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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!!
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