Thomist writer James Larson looks into mercy and faith in another of his thoughtful, penetrating articles at The War Against Being.
A sample:
In other words, in this life in which our intellects see God only in a “dark manner” through faith, which is an anticipation of the Beatific Vision, there can be no charity without this faith. And, most significant for our understanding of the relationship between faith and charity, “Just as mortal sin is contrary to charity, so is disbelief in one article of faith contrary to faith. Now charity does not remain in a man after one mortal sin. Therefore neither does faith, after a man disbelieves one article.” (II-II, Q.5, A.3). For someone to culpably doubt or disbelieve in even one article of our Faith therefore necessitates that charity totally ceases to exist in such a person. Any notion, therefore, that the demands of charity can supersede faith, or contradict faith, is a profound delusion of Satan.
Larson has much to say and it is important that we study it most carefully for the wealth of information it contains. In this coming "Year of Mercy" it is incumbent upon us to know what we're talking about when we speak of mercy and why doctrine is not be shunted aside when dealing with the subject. James Larson in this article helps point us in the correct direction.
The rest of his article, "The Truth of Mercy", can be read at this link:
http://www.waragainstbeing.com/node/58
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