Fr. Giertych’s Matriculation Remarks at New England Convocation

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“That All May Grasp and Rightly Understand”

 

By Rev. Wojciech Giertych, O.P.
Theologian of the Papal Household
Convocation 2025
Thomas Aquinas College, New England
August 23, 2025

 

On the Second Sunday of Easter, which is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday, when we hear the Gospel about Jesus’s encounter with the doubting apostle Thomas, in the Collect of the Mass, the Church prays:

God of everlasting mercy, Who, in the very recurrence of the paschal feast kindle
the faith of the people You have made your own,
increase, we pray, the grace You have bestowed,
that all may grasp and rightly understand
in what font they have been washed,
by whose Spirit they have been reborn,
by whose Blood they have been redeemed.

I draw your attention today to the phrase ut digna omnes intellegentia comprehendant — “that all may grasp and rightly understand’’ the mysteries of faith. This phrase may be the motto of today’s Matriculation Ceremony. We can, of course, immediately wonder whether this expression is correct. Can we, with our minds, comprehend and, as if with our hands, grasp the saving mysteries that are much greater than the capacity of the mind and of our fist? God is greater than what we can know of Him.

Our mind — composed of the intellect that faces reality, and drawn by it and of the reason that tries to work out the truth of that which is known, perceiving its internal logic, coherence, and significance — seems to be in an uneasy relationship with faith. We have had in our Western culture a long history of mutual distrust and rivalry between reason and faith. The Church, however, reminds us in our prayer that the two need not be in conflict.

“Both reason and faith are a gift of God, and in Him there is no contradiction, so we can fully develop and use our natural mind, and we can use the faith that we have received at baptism, which enables us to receive the saving truths.”

We distinguish between natural knowing through rational philosophical reflection and through experimental research, in which empirical methods are used, and knowing through faith, in which we receive God-given saving truths. But the fact that we distinguish between these two cognitive approaches does not mean that they have to be conflict. Both reason and faith are a gift of God, and in Him there is no contradiction, so we can fully develop and use our natural mind, and we can use the faith that we have received at baptism, which enables us to receive the saving truths. Faith and reason are like two wings that extend our spirit to the plenitude, both within their specific order.

We know because St. Paul has told us that “God chose us before the creation of the world ... and has predestined us to be His adopted children” (Eph. 1: 4-5). Before we came into existence, before the galaxies and the dinosaurs were created, each one of us, we have been personally chosen by God and invited to enter into a filial relationship with the Heavenly Father. Of course, the word “before” does not quite express this mystery, because God is above time, living in eternity. But the gist of St. Paul’s teaching is that we are encompassed by eternal divine providence. We are in God’s hands, and He is earnestly awaiting our friendly relationship with Him, which is made possible through faith and charity, with which we have been gifted. But as we are located in these loving hands of God, within which we are immersed. We have our nature, our consistency, our natural order that we may perceive and try to understand. Our reason is encompassed by God’s concern, but it is not destroyed, nor denied in its dignity. In fact, as we open up to the mystery of faith, the reason’s horizon and capacity experience an extension.

All this may seem to be simple. It may be declared and expressed in our prayer. But it is not so simple, because we are also immersed in our contemporary culture. And that culture seeps into us a profound distrust against reason, and an even greater suspicion against faith. In the 18^th century, the standard of reason was elevated against faith. In the Enlightenment, reason was treated almost as a divinity. In the French Revolution, the Cathedral of Notre Dame was renamed a temple of reason, and a woman symbolizing reason danced around the altar in contempt of faith, which was reduced to superstition.

We have long passed this stage. Now reason is no longer elevated to supreme heights. Today, despite the phenomenal developments of the empirical sciences and technology, there is a profound distrust of reason. It is held that we may search for truth, and we ought to be respected as we are doing this, but it is also said that we have no right to say that we have found the truth, because truth, once it is known, is binding, and this is exactly what contemporary culture does not want. It wants to be free from the constraints of truth, that is, in fact, of reality.

As a result, we are living in a liquid. world, where everything is fluid, reduced to the level of a fad, an opinion, a fashion, a persuasion, a hunch, a political or ideological proposal, but we are told we should not have certainty in cognition. It is true that in the empirical sciences there is a development and new discoveries confirm and correct previous perceptions. But apart from such in-depth cognition of the empirical sciences that are knowing more and more about the macro-cosmos and the micro-cosmos — and there is no end to such research — there are other more basic truths that do not require such technical expertise to be known, and our minds may know them directly. This is so because these truths are fundamental for human existence. And they are knowable.

We therefore can know philosophically, for sure, even outside the realm of faith, such realities as causes and finalities. We can rationally know about the existence of God. We can know truths about our human nature, that it is a spiritual and corporal composite. We can know that we have a sexual identity that has within it an inherent finality. We can know the spiritual nature of the human mind and the will. We can have an understanding of happiness. We can know the basic principles of morality. We can perceive our social nature and its requirements.

