Mercy begins when we take the needs of another as our own needs and their misery as our misery. It moves us to do for the “least of these” what we would do for ourselves. But to offer more than artificial consolation, mercy must know the truth about the world, the human person, and the Creator. Mercy needs studiousness. And studiousness, rather than providing an escape from the world in God, teaches us how to return into God for the sake of the world.

What is the virtue of studiousness?