Day 241: The Cardinal Virtues (1803-1811)

• It’s Day 241!!

• ARTICLE 7: THE VIRTUES

• THE HUMAN VIRTUES

• THE CARDINAL VIRTUES

• These articles set the stage for what it is to live a life in Christ

• A moral life

• Not just being good

• BUT…

• To be like Jesus

• THIS IS THE WHOLE GOAL!!

• At the heart of it, we are called to be HIS

• To belong to HIM

• We are called to be LIKE HIM

• We are called to have the heart of Jesus

• We are called to look at the world through the lens that Jesus looks at the world

• We are called to live and love in this world the way that Jesus did

• The cardinal virtues are PRUDENCE, JUSTICE, TEMPERANCE, FORTITUDE

• Cardinal does not mean a red bird

• Although it does mean a bird

• BUT…

• Not in this case

• In this case, it means like the HINGE virtues

• THE VIRTUES AND GRACE

• These four cardinal virtues are healthy and essential for a healthy and free life

• The moral life is a life of freedom

• To embrace responsibility and to choose to live according to the Commandments

• To choose to live according to God’s call upon our lives is to ultimately live a life of freedom and joy

• The virtues are not straitjackets

• Paragraph 1804 says, “Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith. They make possible ease, self-mastery, and joy in leading a morally good life. The virtuous man is he who freely practices the good.”

• Let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise. We give you glory. We ask for an outpouring of your Holy Spirit upon our lives, into our hearts in this moment. We ask you to give us the grace to live a life of virtue. We ask you to give us the grace to live a life of freedom and of joy, to do the right, even when it is difficult, to choose the good thing, even when it is hard to choose, and in that to be conformed in such a way to your will and to your grace that we choose it with ease. So we pray all this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• This is very important for us to understand

• Remember, the virtues are not a straitjacket

• What is freedom?

• Freedom is not the ABILITY to do whatever I want

• Freedom is the POWER to do what I ought to do

• What are the virtues?

• Paragraph 1803 says, “A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good.”

• A virtue is not OCCASIONALLY doing the good

• Let’s listen to Fr. Mike’s example of tennis…

• The ability to make a good shot once in a while does not make a person a good tennis player

• The ability to hit a 3-pointer once in a while does not make a person a good basketball player

• The ability to CONSISTENTLY make the shot is part of what makes a person a good basketball player

• So what makes a person a VIRTUOUS PERSON is not OCCASIONALLY telling the truth

• Not to OCCASIONALLY be prudent

• Not to OCCASIONALLY be temperate

• It is the HABITUAL and FIRM disposition to do the GOOD

• It is to CONSISTENTLY CHOOSE THE GOOD

• It is to CONSISTENTLY BE VIRTUOUS

• Paragraph 1803 continues, “It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions. The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God.”

• This is not just about doing good deeds

• BUT…

• It is about giving the BEST of ourselves

• So the sensory powers are the intellect and the will

• The spiritual powers are our heart that God has placed in us to love, our soul and our spirit, given over to the Lord

• We pursue the good and choose it in concrete actions

• It’s not this vague hope for the good

• Or wishing that we had chosen the good

• It is expressed by CHOOSING in concrete actions

• Paragraph 1804 says, “Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith.” 

• To actually be VIRTUOUS means we consistently do this

• It means we are stable when it comes to this

• It is a firm attitude

• It is not for when it is convenient

• It’s not for when we are in a good mood and fully rested

• Our choices are being made by this stable disposition, this firm attitude, this habitual perfection of our intellect and will

• That governs our actions

• It also orders our passions

• Passions are those emotions we experience

• You might even say that passions are the instincts

• Instincts are neither good nor bad

• Like the instinct to fight

• That is neither good nor bad

• Passion will always have to be governed by reason and will

• Sometimes it is time to fight

• Sometimes we need to marshal our passions

• We are going to use this passion to fight and defend my family or country etc,

• There are times when the passions need to be ordered in a different way

• For example, the love a mother has for her child

• There are times when mother love is meant to be fed

• Like when a mom picks up a car off of her child

• Or when a mom gets up in the middle of the night and takes care of her child 

• BUT…

• When a mother’s love tempts her toward cheating on behalf of her child or making excuses for her child or to lie on behalf of her child…

