Prima Secundae
284. Grace and Merit II: Charity and Merit, and Whether the First Grace Can Be Merited for Oneself or Others (q.114 a.4–6)
Class of 2016-04-28
https://berquistcourse.com/course/theology/11-prima-secundae/284-grace-and-merit-ii-charity-and-merit-and-whether-the-first/

[0:00] More of the apostle says the second objection here now. First Corinthians chapter three, verse eight. Each one receives his own reward according to his own what labor.

[0:17] That's guy who said I can labor fascinates me. I can watch other people laboring all day long. I can watch other people laboring all. He says labor fascinates me. I can watch other people laboring all day long. The big ideas. Laborology. Yeah. Okay. So the more the labor, huh? You know, you're sort of getting more reward. But charity more diminishes labor than increases it, huh? So if you love somebody, you love to do things for them, right?

[0:51] Huh? Okay. Because, as Augustine says in the book on the words of the Lord, all things that are what savage and what immania, what is that? What? Hard and repulsive. Yeah. Are easy and near, and nothing, as it were, for what? Love makes. Yeah. Nothing. Yeah. No problem. Okay. Therefore, charity is not the chief what beginning of meriting than some other virtues, because it makes things easy.

[1:28] What's your reward? It's all easy. Yeah. Now they're describing Mother Teresa, you know, and how the how their liturgy in the morning, there, you know, their mass and their communion, so on, was really the thing that made them go out and deal with with love, take care of all these miserable creatures there in the streets of Calcutta. Yeah. Interesting.

[1:58] I tonight I got a you know it was the the what's a great journal the pro life is there the human life yeah review of what it is but they had a beautiful picture there of Mother Teresa with Henry Hyde you know the you know you know looking at at the journal you know they won't survive you know it's kind of a nice picture for them to use in their magazine but

[2:27] okay to second it should be said that a work can be laborious and difficult in two ways. Do you think this man always? Yeah. See. Now does Shakespeare talk about distinction in the definition of reason?

[2:48] Yeah. You got to look before and after in the definition to understand the definition, right? And you see that before before and after is a what? Distinction. Yeah. See. So you have to look. You have to see a distinction before you can see an order, because nothing is before or after itself. And that's an axiom, right? That's a statement known to itself. Nothing is before itself, right?

[3:18] Today can be before tomorrow, but it can't be before today, can it? I don't think. Can be after yesterday, but can it be after itself? Today. Today is after yesterday, isn't it? But it's before tomorrow. But is it after itself or before itself? Can't be.

[3:39] Mozart is better than Mozart's music is better than than say Haydn or something like that. But can Mozart's music be better than Mozart's music? Well, one piece can be better than another, right? You know. The thing he wrote for the piano and the woodwinds and I don't know something around from four fifty and he's talking to his father in the letters and he, I think it's the best thing I've ever written.

[4:06] He says, so one piece can be better than you know another, but can one piece be better than itself? One performance can be better than another, right?

[4:26] I was trying to make the point my teacher Kasurik, you know, and I said, you know, like it's much difference between so and so's performance and so and so's performance is used between De Koninck and and Maritain Thomas. Oh no, okay, that fight

[4:50] So they they they sent Monsignor Dionne in his young student days over to study under Maritain, right? And then he realized how superficial he was, right? His understanding of the text, right? And then, Mister Very Tang, you know, exclude him until you're from the inner circle. So it's kind of funny the whole story, but.

[5:14] So some work can be laborious and difficult in two ways. In one way, from the magnitude of the what work, and thus the magnitude of the labor pertains to the growth of merit, huh? And thus charity does not diminish what labor, right, huh? Rather, makes one what a greedy, huh? One attack great works, right, huh? It does great things if it is, if it exists, right? As Gregory says in the Summa, Contra Gentiles quote that text a lot, right, huh?

[5:50] And it's beautiful in Thomas at the beginning of the Summa Contra Gentiles, you know, talks about what a great thing it is, and then he's going to attempt it, you know. Even though it's beyond my powers, he says. But you know. But in another way, something can be difficult from the defect of the one what? Yeah. Insofar as each thing is laborious and difficult, that is not it does not do with a prompt what will.

[6:18] Oh no, I don't want to do that. Yeah. And such labor diminishes merit, and is taken away by what charity, right? Okay, that's a good Thomas song.

