¹ Summa Theologiae, 2–2, q. 180 a.4., q. 188 a.6. and q. 182 a.1.

² Aquinas drew on recently translated works of Aristotle, who distinguished two kinds of knowledge: practical and theoretical. Practical is about what changes; it includes ordinary know-how and opinions. Theoretical is about what is true always and everywhere; it includes what is learned about fundamental principles of science, philosophy, and theology. Aristotle connects contemplation broadly to theoretical knowledge. Similarly, Plato, in Book VII of The Republic, suggested that to live the truly good life, philosophers and founders of a state who experience “divine contemplation” in the full sunlight of truth must return to the cave of puppets and shadows to enlighten fellow citizens. See Jones, Cheslyn et al., ed. The Study of Spirituality (New York: Oxford, 1986), p. 92Google Scholar.

³ Jones, pp. 96–99 (Anthony Meredith on Plotinus); pp. 134–145 (Andrew Louth on Augustine); pp. 148–156 (Placid Spearritt on Benedict); pp. 277–280 (Benedict Ward on Gregory the Great).

⁴ Freeman, Lawrence, ‘Meditation,’ in Downey, Michael, ed., The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, (Collegeville, MN, The Liturgical Press/Michael Glazier, 1993), p. 648Google Scholar. Also in the same volume, Basil M. Pennington, ‘Monasticism, Monastic Spirituality, p. 669. See also Luke Dysinger, ‘Accepting the Embrace of God: The Ancient Art of Lectio Divina,’ under ‘Lectio Divina’ at www.saintandrewsabbey.com

⁵ Jones, p. 333. Note here a distinction between understanding and judgment. While we can attain no more than analogies for understanding God, we can make judgments regarding the truth—the veritas— of such assertions as that God loves, God forgives, and God creates; and such acknowledgments of God's goodness as the totality of God's infinite patience and God's unconditional self-giving.

⁶ On mysticism, see http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mysticism/

⁷ The Life of Teresa of Jesus: The autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila, trans. and ed. Peers, E. Allison (Garden City, NY: Doubleday Image Books, 1960), 1.10 (p. 119)Google Scholar. Cited by McGinn, Bernard, The Foundations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth Century (Crossroads, 1997), p. xiiiGoogle Scholar.

⁸ Aumann, Jordan, ‘Contemplation,’ in New Catholic Encyclopedia (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America, 1967), p. 259Google Scholar. Also, McGinn, p. 262.

⁹ Simon Tugwell, ‘The Dominicans,’ in Jones, pp. 296–300, at pp. 298–9.

¹⁰ Paragraphs 230–237. Ignatius’ “Contemplation to attain love” is not linked to any particular part of his 4-week Spiritual Exercises. Elsewhere he remarks, “They should practice the seeking of God's presence in all things, in their conversations, their walks, in all that they see, taste, hear, understand, in all their actions, since His Divine Majesty is truly in all things by His presence, power, and essence. This kind of meditation, which finds God our Lord in all things, is easier than raising oneself to the consideration of divine truths which are more abstract and which demand something of an effort if we are to keep our attention on them. But this method is an excellent exercise to prepare us for great visitations of our Lord, even in prayers that are rather short.” See Letters of St. Ignatius of Loyola, ed. Young, William J. (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1959)Google Scholar, Letter 1854, p. 240.

¹¹ In the OT there are references to Israel as being God's son (Jer 3:19, Isa 63:16; 64:8) and as God's eldest son (Ex 4:22). But in the NT the metaphor of God's beloved offspring is intensified to the maximum as Jesus himself is referred to as God's only-begotten Son (Jn 1:14, 18; 3:16,18). Also: “He who did not spare his own Son, but handed him over for us all, how would he not freely give us all things along with him? (Rom 8:32).

¹² Gen 1: 1–31; Ps 147:18–19; Isa 42: 5–7

¹³ For a theological account of God's double word, see ‘The Word,’ chap. 4, sec. 6, of Bernard Lonergan, Method in Theology (Herder & Herder, 1972), pp. 112–115.

¹⁴ The NT goes dramatically beyond the OT also in the announcement that the kind of eternal, bodily life lived now by Jesus with the Father is extended to all who live by their Holy Spirit. Recurring metaphors include a heavenly banquet (Mt 8:10; Lk 13: 28–29), many mansions designed by Jesus to suit each individual, (Jn 14:2–3), and the resurrection of the dead as a communal and triumphal wedding feast in the Kingdom of God (Rev 19:5–9).

¹⁵ Gal 5:22.

¹⁶ “When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you to all the truth. For he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears and will declare to you the things that are to come. All that the Father has is mine. This is why I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (Jn 16:13–15) “When we cannot find words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words” (Rom 8:26).

