Week 9: Book Three, Chapters X–XIX — Patience, Obedience, and Bearing Injuries

1.Chapter X opens with a long, lyrical prayer of gratitude: 'O Fountain of perpetual love, what shall I say concerning Thee? How shall I be unmindful of Thee, who didst vouchsafe to remember me?' Thomas is modeling a practice of recalling and celebrating God's initiatives toward us. Take a moment: what are two or three specific ways God has pursued you that you tend to forget?

2.Chapter XI contains the indictment that most cross-bearers lack genuine detachment: 'Rarely is any one found so spiritual as to be stripped of all selfish thoughts.' Thomas says that even giving away all goods, doing great penances, and understanding deep things still leaves 'one thing' lacking — the complete giving up of oneself, including the sense of having done well. Is this liberating or discouraging? What is Thomas actually calling us to?

3.Chapter XIII has Christ say: 'What great thing is it that thou, who art dust and nothingness, yieldest thyself to man for God's sake, when I, the Almighty and the Most High, subjected Myself to man for thy sake?' Thomas grounds the call to humble obedience in the incarnation and submission of Christ. How does that foundation change the feel of obedience from duty to response?