[6:40] So that Dominican right there, I told you the guy who studied with Dominicans. His teacher said, you know, never affirm, seldom deny, always distinguish. Is that true?

[6:55] Or would you say that you should affirm or deny after you have distinguished in many cases? You know. You know, it's not that you shouldn't eventually affirm or deny, but you have to distinguish maybe first before you affirm or deny. So in these texts here, maybe just the two that we just read, you know, there's a distinction, and then you affirm one thing and maybe deny something else, right, huh?

[7:18] They say in some ways this is not worthy of eternal life, you're saying last article, right? And in this way, it's a seed of that, right? And it's a seed that's equal to in virtute, right, but not in act. Yeah, because if you don't see the distinction. Yeah. You're going to either affirm or deny one of the other claims, but when you see the distinction, you see that maybe something needs to be affirmed and something else.

[7:46] can be denied. Now somebody asked me, you know, does the does the logician direct all the sciences, or does the wise man? Well, I think I better distinguish, right? Because in some way, the the logician directs all the sciences, right? But in another and higher way, the wise man directs all the sciences, huh?

[8:14] You know, Aristotle at the beginning of the Nicomachean Ethics, that thing arises because he talks about what happiness is, right? Huh? I mean, happiness is the end of life, right, and so on. And then, to what sciences it belongs? See, what belongs to science that directs all the other ones, right, or directs us in our life? And that seems to be the political knowledge, right? And so the the the government essentially directs the city, right?

[8:42] And therefore, the knowledge of happiness is kind of the what elements of political philosophy, right? Shows how far politicians are from from having even the knowledge they should have, right? Huh?

[9:03] But then you got to make some some distinctions, right? Because does the political philosopher or the political statesman direct the wise man? No, no. But there's a way in which he directs the the city, right, to the common good, right? Huh? And it belongs really to the the government to decide whether we should go to war, right? And that says, you know, great decision, a very important decision, right, to go to war or not, right?

[9:30] But you have to see the distinction, right, between the way the wise man would direct us, right, and the way that the the man with political knowledge would direct, right?

[9:47] What's that famous king of England? There, what's his name? Canute. No, no. Alfred, huh? Alfred, he's great. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. He's making sure that text of Boethius is getting known, you know, and so on. He's quite a man, but.

[10:10] Okay. Now down to the third act. I mean, the third objection. In Article what? Four here. Okay. Moreover, that virtue would seem chiefly to be the beginning of what, or the source of meriting, whose act is most meritorious. But that would seem to be most meritorious the act of faith and patience, or or what fortitudo.

[10:44] As is clear in the martyrs, right? Huh? So we saved their bones and we put them in the church, right? Huh? Doesn't doesn't church have a you know you know relics in the altar? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's why they kind of kiss the altar and so on. Okay. That makes sense, right? Just as is clear in the martyrs who fought right for the faith patiently and strongly fortitude usque ad mortem huh to the point of death, and Christ died on the cross too, right?

[11:20] Therefore, other virtues, therefore other virtues are more principally the merit or the source of meriting than charity, right? To third, it should be said. Now, martyr means what witness, right? That's why he talks about what faith, right? To third, it should be said that the act of faith is not meritorious except the faith that acts through what love, what they call formed faith, right? huh? Well, this has come up in the treatise on faith in the secunda secundae right?

[11:55] Okay, but you've heard this before. Likewise, the act of patience and fortitude is not meritorious unless someone acts from what charity. And sure enough, he's got the. root. I was thinking he was going to use that one. I knew he was going to use that one. I heard it too, you know. But he just hits the nail on the head, doesn't he? According to that of one Corinthians, if I hand over my body, that it might be what burnt, huh?

[12:22] But I do not have charity; it profits me nothing, right? And goes through a whole bunch of things that profit you nothing, right? Without without charity, yeah. Okay, so magnificent. He just he beat you to the punch on that one by almost eight hundred years. Yeah.

[12:50] Thomas must had a good memory, though, you know. For these texts, but against this is what the Lord says in John chapter fourteen, verse twenty-one. It's pretty pretty important work, this John. Now this must be the what Gospel John, huh? If someone loves me, you will be loved by my Father, and I will what love him, and then I will make manifest myself to him.

[13:30] Now my teacher, I mean Kusurik, you know, would say the manifest comes from the hand, manus. So I I'm stealing the money, right? I'm caught by hand in the thing. I'm a manifest what thief? I don't. That's a proper interpretation of the word or not? That's what he explained it. The word manifest.