• In those cases, that instinct and passion would have to be ordered in a different way

• True justice would have to be over that mother’s love

• Loyalty to one’s family is a good thing

• AND YET…

• It is not the ultimate good

• What one owes to one’s family is a good, but it is not the ultimate good

• For example, loyalty to one’s family has led people to lie in a court of law

• If a member of my family has committed a crime, and I have been subpoenaed to testify to the truth, I would have to choose the truth over family

• Because that is what it is to order our passions 

• Justice would be over loyalty to one’s family

• Hopefully that makes sense

• Paragraph 1804 continues, “They make possible ease, self-mastery, and joy in leading a morally good life. The virtuous man is he who freely practices the good. The moral virtues are acquired by human effort. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts; they dispose all the powers of the human being for communion with divine love.”

• We actually have to WORK AT THIS

• We have to DISCIPLINE OURSELVES

• They are the fruit of trial

• We can have a little bit of these virtues or more of these virtues depending on how much we practice them

• We incrementally grow in these virtues as we practice them more and more

• It’s not like either we have these moral virtues or we don’t

• THE CARDINAL VIRTUES

• Paragraph 1805 says, “Four virtues play a pivotal role and accordingly are called ‘cardinal’; all the others are grouped around them. They are: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.”

• Paragraph 1806 says, “Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it; ‘the prudent man looks where he is going.’”

• Prudent does not mean being a prude

• It means I have used my reason to discern the true good in this circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it

• Prudence is doing the right thing at the right time in the right way

• What a freedom it is to not just know the right thing at the right time the right way, but to do the right thing at the right time in the right way

• What a great grace and great virtue prudence is

• Paragraph 1807 says, “Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor. Justice toward God is called the ‘virtue of religion.’ Justice toward men disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good. The just man, often mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures, is distinguished by habitual right thinking and the uprightness of his conduct toward his neighbor.”

• Basically, justice is to give to another what you owe them

• The highest virtue of justice is what we owe God

• WE OWE GOD EVERYTHING!!

• The next order of justice is the virtue of family

• The next order can be patriotism, what we owe our country

• What do I owe God?

• What do I owe to the people around me?

• Paragraph 1808 says, “Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause.”

• C.S. Lewis said, “Fortitude is all of the other virtues at the sticking point.”

• Fortitude is all of the other virtues when they are needed the most, in the moment of testing

• It’s easy to be good when being good is easy

• It’s easy being honest when being honest is easy

• It’s easy to be just when being just is easy

• It’s easy to tell the truth when telling the truth is easy

• BUT…

• When telling the truth is difficult, that is when we need FORTITUDE

• When being just is difficult, that is when we need FORTITUDE

• If we don’t have fortitude, we don’t have any of the other virtues really because I don’t actually have them when I need them

• I just have them when they are convenient

• Fortitude is ALL OF THE OTHER VIRTUES at the moment they are NEEDED THE MOST

• Paragraph 1809 says, “Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will’s mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable. The temperate person directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and maintains a healthy discretion: ‘Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart.’”

• If prudence is DOING the right thing at the right time in the right way

• THEN…

• Temperance is USING the right thing at the right time in the right way

• We have attraction to pleasures like food

• Temperance would moderate that attraction to food, coffee, wine, beer, etc.

• Fr. Mike is going on and on about Chinese food now, and with good reason because Chinese food is yummy!!!

• Temperance teaches us to use the good things that we have been given in this world in the right way at the right time

• We are called not just to OCCASIONALLY do the right thing

• We are called to CONSISTENTLY do the right thing

• We are called to become those constand and firm good people

• Morally good people who have the POWER to do what we ought on a regular basis

• We need God’s grace for this

• And we need prayers

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!