Het pontificaat van de vreugde. De inzichten van Sint -Thomas van Aquino

Abstract

A mere glance at the titles of some of the most important documents during the current pontificate indicate the emphasis that isplaced on joy (gaudium). In this contribution I follow in the footsteps of the Doctor Communis of the Church and analyze the essential featuresand effects of joy in the natural order, in order to elucidate themeaning of Christian joy or – in the words of St. Thomas – ‘spiritualjoy’. The principal insights St. Thomas gives us due to his passionatereading of Scripture have to do with the limitations of human kinds of joy, the givenness of spiritual joy and the role of sadness as beingpart of man’s pilgrimage