[14:00] Kind of interesting. Sometimes guys are very concrete. The Aristotle when he's talking about the difference between mathematics and natural philosophy, and he talks about the difference in the way that they define right, and the difference between the curved line and the nose, right? The stub nose, apparently Socrates had, right? Huh? But it's right, right there, you know. He's lecturing, you know.

[14:25] So sometimes myself when I talk about this, this point about the name is sometimes kept by one of the things which it is said, and a new name is given the other one. Like you know, we speak of five fingers, you know, and then yeah, four fingers and a thumb, right? You know, that's right, right in your face, you know. And

[14:48] that's good though. You know, Thomas is. Thomas is so concrete that way, you know, and he's explaining the the sacraments. Of course, I studied the dynamis and so on I know about the plant soul, right? Huh? And the plant has the fundamental kind of life, right? But when Aristotle takes up the powers of the plant soul, right? You have the power of what nourishing itself, right? The power of growing, and the power of what reproducing itself, right?

[15:25] Huh? And so he compares, you know, these three sacraments: the baptism, right, and the Eucharist and confirmation to those three things, right? That's that's very what concrete, isn't it? Huh? You know, but it's because these things are what

[15:47] there's a likeness there of the sensible thing to the thing it's doing, right? Huh? You see, so like is the Eucharist, huh? Okay, you're receiving, you're you're consuming the bread, right? Huh? Drinking the wine, right? You're drinking the blood, but it's it's your what? Yeah, and but in a different way than the than the body is nourished, right? Huh? You're not primarily nourishing your body there by drinking wine and eating the bread, right?

[16:18] But it's in the likeness of that, right? Huh? You know, bodily eating, right? But there's going on, but spiritual eating, right? Huh? It's very concrete, huh? You know, I was kind of struck, you know, you know how in the Gospel of John, you know, the Gospel of John is divided into what two or three parts? Yeah, he divides the first chapter against the what rest of the chapters, right?

[16:50] And the first chapter shows the divinity of Christ and his incarnation, right? Huh? And then how these things in the other chapters are manifest in his living, and then in his dying and and resurrecting, right? So you divide that rest of that into two parts, right? Huh? And then he gets into the first part there, and he talks about, you know, he shows his power over the elements, right?

[17:14] The natural elements in chapter two, the the bread and wine. I mean, the yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I suddenly use that as an example, you know, that in some way he's preparing the way though, for the Eucharist, right? Because you see that he has the power to change water into wine, but you know it's wine because it keeps it doesn't keep the taste of water, but which would just kind of destroy the purpose, right, of changing water into wine under the circumstances, you know, the couple running out of wine for this, you know, kind of keep thing, and

[17:49] but then he goes into what the spiritual regeneration, right? And it was the third and fourth chapters, right? He talks about in the third chapter you have Nicodemus coming to see him, and he's kind of telling the Pharisee, right? He's a Pharisee, I guess. Nicodemus, I guess he's on the nobility there. And and then you have in four you have the woman at the well. So this is the sacrament, the talking about it for the Gentiles too, right?

[18:19] The non-Jews-Jews. And and then he says, you know, we have three things, right? From your birth, what do you get from your parents? So you get what? What?

[18:35] Well, he says three things, right? Yeah, you get your your life, right? Huh? And you get your what? Food, right? And you get some instruction from your parents, right? Okay, I've seen that talked about a lot, you know, when you're talking in the context of the family, right? What do you get from your parents? So you get your generation, your life, right? And you get, you know, get get fed by your parents, right?

[19:00] And you couldn't survive that, and you get some education about what's right, what's wrong, and and so on, some advice, and so. And so he says the same thing there, right? And then then he divides the chapters in that way, right? So in five is talking about what the life, and six is talking about the nourishment. That's the famous chapter on the Eucharist, and then seven down to what eleven is about the the teaching of Christ, right?

[19:33] You get later on to the the origin of the teaching in seven, and then eight and nine is the enlightening, and then and then the life giving in in eight and nine. But you have it by word and by a miracle, right? In word and miracle, right? For each of them, right? So you have you know Lazarus for life giving, and then the blind man being healed for the miracle.

[19:54] Absolutely beautiful, right? But I was I was just struck by the fact that the way he compares that to the what what you get from your natural father, right? Huh? You know, he generated you, gave you the life, right? He Says to my mother one day, and I said, "Well, I wouldn't even be without you." She said, "That's good."

