas taught for twenty-one (21) years starting in 1252 at the University of Paris until in 1273 at Naples, and while we have no idea for how long Fr. Norberto Castillo, O.P. will teach here at University of Santo Tomas Graduate School, it is evident that both love teaching so much. A proof of this is when St. Thomas Aquinas even prayed to God to let him die first rather than be made as a cardinal because it will mean an end to his teaching. While there is no such prayer by Fr. Norberto Castillo, O.P., the proof of his love for teaching is shown by his lengthy and exhaustive erudite discussion of St. Thomas Aquinas Commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics as well as by his analytical dissecting of The Intellectual Life by A.G. Sertillanges, O.P.’s for long hours, not missing any single class meeting.

St. Thomas Aquinas believes that teaching is simultaneously two (2) things. Firstly, it is an utter joy. This means that teachers could never do anything else even if there are wishes for it. Secondly, it is a constant martyrdom. This means that teaching fits the paradoxical purposes of God. The same is true for Fr. Norberto Castillo, O.P. It is an utter joy for him to teach as he would prepare his lessons well beforehand and share them to our class with visible enjoyment and occasional laughter. It is some sort of martyrdom for him to answer difficult, if not out of this world questions, from us as his curious students, much more painstakingly correct not only the quizzes but our ethics as a human being, pointing to the class that we will not profit from the study of ethics without its application (St. Thomas Aquinas Commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics Book 1, Lecture IV, no. 6, paragraph 53, page 15).

Both St. Thomas Aquinas and Fr. Norberto Castillo, O.P. are true teachers who knew that their mission in life is not only to bring knowledge but also virtue, the latter defined as a habit that chooses the mean in regard to us (St. Thomas Aquinas Commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Book II, Lecture V, no. 2, paragraph 322, page 107). It is the teaching of acquiring virtues when Fr. Norberto Castillo, O.P. introduces to us, among others, the symptoms of seven (7) capital sins by St. Thomas Aquinas, the spiritual diseases enumerated by A.G. Sertillanges, O.P., the concepts of intemperate man (St. Thomas Aquinas Commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Book Seven, Lecture VIII, no. 1, paragraph 1423, p. 445), the obstinate man (St. Thomas Aquinas Commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Book Seven, Lecture IX, no. 2, paragraph 1444, page 451), and the vices opposed to prudence in the book “The Virtues or Examined Life” by Romanus Cessario.

What did St. Thomas Aquinas teach? It is the Christian story. He reconciled the conflicts in the universe such as the opposing nature of faith and reason. For him, there is a harmony between faith and reason instead of one contending against the other. Faith and reason have a common cause in the acquisition and flourishing of knowledge. St. Thomas Aquinas was intoxicated of the transcendent power of the universe touched by God. For this, he is a chosen

teacher of God to liberate mankind from ignorance and from evil. The same can be said true to Fr. Norberto Castillo, O.P. who patiently mediated the contrasts between men and among things inquired from him during his lectures. He gave his resolutions to real life problems on ethics and its dilemma basing his answers from the biblical scriptures. He emphasized goodness and grace to his students which are exemplified by acceptance, understanding and forgiveness. For instance, during the first class meeting, when he was asked what should be done to a faculty member who acts unchristian like spreading gossips about a fellow faculty member, he answered by telling the class to pray rather than retaliate which suggestion came from the Bible. In short, he is a messenger of the Word of God just like St. Thomas Aquinas whose famous advices are: “I want you to be slow in speaking and slow in going to the parlor; Do not inquire at all about the actions of others; Be polite to everyone but be familiar with none.” These are reiterated by Fr. Norberto Castillo, O.P. to his students. Likewise, St. Thomas Aquinas and Fr. Norberto Castillo, O.P. were in a deep communion and intense communication with God. Their serious thoughts and profound ways of teaching rubbed off some gift of brilliance bestowed to them to their students. They are rare bred of teachers, what we call in legal parlance as “ sui generis” for they belonged to the few selected gifted creations, obviously molded by the mighty hands of God.

Where did St. Thomas Aquinas get his inspiration and vision of the Christian story? It came from God as a grace. The meaning of grace is a conversion, a surrender to God. On the other hand, Fr. Norberto Castillo, O.P. included forgiveness as a grace because it is very hard thing to do. For him, “Grace is the result of doing good things.” He cautioned the class against pretentiousness of goodness giving example of the mafias in Italy who kill another person then go to church to seek God’s mercy and give donations to save their stained soul.

Later on, St. Thomas Aquinas was forced to enter a wasteland or a dark wood. On December 6, 1273, after celebrating a mass, he declared that he would never write or say a word again. To quote his explanation, “I can do no more. Such secrets have been revealed to me that all I have written now appears to be of little value.” And so, he failed to finish his Summa Theologica, the work that immortalized him . Of course, we do not wish Fr. Norberto Castillo, O.P. to enter the wasteland or dark wood described by the Bible as “metanoia.” At the end of the article, it was asked: Who are the heirs of St. Thomas Aquinas, the teacher? It is certain, our teacher Fr. Norberto Castillo, O.P. is his heir. And we, as their students, shall inherit knowledge, wisdom and virtues, which are to be shared to others, the ultimate purpose, if not the end.

Nowadays, the Christian story not longer appeal to our new generation because it is regarded as a trivial and banal. Sadly, our time gives us a new culture that seems to turn us away from God. We are taught not to condemn our contemporary world. The recommendation is for us to refuse the world’s excesses and negativities. In the modern times, there unfolds the contours of vast wasteland or a very dark wood before us. It is for this reason that there is a necessity for conversion, not of our hearts alone, but also of our minds. In Christian life, we are the pilgrims in a travel towards God, the absolute truth, filled with discovery and theology, which offered us no final answers because it is a work in progress rather than a finished work. Finally, St. Thomas Aquinas and Fr. Norberto Castillo, O.P. , in their modest yet herculean work as our teachers, promise in their teachings that God’s truth, both as a gift and a grace, lies in store for us. When we become true teachers like them, we, too, shall pass the same promise to our students.