Reflection on the Commentary of St. Thomas Aquinas on the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians 1:3

"Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, in Christ."

         The  Apostle Paul writes this letter to the Ephesians who were Asians, coming from Asia Minor which is part of Greece.  They were not initiated into the faith by the Apostle Paul but he did strengthen them in it.  This letter of Paul according to St. Thomas Aquinas were entitled encouragement and reassurance to the Ephesians.  The intention is to strengthen them in habits and spur them on to greater perfection.  The letter was divided into six parts but I have chosen only the third part.  "Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, in Christ."  St. Thomas Aquinas here said that St. Paul here have mentioned the benefit of praise in two aspects.  The praise itself which should be rendered, at Blessed be God and the blessing account of which it should be rendered, which is unto God himself.  He said that God should be blessed and praised by all with all our hearts, tongues and actions.  I see this as a fundamental way of living by each one of us to bless and praised God in every way, in everything we do and in everything we say.  For me, I cannot  go on and live my day to the fullest without blessing and giving thanks to God in the beginning of the day. In every accomplishments, I praise and blessed God who is the source of all my strength.  In every failure and weaknesses that I have encountered I also praised God as the source of all good things in life, and allowing negative things to happen so I may able to learn a lesson and trust more in Him.  St. Thomas Aquinas here in saying so is giving us light of the truth that God is worthy of all our praises and honor.  He also mentioned that the copula and used by St. Paul in saying Blessed be God and Father…was not placed to designate two separate persons, for there is only one Father, but to denote what he is by essence and what he is in relation to the son.  As St. Thomas said, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is, of the Son who is our Lord because of his divinity, and Jesus Christ according to his humanity.   This is basically true.  There is no need for me to comment further on this because this is already very clear that the Father and Son is one. 

       God who has blessed us with hope in the present while in the future he will bless us with the reality.  St. Thomas Aquinas had observe that the apostle puts the verb blessed in the past tense, instead of the future, on account of his certainty.  I can say here that St. Thomas is correct in saying that St. Paul was certain that God indeed has blessed us.  Even though by our own merits we were cursed, he blessed us with every spiritual blessing both for soul and body.  It is overwhelming to know and to discover how good and how boundless is the love of God for us for giving us the unending blessings and graces from above despite of all the weaknesses and sins we did.  This is not done through our merits but through our Lord Jesus Christ, by dying on the cross for our sake that made us transform our natural body into a spiritual body so we can enjoy heaven.

         St. Thomas Aquinas further commented that this blessing is greatly desired.  And this by reason God is the one who blesses, and by reason of its material cause since he has blessed us, and because of the formal cause since he blessed us with every spiritual blessing, and on account of the end, he has blessed us in heavenly places. If these idea will be based in his commentary to Psalm 9:1 concerning the idea of praising, it is said: "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all thy wonderful deeds." St. Thomas said that such praises are within the heart. The person then who praises God with their entire heart accepts nothing contrary to God. Such a person refers everything to God alone by their actions, and habits and receives blessings from him.

         Knowing all these I would say that, since this blessing is given freely through our Lord Jesus Christ who has the power to transform our natural body into a spiritual body, it doesn't mean that I don't have to work hard to gain it but instead I too have to desire blessing from God by doing good things here on earth.  Even though God has already blessed me through Jesus Christ, there is still a dire need for me to pray always, to praise him always in my actions, in my thoughts and in my words.  This blessing of God in me and in you have given me much hope to see him face to face in heaven.  It is a guarantee to trust with faith that our work and our cries here on earth will be transform into fullness of life and joy in the life to come.  For me as a young religious, my sacrifices, my prayers and my sufferings are offered to Christ, because I know Christ have  blessed me with spiritual blessing both for soul and body.  For he himself will transform our lowly body ( Phil. 1:21). 

         To conclude, this commentary of St. Thomas Aquinas to the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians 3: 1 helped me to see myself being blessed by God.  I may not be like the people in the Ephesus who needs encouragement but there is a feeling of reassurance deep within knowing that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed me with spiritual blessings in heaven, in Christ; and that in return He himself already Blessed is worthy of all blessings, honor and praise.  Again and again, God should be blessed or praised with our hearts, tongues and actions. To God be the glory, forever!