St. Aquinas, ST I 2.3: “The fourth way is taken from the gradation to be found in things.”

This can be related to the concept of an Absolute Being—for in creation, nothing within our understanding is absolute in the sense that all things in creation exist in a series of relations rather than independently. Also, it can be said, all that exists is not able to be grasped as absolute to the mind, because space-time is vast and extending beyond the perception of humanity. The gradation found, therefore, points to things existing on a continuum; for example, redness exists within a range of values along a spectrum of colour, or the total internal kinetic energy of matter has a minimum quantity extending toward a maximum—whatever limit its nature dictates.

But for that which exists to have a cause, the cause, Aquinas says, must be greater—which sounds a lot like St. Anselm’s argument in “On the Ontological Proof of God’s Existence” when he says: “There is, then, so truly a being than which nothing greater can be conceived to exist, that it cannot even be conceived not to exist; and this being thou art, O Lord, our God.” So, if there exists a maximum within our understanding, the cause must be beyond that toward what Aquinas says is the perfect being called God.

“Now the maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus.”

As it is the whole or unity of a thing which gives rise to all the things within it, it can therefore be said that all that can be grasped within our understanding [past, present, future], and in the universe, belongs also to God, who is therefore Absolute Being embracing all in all. In Matthew 19:26, Jesus says, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Therefore, only God can be Absolute—all movement, all stillness, all existence, and all being exist with Him and in Him.

As movement represents time, and stillness no time—we can also conceive of being and non-being, which is the absence and presence of a thing. The fact that we can conceive of “absence” or nothing, yet we exist, suggests it is a concept rather than a reality—for absence within our experience is simply the distance between things [a movement] or a transformation. Therefore, the concept of absence, in itself, implies creation as Aquinas discusses in the third way. The absence of movement, which in essence represents time, points, therefore, to what is transcendent of nature, or of a time before its beginning—so God is the Absolute within and beyond time itself.

God, as the first cause, beyond time and existing before all created things, does not therefore depend on that which is in creation, so it follows that God exists independently of His creation, as the necessary cause. As such, when the Lord says to Moses, “I AM who I AM” (Exodus 3:14), this suggests by this relation that God is the cause and meaning of Himself, the Absolute Being.

However, as Creator He chooses to be in relation with His creation, and through Jesus Christ, “who was made lower than the angels for a little while” [Hebrews 2:9], yet, “He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:2-3).

Finally, it follows by reason that if God came into the world through a mother, then He too is the greatest mother—of all creation, and Mary is the greatest mother of all humankind. All men were born through a woman; therefore, the brotherhood of man is blessed through womankind, just as all creation is blessed through God. Women are therefore like the precious jewels of humanity, a gift of life, for it is women who put the flesh upon our bones.

“Virgin, blessed above all creatures, through your blessing all creation is blessed, not only creation from its Creator, but the Creator Himself has been blessed by creation. To Mary God gave his only-begotten Son, whom he loved as Himself.” From a sermon of St. Anselm.

And so, we must remember, when women are treated like objects or animals by those who are blind—they do not see that though we are not what we do in a moment, we become what we are within us. Therefore, if woman came out of man (Genesis 2:22)—what then is within those that abuse and dishonour the gift that is the privilege of life given to us all by God?

Look, and you shall see—woman is the soul of man.

Amen.