[20:13] Yeah, I wouldn't even be, you know. And you know, but but I was fed by my mother all these years. You know, I would have died if I hadn't been fed by them, right? And I got a lot of good advice and discipline. yeah, yeah, yeah, discipline, so on, yeah, yeah. Like it's so so so nice and concrete, huh?

[20:34] Okay. Okay. So now we're up to what the body of the article. Okay. So, but actually it's about manifesting himself. But in the manifest knowledge of God consists eternal life, according to that of John 17 verse three. This is eternal life that might know you, the only God, and Jesus Christ who was sent, and so on. Therefore, the merit of eternal life maxime results from according to charity, right?

[21:33] Okay. I answer not till Thomas says to unfold the matter more, right? So it's a favorite phrase of De Koninck Unfold yourself. Unfold yourself.

[21:50] Something nice, oral exam, you know. Unfold yourself. You unfold your your thought. I think that goes back in Shakespeare too. I think you can find that phrase.

[22:01] I answer. It should be said that is can be taken from the thing said. A human act has the what character of meriting from two things. Now, what are these two things? First and chiefly, right?

[22:19] From the divine what ordering. According as an act is said to be meritorious of that good to which man is divinely what ordered, huh? So an act cannot be meritorious unless it's one ordered by God to this end that He has in mind for us, huh?

[22:46] And secondly, on the part of what free judgment, huh? And Thomas sometimes he talks about the liberum arbitrium there or liberum arbitrium He says involves both the will, the will and the reason, right? Because arbitrary our judgment is the act of reason, and liber is what goes for the will, yeah. But seems kind of a little strange to translate. Sometimes I was saying free will, but kind of interesting.

[23:20] In so far as what man has above other creatures, right, or apart from other creatures, that he acts through himself, right, voluntarily acting, huh? The free is what is a cause of itself, as Aristotle says with metaphysics.

[23:41] And as regards both, huh? Both what God has ordered to what this reward, right? As regards our will, the chiefness, right, the principality. Of merit consists, according to, yeah.

[24:04] First, it should be considered that eternal life consists in the enjoyment of what God. God, but the emotion of the human mind to the enjoyment of the divine good is the proper act of charity. Now, did you know that?

[24:25] Through which all the acts of the other virtues are ordered to the same end, because it regards the end. The end is the object of the will, right? First thing. left. According as the other virtues are commanded by what charity, we saw it before earlier in the discussion of the virtues, right? But he's recalling that.

[24:47] And therefore, the merit of eternal life first pertains to what charity, but to the other virtues. what? Secondarily, according as their acts are commanded by charity.

[25:12] So, are diamonds a girl's best friend? Is generosity why he deserves her? No, it's because he really loves her, right? Huh? You know, that's a principal thing, right? Huh? Generosity, though, is like do it, but it's not the principal thing, right? And it's not the result of charity or love, right? You know, but you can see the idea that love is there. The philosopher is named from what?

[25:45] Yeah. Why is he named from the love of wisdom? Why is he named that? Yeah. Yeah. That's that's his end, his wisdom, right? Huh? Now, one of my great teachers was Albert the Great, you know, but a written word, but never came down and spoke to me. But

[26:16] my old teacher there, Dick Kasurik there, he had translated the uh, Thomas's commentary in the first two books of the Physics, right? Huh? In the little treatise of Thomas on those things too. But he had a nice quote from from Albert the Great, right? In the beginning of the book, right? It's a little one from one of his commentaries in Aristotle. He says,

[26:44] "Anybody who studies the lower sciences, but not for the sake of the highest science, right? Huh? Has a perverted attitude towards knowledge. It's a beautiful thing, you know. And I wish I still had it because one of my students ran out of that book of mine. But anyway, but anyway, I find the text is. But it's a beautiful thing. It always struck me, you know. I mean, and Kasurik had, had selected that.

[27:09] You know, it's kind of a little preface to the the thing, right? Huh? But you study the philosophy of nature, so you can eventually study wisdom, right? Huh? At first, philosophy, right? And if you're a Christian, else you can eventually study theology, right? I said, well, it's really kind of you know, to be a Catholic philosopher and not be ordering your philosophy to theology is is uh, perverted.

