Today’s readings place mercy under the authority of God rather than human presumption. Cyprian continues On the Lapsed by insisting that even the honor of the martyrs cannot overturn the Lord’s commands or grant peace apart from true repentance, because the Gospel cannot be firm in one place and broken in another. Augustine then mourns Monica with painful honesty, not only grieving her death, but grieving the fact that grief itself still had such power over him. Aquinas turns us to hope, defining it as the theological virtue by which the soul reaches toward eternal happiness as a difficult but possible good, relying on the help of God. Together, these readings remind us that mercy must be sought from the Lord, grief must be carried before the Lord, and hope must rest finally in the Lord.

Today’s Readings:

Cyprian — On the Lapsed, Sections 18–22

Augustine — The Confessions, Book 9, Chapter 12 (Section 31)

Thomas Aquinas — Summa Theologica, Part 2–2, Question 17 (Articles 1–8 Combined)

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