When sorrow presses too near, both body and soul cry out for healing. Today, we listen to Aquinas explain where sorrow comes from—how it can rise from the body, the senses, memory, and love—and how it is eased by rest, friendship, contemplation, and divine charity (1–2.36.1–4).

In Augustine, we watch creation unfold and find man made in the image of God—reason ruling desire, love directing action (13.32).

And in Hermas, we stand among the twelve mountains, watching the Church’s great tower being built upon the rock. Some stones shine, others crumble, yet the Builder keeps working until every soul is tested and made firm in repentance (Similitude 9.1–5).

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The Shepherd of Hermas brings his vision of the willow tree to completion: every branch, from the withered to the flourishing, reveals a soul’s condition before God. Some repent and live; others harden themselves and die. Yet the Shepherd insists—repentance remains open to all who turn in time. Augustine then teaches that when we see the goodness of creation, it is God Himself who sees through us, for only His Spirit allows us to love what He has made without mistaking the gift for the Giver. Finally, Aquinas explains that all sorrow is born of love. We grieve not because love fails, but because love has been deprived of its object. The deeper the love, the deeper the pain—and the greater the invitation to hope in the One whose goodness never fades.

Readings:

The Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 8, Chapters 6–11

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 13, Chapter 31

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 36, Article 1

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The Shepherd of Hermas paints a vivid picture of grace at work through repentance. Under the shade of the great willow, the faithful each receive a branch—some green and fruitful, some cracked, some nearly dead. When the branches are replanted and watered, many come back to life, showing that God’s mercy restores even the withered soul. Augustine then turns from creation’s beauty to its Maker, insisting that God’s “seeing” is not bound by time—He speaks and beholds eternally. Against those who imagine rival creators, Augustine proclaims one Lord whose work is wholly good. Aquinas closes the day with a meditation on delight: pleasure born of truth perfects reason, but pleasure born of the flesh blinds it. To delight rightly is to think rightly, for joy, when pure, becomes the mind’s own light.

Readings:

The Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 8, Chapters 1–5

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 13, Chapters 29–30

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 35, Article 6

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The heart of the Christian life is not found in ease, but in faithfulness through affliction. Hermas shows us that even righteous suffering is a mercy when it purifies the soul. Augustine reflects on creation’s harmony — that all things together are very good, even when each part seems small or painful. And Aquinas leads us deeper into the mystery of emotion, showing that sorrow and pain, though different, both turn the soul toward its true comfort: God Himself.

Readings:

Hermas, The Shepherd, Similitude Six

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 13, Chapters 25–26

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 35, Article 1

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In today’s readings we encounter two kinds of brokenness: the outer pain that afflicts the body and the inner sorrow that humbles the soul. Hermas teaches that repentance must be proved through endurance, not words. Augustine reminds us that even miracles, though great, are only signs pointing to the goodness of creation itself. And Aquinas helps us see the difference between pain in the flesh and sorrow in the heart — both drawing us toward the God who alone can heal them.

Readings:

Hermas, The Shepherd, Similitude Seven

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 13, Chapters 27–28

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 35, Article 2

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Today’s readings explore how desire can either sanctify or enslave us. Hermas teaches that purity is the vessel of divine strength; Augustine shows Paul rejoicing not in gifts, but in grace reborn within his friends; and Aquinas reveals that pleasure becomes holy only when it flows from love rightly ordered. Together, they ask whether our joys serve God’s glory—or merely our own appetite. (Philippians 4:15–16)

Readings:

Hermas, The Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 5 — The Meaning of the Vineyard and the Purity of the Flesh

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 10, Chapter 26 (Section 40)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 34 (The Goodness and Malice of Pleasures)

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The theme today is worship that costs something. Hermas reminds us that true fasting isn’t hunger of the body but purity of the heart; Augustine helps us see that joy itself is an act of giving; and Aquinas shows how pleasure, rightly ordered, becomes fuel for holiness. All three reveal that God measures our fasting, our joy, and even our delight not by what we give up but by what we love most. (Philippians 4:10–14)

Readings:

Hermas, The Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 5 — Of True Fasting and Its Reward: Also of Purity of Body

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 10, Chapter 26 (Sections 39–40)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 33 (The Effects of Pleasure)

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Hermas sees that in this life, the righteous and the wicked appear alike—withered trees in winter—but in the life to come they will be known by their fruit. The righteous will flourish when the summer of God’s mercy shines forth, while the unrepentant will wither in judgment. Augustine, meditating on the fruits of the earth, sees works of mercy as those fruits which nourish the faithful and refresh God’s servants. And Aquinas teaches that true pleasure arises when love rests in the good it attains—born not from the removal of pain but from the soul’s union with what is fitting and eternal (John 15:11).

Readings:

The Pastor of Hermas, Book Third—Similitudes, 3–4

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 13, Chapter 38 (Section 38)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 32 (The Cause of Pleasure)

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The Shepherd of Hermas warns us that this world is not our true home. In the First and Second Similitudes, he teaches that believers live as strangers here, and our wealth must serve eternal purposes. Like the vine clinging to the elm, the poor and the rich sustain each other—the poor through prayer, the rich through mercy. Augustine, reflecting on creation, turns “Be fruitful and multiply” into a vision of the soul’s growth in meaning and understanding: one truth expressed in many forms, one Word unfolding through all creation. And Aquinas reminds us that delight is the soul’s rest in the good it loves—found not in passing pleasures but in the eternal good that satisfies the will and quiets the heart (Psalm 16:11).

Readings:

The Pastor of Hermas, Book Third—Similitudes, 1–2

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 13, Chapter 37 (Sections 37–38)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 31 (Of Delight—Considered in Itself)

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True and false prophets both speak—but one speaks from heaven, the other from emptiness. Hermas warns that the Spirit of God can be known by its fruit: meekness, purity, and truth. Earthly spirits, loud and self-seeking, collapse when tested among the faithful. In his twelfth commandment, he shows that good desire conquers evil desire when the soul clothes itself with righteousness and the fear of the Lord. Augustine, still meditating on the divine blessing, sees that God’s word is never spoken in vain—each phrase of creation echoes through many meanings and multiplies life in the faithful heart. And Aquinas brings it full circle: concupiscence, by its very nature, strives toward the infinite because the soul hungers for a good without end—but that hunger can only be satisfied in God Himself. The heart that tests every spirit, disciplines its desires, and lives by the Spirit’s fruit is the one that finds true rest.

Readings:

The Pastor of Hermas, Commandments 11–12

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 13, Chapter 24 (continued)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 30, Article 4

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