In the Summa I-II Question 5, St. Thomas writes “On the contrary, It is written (Job 14:1): ‘Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries.’ But Happiness excludes misery. Therefore man cannot be happy in this life.” We’re going to see why this is actually good news by looking at quotes from that part of the Summa.
If you only read my X profile, you might think I’m a dark pessimist. But only a couple friends and family members know the deepest part of my soul: I am actually a hopeless optimist who has trusted too many people who betrayed me and the Catholic Church. It is because I have expected too much in life. I have forgiven most or all of those people. (Of course, forgiveness is sometimes a process for the bigger issues.)
But what does an optimist do in such a fallen world? I have discovered that the best approach to life is to expect the worst and hope for the best. Or to put it another way, the best philosophy of life is to “underpromise and overdeliver” to your own heart and those of others. We are going to see that although St. Thomas does not put things in such subjective terms, he comes to an objective conclusion: The reason why man can’t be happy in this life is because he was made for heaven, not earth. Let’s see some quotes from the Summa Q3 and Q5 to delve deeper into this.
St. Thomas: Since happiness is a “perfect and sufficient good,” it excludes every evil, and fulfils every desire. But in this life every evil cannot be excluded. For this present life is subject to many unavoidable evils; to ignorance on the part of the intellect; to inordinate affection on the part of the appetite, and to many penalties on the part of the body; as Augustine sets forth in “The City of God.” Likewise, neither can the desire for good be satiated in this life. For man naturally desires the good, which he has, to be abiding.
Fr. David: Like most finds in St. Thomas, we see he explains extraordinarily profound truths simply, without using adjectives or exclamation marks. What St. Thomas is here saying is that the human soul was not made for ephemeral goods, but an eternal good (not just heaven, but God Himself, as we will later see.) In this valley of tears in time, we can’t yet fully experience the eternal good. This pilgrimage is essentially a test if we will make it to see God face-to-face. In this pilgrimage, the reason we have to avoid attachment to ephemeral goods isn’t because God is a slave-driver who wants to keep us from those goods but because our desire for the eternal good can not be “satiated in this life,” as we just read above. Therefore, for the Christian who cooperates with the gift of fortitude, the evils (and potential-attachments) of this life on earth are supposed to be hurdles to heaven, not pitfalls to hell.
St. Thomas: The goods of the present life pass away; since life itself passes away, which we naturally desire to have, and would wish to hold abidingly, for man naturally shrinks from death. Wherefore it is impossible to have true Happiness in this life. Secondly, from a consideration of the specific nature of Happiness, viz. the vision of the Divine Essence, which man cannot obtain in this life, as was shown in the First Part Q12, A11. Hence it is evident that none can attain true and perfect Happiness in this life.
Fr. David: Notice St. Thomas just wrote that this “life itself passes away,” and yet it’s natural for us to grasp at it as we “shrink from death.” That is the human condition, from the richest Hollywood supermodel to a man dying in a gutter in Bombay today. Neither obtains happiness in this life, whether they be Christian or not. Why not? Well, it’s an overused analogy in youth groups today, but it’s true: There’s a God-shaped hole in the human heart that no amount of food, sex, popularity, drugs or even family can fulfill. It’s not because God has mis-programmed us on earth but rather because He has made us for “the vision of the Divine Essence” which we don’t get on earth. We can only get that in heaven. “Hence, it is evident,” St. Thomas writes, “that none can attain true and perfect Happiness in this life.” But we do get glimpses and tastes of the Beatific Vision, and we should be extremely thankful for those breadcrumbs lining the way to the Eternal Homeland.
St. Thomas: If we speak of imperfect happiness, such as can be had in this life, in this sense it can be lost. This is clear of contemplative happiness, which is lost either by forgetfulness, for instance, when knowledge is lost through sickness; or again by certain occupations, whereby a man is altogether withdrawn from contemplation. Happiness is consummate perfection, which excludes every defect from the happy. And therefore whoever has happiness has it altogether unchangeably: this is done by the Divine power, which raises man to the participation of eternity which transcends all change.
Fr. David: One thinks of St. Mary Magdalene contemplating at the feet of Christ while Martha prepares a meal for them (Lk 10.) This chapter is why the Church has placed the contemplative life as higher than the active life, for “Mary has chosen the better part.” Already on earth, contemplation is happiness. But it’s imperfect happiness because even sickness can take it away. But in heaven, that happiness of contemplation will be exactly what St. Thomas just described so beautifully: “consummate perfection which excludes every defect.” This earth is too full of dangerous changes and temptations. But those will not exist in heaven because you will have already chosen the good on earth. And that is why the beatific vision can’t be taken away, for Christ says: So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.—Jn 16:22.
Adam and Eve grasped at divinity through arrogance, losing not only divinity but even original justice. But now we Christians can ironically humble ourselves before both nature and grace, becoming “partakers in the Divine Nature.” St. Thomas adds that “this is done by the Divine power, which raises man to the participation of eternity.”
