A “cristoconformação” a partir da virtude da caridade em Santo Tomás de Aquino

Abstract

The structure of Saint Thomas Aquinas’ moral treatise is marked by the conception that all things were created by God and they all tend to Him as their end. This understanding, linked to the rational ontological reality of humans, who are moral beings, and to their special condition of being created in the likeness of God according to the image of Christ, necessarily leads us to consider the path by which the rational beings are led to this end. By the observation of natural data, we can ensure that rationality deeply marks their being, because, through it, humans develop virtues, through which they order all their powers for their good. The supernatural fact emphasizes even more their special condition because humans are the recipients of God’s grace. Grace is the external engine for good moral action and the excellent principle of supernatural virtues, called theological. In contrast to the natural principle, these virtues guide humans perfectly towards the supreme and supernatural end. More than a simple aid, grace is the divine presence in human life. Through this presence, God enables the full realization of the primordial characteristic of the human existential condition, that is, being equal to Him, in the image and likeness of Jesus. In particular, charity, the main theological virtue and mother of all others, must be an excellent way for conforming the human being to God, that is, to Jesus, because through charity humans are able to love, and love until the end, just as Jesus did.