27 January 2016, 9:15 am – TRUE wisdom is not merely intelligence.
These were the words of former UST rector and now Faculty of Sacred Theology Dean Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P., during the second of Triduum Masses for the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas at the Santisimo Rosario Parish Church, Jan. 26.
Fr. de la Rosa urged the Thomasian community to emulate St. Thomas Aquinas, patron saint of UST, by acquiring wisdom through Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
“St. Thomas taught us that Jesus is the source of all wisdom, especially in the Eucharist. He personifies wisdom,” he said.
Aquinas, the great medieval philoshoper, said receiving the Eucharist was receving Christ himself, as Christ is present in it even if the physical attributes (or “accidents”) remain after transubstantiation that occurs during the Mass.
‘False intelligence’
Today’s generation, the former rector said, believes that knowledge and wisdom are acquired from the same source, resulting in false intelligence.
“We do not know what to look for. We are all in love with knowledge which we find through the Internet. The more knowledge you have which you don’t understand, the more you will suffer,” Fr. de la Rosa said.
Wisdom is needed because knowledge alone cannot alleviate man’s pain, he added. “Wisdom is born of suffering, for pain is the mother of wisdom. Through this, we get to learn the ability to remove the cause of pain,” he said.
The Mass was led by Fr. Isidro Abano, O.P., regent of the Faculty of Civil Law. It was concelebrated by Fr. Filemon de la Cruz, O.P., vice rector for religious affairs; Fr. Jose Tinoko, O.P., regent of the Conservatory of Music; Fr. Roberto Luanzon, O.P., regent of the Faculty of Engineering; Fr. Ermito de Sagon, O.P., regent of the Institute of Physical Education and Athletics; and Fr. Hermel Pama, O.P., regent of the Institute of Information and Computing Sciences.
The last of the Triduum Masses will be on Jan. 27, after which a procession will be held on campus. Marie Danielle L. Macalino