[27:37] But uh, uh, it's just nowadays, I mean, saying aside theology. I mean, how rare it'd be to find so-called philosophers talking about wisdom anymore, right? You know, that they're aiming at wisdom. But that's when they get their name, right? The love of wisdom, right? Because that's that's the end, right? So if you're not ordering it to that, then there's something seriously wrong. That would be a better word for many of the contemporary philosophy departments who no longer have professors who love wisdom, who seek wisdom.

[28:10] Yeah. Yeah. What were you calling it? Love of what? Love of wisdom. Ah. It could be an serpent. Yeah. Yeah. It's hard to name. It's hard to name them because there's nothing there. I say

[28:31] to name. Yeah. Because just seems that philosophy is is no longer applicable. Yeah. To certain sectors in academia. I've seen some of the correspondence between uh, De Koninck and Mortimer Adler, you know, and Mortimer Adler eventually, you know, I think. Yeah, at the end, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[29:00] Was that published, or you saw this was private? I'm private, kind of. Yeah, I mean, there's there's ex there's there's some, you know, collections there, Notre Dame, places like that. I forget who sent it to me. I'm interested to read these things. but there'd be moaning, of course, the present state of philosophy in these things.

[29:22] Okay. First, therefore, it, should be considered that eternal life consists in the enjoyment of God. But the motion of the human mind to the enjoyment of the divine good is the proper act of charity, to which all the acts of the other virtues are ordered in this end, according as the other virtues are commanded by charity, and therefore the merit of eternal life first pertains to charity, but to the other virtues secondarily, right?

[29:56] According as their acts are commanded by what? Charity, huh? Somebody's making that personal. You know, does a mother's praise consist in the fact that she clothes and feeds her children?

[30:21] Yeah, but that she she she feeds and clothes them because she she loves them, right? Now, you know, it's a love that is principled there, right? huh?

[30:33] Likewise, it is manifest that that which we what, from love, maxime voluntarie facimus, because that's necessary. too, second thing. Whence, according as what, for the notion of merit is required, that it be something voluntary.

[30:55] Chiefly, merit should be attributed to charity. I mean, President Kennedy said something about his his surviving there in the boat. You know, well, didn't have any choice. He said, you know, I mean, he was a hero. He didn't have any choice.

[31:16] Yeah, yeah, that's kind of funny. Okay, well, that's very good, Thomas. It's ridiculous. Break now, huh? Okay, we're up to article 5, is it? Okay, whether man is able to merit the first grace, huh?

[31:40] To the first, therefore, it should be, to the first one goes forward thus. It seems that man is able to merit the first grace. So I guess he's going to take the other side, huh? Contrary why, con- contrarious person. Yeah. Because, as Augustine says, faith merits justification. But a man is justified through the first grace, therefore man is able to merit the first grace, huh?

[32:13] Now, this is serious. To The first therefore it should be said, as Augustine says in the book on retractions. He retracted that one. He himself for some time was deceived in this, right, huh? Mm. In that he believed the beginning of faith to be from us. From us, yeah. Have you read Augustine's retractions? I haven't seen. I've looked at, I've looked at one when I was reading one of his works, and I saw there was a footnote to the retractions.

[32:40] I saw Yeah. qualifies something, but this one actually took it back. Yeah. That he believed the beginning of faith to be from us, right, huh? But the consummation to be given to us from God, huh? Which he himself, ibidem, meaning there, I guess, huh? He retracts, huh? Because all the other guys are going around making errors, they never retract anything, right?

[33:07] And to, in this sense, seems to retain that faith, what, merits, what, justification. But if we suppose that, as the truth of faith has it, that the beginning of faith, right, is in us from God, right, huh? Then, uh, already the act of faith follows the first, what, grace, and thus it is not able to be meritorious of the first grace.

[33:45] But by faith, therefore, man is what? Justified, not as were that man by believing merits his justification, but because when he is what? Justified, he believes, in that the motion of faith is required for the justification of the impious. So the quote in the objection from Augustine, is that before? It's, uh, let's see. Epistle 186, yeah. Yeah. This is, yeah. Okay.

[34:23] They have a text here from the, from Trent, huh? Gratis justificari idcirco dicimur, because none of those things which precede justification, whether faith or works, merits the grace of justification, right? That's kind of a authority, huh? Okay.

