Mercy, repentance, and the mystery of divine justice run like a thread through today’s readings. In Hermas, we stand beneath the great willow tree, watching branches tested—some withered, some cracked, some bearing fruit—and we see that even dry wood may live again if planted and watered. The tree remains whole because it is the law of God, the Son proclaimed to the world, and repentance is not theoretical but visible in change. Augustine then turns inward and confesses the arrogance of a sharp mind without a sound faith. He once imagined God as a vast body and himself as a fragment, yet all his intellectual brilliance could not save him from error. The slow and humble, sheltered in the Church, were safer than the brilliant and proud. Finally, Aquinas faces the hard question of reprobation. God’s justice does not mean that He causes sin; rather, He permits fault and ordains just punishment, while predestination and reprobation alike remain within providence. Together these readings press us toward humility: repentance brings life; pride blinds; and even in judgment, God remains just and merciful.

Readings: Hermas — The Pastor, Book 5, Similitude 8, Chapters 1–5 Augustine — The Confessions, Book 4, Chapter 16 (31) Aquinas — Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 23, Article 3

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