These are fundamental truths that are necessary for a happy and flourishing existence, and that is why God has created our minds in such a way that these most important truths are accessible to the mind, almost directly, even though the mind has to be trained to see their richness, significance, and implications. And so, as we mature intellectually, we need to grasp these fundamental truths, and we need to acquire a capacity to articulate them precisely, because they condition our lives.

If, however, we fall into relativism or, even worse, intellectual skepticism and nihilism, then we may say: “OK, you have your opinion, I have mine, but truth cannot be known.” This statement — or just such a frame of mind, which is very common — is disastrous. Instead of making a clear distinction between truth and error, contemporary culture proposes only a distinction between a vague opinion and an illusion, with no sharp ends. Cognition is then left hanging in hazy confusion, with no certitude, because there is no trust in the capacity of the natural mind.

“Today, despite the phenomenal developments of the empirical sciences and technology, there is a profound distrust of reason.”

Some people unconsciously accept this view, and even if they do have Christian faith, they leave too much for faith to carry. We need, therefore, to stress that, apart from faith, the natural reason may know the truth on the basis of its own powers, and it is important that we have trust in the natural capacity of the mind. This is important for our natural functioning, both in our personal and social lives, and also it is important for the realm of faith. Faith is more robust when it is located in a strong mind.

That is why, a serious education, in particular a liberal arts education is of great value. Its purpose is eliciting wonder, in which initially something is known as true, and then there is a hunger for knowing more and with greater precision. The mind needs to be sharpened so that, on the basis of its own powers, it will know those fundamental truths that can be known and will have confidence in the mind. It also has to be trained so that it will immediately spot mendacity or just imprecise ambiguity. Furthermore, it needs to perceptive, understanding issues in depth, and it has to be creative, capable of tackling new, unpredicted situations. The acquisition of a sharp mind, liberated from infantile limitations, cultural disorders, and ideological or intellectual repressions is a great asset. It contributes to the health of the spirit.

When we have a formed mind, we can have convictions. If our thinking is hazy and insecure, then we are not convinced. But if we have no convictions, how can we make decisions in life? To be honest in business, in social life and in politics, we have to know what is true and good. We have to know: what is justice? We have to be aware that the conscience is an act of reason that may be trained, and not just an expression of feelings. 

To be able to marry, we have to have an understanding of the nature of marriage. And we need to appreciate our sexual identity. If we only have fleeting opinions about the essence and finality of marriage that may change at any moment, how can we decide about it? Many people today lack this confidence. Men often delay decisions about marrying and setting up a family because they are insecure in their thinking, and they lack generosity. If a monogamous family is said to be a mere changing cultural custom that, in the coming years, may he replaced by some other social form, how can one give one’s life to another person, until death do us part?

Just as many distrust the value of the natural mind, so also many distrust faith, which they imagine is just a fleeting emotion. The virtue of faith is a divine gift, infused in our soul at baptism, or even before. It enables the encounter with God, in which the eternal, supernatural life, the life of the Blessed Trinity is sparked within the human soul. Faith is important because it opens up the soul to the divine life, which then transforms everything. Furthermore, faith adapts the mind, so that it receives truths that are not evident, but have been disclosed by God and transmitted in the Scriptures and by the Church.

God hides in a mystery that we can penetrate only through faith. And God does this on purpose. Rationally, we can know that God, the Prime Mover and Ultimate End, exists, but to know God from within the personal life of the Blessed Trinity, we need faith. If we could fully grasp God with our own natural tools, we would then reduce Him to the level of our mind. But God is greater than the capacity of our mind, and so God wants to be met in faith. This is because where there is faith, there is place for hope and love. 

It is similar in human relationships. When the other is not just intellectually grasped, but is trusted even though the other is always surprising, there is room for love and its growth. And so hiding in a mystery that is penetrated uniquely by faith, God has revealed not only His being a philosophical absolute, but also His paternity. We encounter the Trinity of divine persons. Through faith we enter into the salvific mysteries that have been disclosed to us. We have access to the font in which we have been washed, to the new life that has been given by the Holy Spirit, to the Redemption of our stupidities and sins that is offered to us through the saving Blood of Christ.

But all this needs to be carefully located in the mind. The realm of reason and the realm of faith need to find an honored place within our spirit. The saving truths need to be unpacked. Their significance and implications have to be perceived. We need to think, both within the realm of faith and outside it. And we need to see how the two correlate to one another, what impact do they have on our lives, our private lives, our public lives, our intellectual life, our life of grace.

May the liberation of the mind offered by this college strengthen the internal axis, both natural and graced of all who are beginning this academic year: the faculty, the students, and the friends and supporters of Thomas Aquinas College!

 

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