[34:46] I don't know if you have that in the text, but it's in the footnote here, yeah, yeah. Yeah. This often this edition, the Leon has references to Denzinger all throughout. Yeah, yeah. This one doesn't have that. I haven't read through Denzinger for a while, but I should do it again. That's where you kind of know what, you know, what, but just sticks in your mind what the decision is.

[35:09] Yeah. Okay, Morver, the second objection. God does not give grace except to those worthy of it, huh? But one is not said to be worthy of some gift unless he merits it ex condigno, right? Therefore, someone ex condigno can merit the first grace.

[35:35] To the second, huh? It should be said that God does not give grace except to the what? Yeah. Not that they are before worthy, right? But because he, through grace, makes them worthy. That would probably annoy some people, I'm sure.

[35:57] Because he alone can make clean from the unclean, the one conceived in what, the seed, I guess. Yeah. Okay. Original sin. Job 14: 4. That's part of a prayer that a priest says before Mass on Tuesday. Okay.

[36:21] Yeah, this comes from Job, the book of Job 14: 4, yeah. Yeah. Are you supposed to pray then, oh God, make me worthy of receiving your grace. Talking about worthy to approach the altar. Yeah, but then Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

[36:48] What's the song that used to be said at the foot of the altar there in the, when I was an altar boy in the old days? 41. Yeah. Moreover, Moreover, among men or among men, someone is able to what? Merit a gift already accepted, just as the one who receives a horse from what? Lord. Merits it by using it well in the service of his Lord, huh?

[37:17] So you give me a book of Thomason or Summa Contra Gentiles, and I really read it, then I merit that book, right? Intellectual horsepower.

[37:32] But God is more liberal than man. Of course. Therefore, much more does the man merit the first grace now received, right, from God to his subsequent works, huh? Mm. Yeah. Huh? Yeah, well, Thomas would destroy that, I'm sure. To the third, it should be said that every good work of man proceeds from the first grace as from a, what, beginning, huh? It does not, however, proceed from any human gift, and therefore it is not, what, same reason about the gift of grace and about the, what?

[38:17] Human gift, huh? Against this is that the ratio of grace is repugnant to the, what? Merit of works. According to that of Romans 4. To the one who works, reward is not imputed according to grace, but according to what? Debt. But that a man merits that is imputed, as it were, as the reward of his work. And therefore, the first grace a man is not able to what?

[39:00] Merit. Merit, eh? Yeah, that's interesting. It's not gratis. It's not gratis, eh? Yeah. Yeah. That kind of under- under- undermines the process of rejection of merit. That's what we're saying. Mhm. That we, if we get it as a reward, Yeah. we've earned it in some way. Yeah. At least you could say that.

[39:26] I mean, the whole, this whole thing here is about to be reward, yeah? I mean, about meriting. And it should be said that the gift of grace can be considered in two ways.

[39:38] This man, he's always distinguishing. In one way, according to the definition of a gratuitous gift. This is manifest that every merit is repugnant to what? Grace. Grace, huh? Because then it's not gratis, right? Because, as is said in Romans 11: 6, the apostle says, huh? If from works, already not from grace. That's si ex operibus jam non ex gratia. There you go. Yeah. Did did Saint Paul have a sense of sense of anger?

[40:23] Oh, I suspect. He got in fights everywhere he went. Does he had- does he give us the sword, you know, the the... Wherever he went, he got kicked out of town. But th- was it just a couple days ago, wasn't it, the the the reading from, uh, the the Acts of the Apostles was where he's left like dead almost from the beating that he got, and then they got caught up with his friends came to him.

[40:47] I was And uh... After his conversion, I was like, there's a couple of places right in the Acts shortly after his conversion where he shows up, and everybody says, we took him and took him out of town and got him to go someplace else because he was always causing trouble wherever he went. He's like a lightning rod. After being beaten and left for dead, then the next day he's back to preaching.

[41:10] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Grace and prostitution. I like that church of his in Rome, don't you? That's a nice one. The, uh, Yeah. Out in Seattle, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[41:25] I guess his body's there too, that's, I think, you know, that... But his head's supposed to be over St. John Lateran's Peter and Paul's heads are supposed to be up on the top of the altar There's two little effigies on them That's what they say In another way, it can be considered according to the nature of the thing which is what given, And thus also it's not possible to fall under merit of one not having grace,

[41:56] both because it exceeds the proportion of nature, right? Then also because before grace, in the state of sin, right, man has an impediment of meriting grace, which is sin itself. These things he pointed out before; those same two things, right?

