‘What would justice be without mercy? Allied with the darkness of cruelty, it would be injustice rather than justice’ (Saint Catherine of Siena).
Saint Catherine of Siena makes a plea here in favour of mercy. Indeed, in situations such as war, there is a great temptation to go beyond the limits of justice, to let oneself be carried away by the evil inclinations that dwell in the human heart, so that cruelty allies itself with justice, distorting it and making it terrifying.
“So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.” (2 Pet 3:15b-16)
I begin today’s meditation by quoting these words of Saint Peter, because, in fact, the next chapters of the Letter to the Romans are not easy to understand. Therefore, I take the liberty of summarising them and trying to convey their essential content in an understandable way. To do this, I will also draw on the comments in the Allioli-Arndt Catholic Bible. In addition, I recommend that everyone read the following chapters in their entirety to gain a more comprehensive understanding. If necessary, it is also advisable to consult additional commentaries. In the third chapter, Saint Paul begins by expounding on the privileges of the Jewish religion, which, incidentally, do not come into play if the Mosaic Law is not observed. If this happens, then they enjoy no privileges, because ‘all, Jews and Greeks alike, are under the power of sin’ (Rom 3:9).
