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 ...