[42:20] Now, after one already has grace, he cannot what the grace already had cannot what fall under merit, because then the cause would be what after the effect, right? Okay, because reward is the what end of the work, but grace is the beginning. Thomas is looking before and after, good man. But grace is the beginning of every good work in us, as has been said above. But if someone merited the gratuitous gift by virtue of a preceding grace, it would already not be the what first grace.

[43:09] Whence it is manifest that no one is able to merit for himself the first what grace. I suspected he'd say that. Yeah, that's getting me Pelagius. Okay, me. I suppose Pelagius said that though, right? That you could. Okay. Okay, look at this. It almost seems like the same title here, Article Six. Whether man can merit for another the first grace?

[43:56] To six, then one goes forward. Thus, it seems that man is able to merit for another the first grace. Apparently he's going to take the other side.

[44:15] You know, somebody that's innocent will come by it and say, "He always takes the opposite of what the question is." That's the person that has you know. He's always he's always disagreeing with people, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[44:39] Because Matthew chapter nine verse two, upon that, Christ, what seeing the faith, yeah. So the gloss says quantum valet huh? What? One's own faith. Before God, right? Yeah. Strong enough, I guess you're saying. So

[45:02] before another, right? Enough enough power to inward and outwardly heal man, but the interior healing of man is through the first grace. Therefore, a man is able to merit for another the first grace. Does it say where that comes from? The gloss, the ordinary, yeah, ordinary. You were hearing gloss. This gloss of ordinary, but a tiny little word. Oh, the gloss of ordinary. Yeah. Oh, they're

[45:37] different glosses. Yeah, that's one. of them. It's a Ming Ming ML ML 114, 115. Yeah. Um, I may have one of them on here, but I forget. But if it's in Ming. we can look it up. To the first, therefore, it should be said that the faith of others is valuable for others for salvation, right? By the merit of being what congrui huh? Fitting, non merito condigni.

[46:12] So what did Monica? Tears of Monica. I was going to say they weren't they weren't equal, but they were fitting. It's fitting that such tears should be rewarded. Yeah, yeah. There's doubt

[46:32] at the at the forty lights for these lights. There, the the you know. Demonstration there against Planned Parenthood, right? I was there down there, and

[46:49] the one woman who was speaking there, I guess she she does a lot of counseling and so on. But she's talking about she's down there one day, and

[46:58] this man came along, right? Like on a motorcycle, he stopped and he said, and she was, you know, praying. He said, "Can I pray with you?" She said, "Yes." And so they started saying the mercy chaplet and so on, and he didn't really do anything. But he said, "Can you?" She said, "Can you read this?" Oh yeah. So he belted out, you know, the thing is so loud.

[47:26] Well, finally, woman comes out of the the later on comes out of the the abortion clinic, and apparently she's already on the table, and she could hear this guy's voice praying for her. And she turned around, she she she laughed and came out. Just like, like she she she's apparently quite a regular, you know, person there, you know, to try to get things, and you know, it's really some very very striking stories, you know.

[47:54] I mean, why didn't they close the windows, you know, to shut out this guy. I mean, this had a powerful voice. I mean, to be able to do that, you know. Yeah. Oh, that's great. That's great. He was drawn to do that too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's history. There's a lady that does the prayer for. She sent me an email today about a sidewalk story about Sunday worship.

[48:16] Yeah. Somebody drove in. A couple drove in, and when they drove in, they got out of their car and went and pulled out, and she said, "Please don't go in there." Really? And they both looked at it and they went in, and then just a few minutes later, they both came out and they smiled and they waved. We decided to keep our baby. Yeah. Yeah. Thank God.

[48:34] You know, those who claim to be promoting choice definitely don't want to promote informed choice. Yeah, that's a laugh that they call choice. You know, pro-choice is not uninformed. Don't even know what choice is. Okay. No

[48:59] second. Okay. Moreover, the prayers of the just are not empty, huh, or in vain, but efficacious, huh? According to that of James, huh? Multum valet deprecatio justi assidua. Much does the continual prayer of the just avail. But there it is. What? it's foresaid, Pray for each other that you might be saved, huh? Since, therefore, the salvation of man cannot be except through grace, it seems that one man is able to merit for another the first grace.

