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233 SERMON 16 INVENI DAVID Sermon on the Feast of St. Nicholas, the Sixth of December Psalm 89.21-22: I have found David, my servant. I have anointed him with my sacred oil; my hand will help him and my arm will make him firm. Part 1: Prothema HE MIRACLES of God cannot be scrutinized by man, as we read in Jb 37.5: “Who works great wonders and things that cannot be scrutinized.” Some of the miracles God performs in his saints. Augustine teaches this, saying that justifying man is more than creating,1 because creation passes whereas justification remains [cf. Mt 24.35]. Thus “God is wondrous in his saints” [Ps 68.36]. We cannot scrutinize these wonders of God in his saints, unless he who is the scrutinizer of hearts and reins [cf. Ps 7.10] teaches us.2 Therefore, let us take refuge with him in prayer and ask him at the beginning that he may give me something to say, et cetera. Part 2: Sermo “I have found David, my servant,” et cetera. From these words we can learn four praiseworthy things of this holy bishop: (1) first, his wondrous election; (2) second, his unique consecration ; (3) third, the effective execution of his task; (4) fourth, his 1. ST I–II 113,9; III 43,4,2. It is even more than creating another world: I 25,3,3. 2. Because it is through grace; cf. ST III 2,10. 234 THOMAS AQUINAS immovable and firm stability. His wondrous election is shown in the words: “I have found David, my servant.” His special consecration is shown where it says: “I have anointed him with my sacred oil.” The effective execution of his task is shown in the words: “My hand will help him.” His stable firmness is shown where it says: “and my arm will make him firm.” E (1) So let us take a look at what he says: “I have found David, my servant.” Here we can consider four things concerning the meaning of “finding”: it implies (1.1) rarity, (1.2) inquiry, (1.3) appearance, and (1.4) experimental proof. (1.1) First, I say that finding implies rarity, for we say of rare things that they are found; it would be ridiculous to say: “Finding people on the Petit Pont.”3 Now, what is rare is said to be found, as in the question in Prv 31.10: “A strong woman, who will find her?” As if it says: “She is difficult to find,” for a woman is by nature soft and weak.4 (1.2) Second, we speak of being found when things are sought after. Hence it is said in Prv 2.4: “If you seek her as if she were money, you will find her,” namely, divine knowledge. And the Gospel speaks of a woman who seeks a lost drachma, “until she finds it” [Lk 15.8–9]. (1.3) Third, finding implies that it appears clearly to you. 3. The Parvus Pons was one of the two bridges over the Seine in 13th-century Paris; it connected the banks with the Ile de la Cité (on which Notre Dame is situated ), the very center of the city and thus very busy. This example is a clear sign that this sermon was delivered in Paris. It might have been on a Sunday or—since St. Nicholas was a very popular saint—on a weekday, probably when Thomas was Regent Master. Also the exact location is uncertain; Kwasniewski (29, note 40) suggests it might have been delivered to the Franciscans, in view of the reference to the stigmata of St. Francis (in 2.4). 4. Thomas shows himself a child of his time when he bluntly speaks of women as the weaker and softer sex. His view originates from the Genesis story—the woman is the one seduced by the serpent (ST I 94,4,1; I–II 89,3,2)—as well as Aristotle’s ideas (e.g., in ST II–II 156,1,1). This view was confirmed by his experience , namely, the reality in the society of his time that women did not have responsible positions and were treated as second-class citizens; cf. ST I 98,2sc; I–II 105,3,1. Thomas, however, also says, not quite in tune with the reality in the society, that in Christ women should not be treated as secondary people: ST III 72,10,3, in the...

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