– Rev José Mario O Mandía
PROCESSION OF THE WORD
Last time we have seen how Saint Thomas explains that there are two processions in God: “the procession of the Word” and “the procession of love” (S Th I q 27 a3). The first procession is an act of God’s intellect, and the second, an act of God’s will. The first procession is the procession of the Son (God’s Word) from the Father, and the second is the procession of the Holy Spirit (God’s Love) from the Father and the Son.
How does the Son proceed from the Father by an intellectual operation?
In order to understand the procession of the Son from the Father, it is important to understand how we humans know. When someone explains something to us, he may ask us at the end of his explanation whether we are able to form an idea (also known as “concept” or “notion”) of what he is saying. The idea or concept is formed in our mind, and it is a likeness of the thing that is being explained to us (see Bite-Size Philosophy 7). Saint Thomas also calls the idea “verbum mentis” (“a word in our mind”). In fact, “word” has three meanings in Saint Thomas (see S Th, 1, q34, a1). To avoid confusion, we will use the term “mental word” to refer to the idea.
Just as we can know things around us, we also get to know ourselves – we start forming an idea of ourselves. That idea in our mind is, hopefully, a likeness of our real self. It is further enriched with time through our own experience and through feedback from others.
Now, God also understands Himself; He has an Idea of Himself. Unlike us, who have only an imperfect idea of ourselves, God is able to understand Himself fully. The Idea or Concept that results from this is what we call the “Word.” The Word is as perfect as the Father is. He is as real, as true, as good, as beautiful, and as eternal as the Father is. The Word is God.
This is why Saint John, in the first chapter of his Gospel, tells us: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father (John 1:1-3, 14).
PROCESSION OF LOVE
How about the second procession, the procession of love? How does the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father and the Son?
Aside from our intellect, we also have a will. Once we perceive something as good, we are attracted to it, we start to love it. In the case of God, we have seen above that the Son is the perfect reflection of the Father. The Father’s infinite goodness is reflected in the Son. Love ensues. Saint Thomas quotes Saint Augustine here: “The Holy Spirit is He whereby the Begotten [Son] is loved by the one begetting [Father] and loves His Begetter [Father] (De Trinitate, vi, 5).” Aquinas then says, “from the fact that the Father and the Son mutually love one another, it necessarily follows that this mutual Love, the Holy Spirit, proceeds from both” (S Th 1, q37, a1, ad 3). The Holy Spirit is the Love between the Father and the Son.
The Love between the Father and the Son is as perfect as both Father and Son. He is as real, as true, as good, as beautiful, and as eternal as the Father and the Son. The Love between Father and Son is God.
It is through the Word that God knows His creatures. It is through the Holy Spirit that He loves them (cf S Th 1, q37, a2, ad3).
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