[49:45] The second, it should be said that the the asking, I guess, impetratio. How do they translate that? Of prayer is based on what mercy? Huh? For the merit of but the merit of condigni, huh, of worth, rests on justice. And therefore, many things by praying a man asks for from divine mercy, which nevertheless does not merit according to justice, according to that of Daniel nine eighteen. Neither in our justifications do we what.

[50:20] prostrate our prayers before your face, but in your many mercies, huh? You know what this this quote is also in the prayer before mass. The priest can say on a different day of the week. That's very good. Very good. Very good.

[50:39] So these are the prayers of Monica among others. Okay. Moreover, Luke sixteen, make for yourselves friends in the mammon of iniquity, so that when it fails, huh, they receive you in eternal tabernacles. And the great bishop's motto. Yeah. Make your. Make friends with the mammon of iniquity.

[51:10] It's the words of our Lord himself. I tell you, it was Monday when we counted the money, right? So the the the went down there, all all of us there to count the money on Monday. It wasn't there to be counted. And so we looked trying to touch the the assistant there who was the pastor had been over in the Holy Land, right? And so he was coming back.

[51:37] Well, the assistant had gone down to Boston to pick him up. Thing and forgot about the oh, the money. Yeah, I was saying we should go on strike. I said we'll we'll learn them, you know. But but so Father's apologizing, you know, for forgetting. But the but there's certain places they they leave it for us, you know, and and we're checking out every place, you know, and and and is it any trying to get somebody to well, if that's what you're counting is the mammon of iniquity, yeah, then the place where you count it should be called the den of iniquity.

[52:18] But no one receives is received in the eternal tabernacles, right? The eternal tense is that, except through grace, huh? To which someone alone merits, to which alone a man merits eternal life. Therefore, one man can acquire it for another by meriting the first grace.

[52:41] He says that the poor, right, receiving alms, yeah, are said to receive others in the eternal tents, either by what asking for them forgiveness, by praying, or by meriting through other what good things, congruo. For also materially speaking, because through the works of mercy which one exercises towards the poor, he merits to be received in eternal things. So many ways of answering that, I guess. Okay. Against this is what is said in Jeremiah 15: If Moses and what Samuel stand before me, there will not be what.

[53:30] So, it's not against his people, I guess. Is that what it means? Moses and Samuel shall stand before me, and my soul is not towards his people, not towards his people. Who nevertheless were of the greatest merit before God. Therefore, it seems that no one is able to merit for another the first grace. That's kind of obscure there.

[53:55] Well, God is saying this, I guess, right? If Moses and Samuel stand before me praying, right? Nevertheless, my soul will not be so. They can't. come. Yeah, they're not gonna. Yeah, okay, that that makes sense. I thought it was fairly asking

[54:15] Okay. Okay. Now let's see what this man says. The master says here. I answer: It should be said that from the foregoing it is clear that our work has the notion of what merit from two things. First, from the strength of the divine motion, right, and thus one merits something ex condigno. Another way, it has the ratio of merit, according as it proceeds from free judgment, in so far as we voluntarily do something.

[54:47] And in this way, it has the merit of what being fitting. Because it is fitting that when a man uses will his his power, that God operates according to the super excellent power, more excellently. That's really excellently excellently in there.

[55:10] From which it is clear that by the merit of what worth, no one can merit for another the first grace except Christ alone. That's interesting, huh? Because each one of us is moved, right,

[55:28] through the gift of grace, that he might arrive at what eternal life. And therefore, the merit of worth cannot extend beyond this what motion. But the soul of Christ is moved by God by grace, not only that he himself, right, might arrive at the glory of eternal life, but also that he might what bring others to it. In so far as he is the head of the church.

[56:01] And the author of human salvation, according to that of the Epistle to Hebrews chapter two, who brought many sons into what glory, the author of salvation, etc.

[56:19] But by the merit of being fitting, one can merit for another the first grace, huh? That's kind of a qualified merit. Because a man in grace, constant grace, fulfills the will of God. It is fitting, according to the proportion of friendship, huh?

[56:45] That God fulfills the will of that man in the salvation of another. So pray for your children, right? If you have any, okay. Yeah. Pray for your enemies Although sometimes it there can be had an impediment on the part of the one who what someone desires.

[57:08] Yeah. Some say just yeah desires justification, and in this case speaks the authority of Jeremiah. Ultimately, what induced the one from sed contra. Okay, gotta stop now. I guess.