¹⁷ “In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. . . . The Word became flesh; he made his home among us” (Jn 1:1, 14).

¹⁸ Bernard Lonergan's final of several analogies for the Trinity points to how (1) our being in love (2) gives us an eye for true values and (3) is expressed in acts of loving. The three, and the movements among them, constitute the unitary reality of actual human loving. See ‘Christology Today: Methodological Reflections,’ in Crowe, F. E., ed., A Third Collection (Paulist Press, 1985), pp. 74–99, at p. 93Google Scholar.

¹⁹ A difference between contemplation and meditation may be noticed directly by attending to distinct acts of our own consciousness: as John Henry Newman's real assent differs from his notional assent; as Bernard Lonergan's judgments of fact and value differ from his insights into the hows and whys of things; and as our experience of a we-presence during an existential consideration of “What are you doing in me, in us, in the world?” differs from our self-presence during private consideration of the meaning of texts and events.

²⁰ The 13th century shift among Christian philosophers from Plotinus to Aristotle entailed a shift in how one imaged divine realities. The long-standing Neoplatonic vision of ideal forms above material appearances gave way to Aristotelian forms being the intrinsic intelligibility of matter. For a similar shift in the arts, see Huyghe, René, Art and the Spirit of Man (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1962)Google Scholar, particularly pp. 163–220 (changing views on beauty), 247–259 (the discovery of matter), and 395–408, 429–456 (the inner depths of the self).

²¹ This passage appears in Meditations on the Life of Christ, an anonymous work published during Ignatius’ youth. See Severus, Emmanuel von and Solignac, Aimé, ‘Méditation, §I. De l'ecriture aux auteurs médiévaux’ in Viller, M. et al. Dictionnaire de Spiritualité, tome 10 (Paris: Bouchesne, 1980), p. 913Google Scholar. Similar sensate engagements with biblical scenes appear in Ludolph of Saxony's Life of Christ, which Ignatius acknowledged as influencing him. See Michel Sauvage, ‘Méditation, §2. dans les écoles de spiritualité,’ in Dictionnaire de Spiritualité, p. 920.

²² Spiritual Exercises, para. 54, 224.

²³ Para. 97.

²⁴ Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted, Who He Was (Liturgical Press, 2012)Google Scholar.

²⁵ This last expression appears in ‘Our Mission Today: The Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice,’ Decree 4 of the 32nd General Congregation of the Society of Jesus (1975), para 63/14 See: http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/our-mission-today.html.

²⁶ http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html

²⁷ Morgan Llyewyn, author of 1916 on the Irish rebellion, describes a reflection by the protagonist, Ned: “War and death and babies being born. Ned tried to stretch the horizons of his mind to encompass them all in one world vision. It was the babies, he decided, who made the rest of it bearable, who redeemed the horror adults could perpetrate. A child … was created by the same species that manufactured guns and submarines—but with one added element: the Divine Spark, an immortal soul.” Llywelyn, Morgan, 1916: A Novel of the Irish Rebellion (New York: Tom Doherty Associates/Forge, 2010), ch. 30Google Scholar.

²⁸ “‘Sich befinden’ (finding oneself) thus has three allusions: The reflexivity of finding oneself; feeling; and being situated. All three are caught in the ordinary phrase, ‘How are you?’ That refers to how you feel but also to how things are going for you and what sort of situation you find yourself in. To answer the question you must find yourself, find how you already are. And when you do, you find yourself amidst the circumstances of your living.” See Eugene Gendlin, ‘Befindlichkeit: Heidegger and the Philosophy of Psychology,’ under ‘Introduction to Befindlichkeit,’ The Focusing Institute, 2006, http://www.focusing.org/gendlin_befindlichkeit.html,

²⁹ Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics: An Introduction (University of Chicago, 1952), ch. III, pp. 76–106, at pp. 76–77. Also Voegelin: “Plato stresses that his Myth of the Puppet Player is an alethes logis, a true story. . . .” See ‘The Gospel and Culture,’ in Miller, D.G. and Hadidian, D.Y., Jesus and Man's Hope (Pittsburg Theological Seminary, 1971), pp. 59–101Google Scholar, at p. 75.

³⁰ ‘My Father is still working. And I am also working. . . . The Son can do nothing on his own but only what he sees the Father doing” (Jn 5: 17, 19)

³¹ Without prejudice regarding the real presence of Christ mediated by bread and wine, a real presence is also recognized as mediated by generational history. It is the sort of presence by which later generations carry forward the desires of such admired forebears as Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, and Pope John XXIII. In this perspective, while Dominic is the founder of Dominican communities, Jesus is the founder of Christian communities, Dominican included.