s
follows (De Compunct. i, 7 [*Ad Demetr. de Compunct. Cordis.]): "His
mind was so steeped in the love of Christ that, although he desired
above all to be with Christ, he despised even this, because thus he
pleased Christ."

Reply Obj. 1: External labor conduces to the increase of the
accidental reward; but the increase of merit with regard to the
essential reward consists chiefly in charity, whereof external labor
borne for Christ's sake is a sign. Yet a much more expressive sign
thereof is shown when a man, renouncing whatsoever pertains to this
life, delights to occupy himself entirely with Divine contemplation.

Reply Obj. 2: In the state of future happiness man has arrived at
perfection, wherefore there is no room for advancement by merit; and
if there were, the merit would be more efficacious by reason of the
greater charity. But in the present life contemplation is not without
some imperfection, and can always become more perfect; wherefore it
does not remove the idea of merit, but causes a yet greater merit on
account of the practice of greater Divine charity.

Reply Obj. 3: A sacrifice is rendered to God spiritually when
something is offered to Him; and of all man's goods, God specially
accepts that of the human soul when it is offered to Him in
sacrifice. Now a man ought to offer to God, in the first place, his
soul, according to Ecclus. 30:24, "Have pity on thy own soul,
pleasing God"; in the second place, the souls of others, according to
Apoc. 22:17, "He that heareth, let him say: Come." And the more
closely a man unites his own or another's soul to God, the more
acceptable is his sacrifice to God; wherefore it is more acceptable
to God that one apply one's own soul and the souls of others to
contemplation than to action. Consequently the statement that "no
sacrifice is more acceptable to God than zeal for souls," does not
mean that the merit of the active life is preferable to the merit of
the contemplative life, but that it is more meritorious to offer to
God one's own soul and the souls of others, than any other external
gifts.
_______________________

THIRD ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 182, Art. 3]

Whether the Contemplative Life Is Hindered by the Active Life?

Objection 1: It would seem that the contemplative life is hindered by
the active life. For the contemplative life requires a certain
stillness of mind, according to Ps. 45:11, "Be still, and see that I
am God"; whereas the active life involves re