CARDINAL VIRTUES
I copy-pasted this article on the Cardinal Virtues, the link was taken from my FB Page courtesy of CNA with the hope of studying it carefully if I would have the convenience of time, and patience too, of course.
Prudence
Or: Smart Living
Alright, let's
review: we want to be happy, and we want to pursue goods in a way that will
make us happy. This means we have to learn how to act well, which in turn
involves an acquisition of virtue. If that sounds complicated, let me put it
more simply: virtue is about doing the right things, and if we do the right
things, we will become happy. But what is the first thing we need if we want to
do the right thing? Well obviously, we need to know what the right thing to do
is. This is where prudence comes into the picture.
Prudence is the first of the cardinal virtues because it is
the ability to look at a concrete situation and know what ought to be done. It
is the ability to make right judgments. Prudence gives us the knowledge of what
must be done, when it must be done, and how it must be done. There is often a
great misunderstanding about the real nature of prudence, so let's begin by
saying what prudence is not. Prudence is not timidity, an avoidance of all
danger, cowardice, lack of initiative, self-preservation, never spending any
money, or an excessive focus on manners (e.g., the term "prude"). On
the contrary, sometimes true prudence could lead one to dive on a grenade,
fight courageously, say things which are very awkward or politically incorrect,
make a huge investment venture, or be open to having a fifth, maybe even a
tenth child.
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How Prudence Works
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Prudence is the art of taking moral principles and applying
them to concrete situations. Let's take some examples. We all know the maxim:
"Love your neighbour as yourself." This is a general moral principle.
But even after we learn this principle, the question still remains, "How
do I love this neighbour, here and now?" We still have to take the general
moral principle and make it concrete in particular situations. To take a second
case, the Church teaches that drunkenness is a grave sin, which we should
avoid. But how do I avoid drunkenness, here and now? Prudence tells me when I
should stop drinking; what beer or glass of wine should be my last. Or what
about the principle that sexual activity must be reserved for marriage?
Practically speaking, how do I protect my sexuality from misuse? Well, prudence
tells me that I probably shouldn't be alone with my girlfriend in her bedroom,
as it may lead to serious sin. Prudence therefore demands two aspects:
Firstly, knowing the principles, that is, knowing what the
goods of human nature are, and that we must work towards them and never against
them. Consequently, it is never prudent, regardless of the situation, to act
against the moral principles. There is no such thing as a prudent abortion,
because it always violates the good of innocent human life. There is no such
thing as prudent contraception, because it always goes against the good of
human life and against the good of the marital relationship. There is no such
thing as prudent pornography, because it goes against the good of human
relationships.
Secondly, knowing how to apply the principles to the
concrete situation. The first part is knowing the goals; the second part is
knowing how to choose the means for obtaining the goal. In the words of St.
Thomas Aquinas: "The prudent man considers things afar off, insofar as they
tend to be a help or a hindrance to that which has to be done at the present
time. Hence it is clear that those things which prudence considers stand in
relation to the end." With prudence, we look at every decision in light of
the ultimate goal, that is, goodness and happiness.
Prudence is a lot like going on a vacation. The first thing
you have to do before going on a vacation is figuring out a destination. Where
do you want to go? Well, we discussed our intended destination in the first
chapter when we talked about the basic goods, and how they bestow happiness.
Those goods are our destination. But then you have to figure out the best way
to reach the destination. After all, how you pack and prepare for the trip
depends on where you're going. As we make all our individual decisions, we need
to keep our ultimate goal in mind. That's prudence: selecting the right means
for bringing us towards happiness.
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Conscience
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Related to prudence is the notion of conscience.
"Conscience" is a brutally misunderstood term in most circles. People
will often use the phrase "Follow your conscience," without any clear
idea of what it really means. Usually they think conscience is some vague
feeling, or a quiet inner voice, or perhaps a small cricket who tells Pinocchio
what to do. Actually, the meaning of "Follow your conscience" is much
more precise than that. It just means "Do what you think is right."
That's it! Maybe that sounds so obvious we shouldn't even have to say it, but
the fact is that many people never even think about what is right. They just do
what feels right. Conscience isn't about feeling, it's about thinking that
something is right. Another translation of "Follow your conscience"
is "Follow what prudence tells you," or "Apply moral principles
to concrete situations, and then act accordingly."
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Three Parts of a
Prudential Act
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Let's look at how to make a prudent decision. There are
several steps we must all take if we want to practice prudence in our choices.
Step one:
Deliberation. This is the stage where we gather all the relevant information,
starting with a consideration of moral principles. This includes an awareness
and acceptance of the authoritative teaching of the Church's Magisterium; since
the Church's teaching gives us true principles, it's important to see if they
teach anything definitively about the issue at hand. For example, if the Church
says that a certain act is immoral, then you don't need to deliberate about
that act any more; you know not to do it. While deliberating, we must also give
a careful examination of the concrete situation, to be sure that we have
understood it as fully as possible. It is also sometimes advisable to take
counsel with those who are themselves experienced, prudent, and knowledgeable
about the matter at hand. With this step it is absolutely critical that we be
completely honest.
Prudence is about truth, the truth of what is and what must
be done. It is the truth that sets us free; remember, we have to know what is true
before we are free to do what is good. So we can't let our own feelings or
preferences get in the way of a true understanding of the facts.
Today, married couples, government officials, and even moral
theorists never seem to be able to agree about the right thing to do in any
situation. This is because they base their decisions on feelings and
preferences, not on truth. One of the
major crises of the modern world is that we go on feelings instead of truth.
This is the error that we have to overcome in our own lives; we must base our
decisions on a careful and conscious examination of the truth. So often we
don't deliberate honestly, but rather focus on the aspects of the situation
that we want to see. Prudence demands openness to the whole truth of the
situation.
Failure to deliberate is called rashness or thoughtlessness.
This is when someone just rushes headlong into everything, without ever taking
a moment to think it over. It is very dangerous to "act without
thinking," to not consider carefully enough before action. It may work in
a Star Wars universe (don't think; just trust your feelings, Luke!), but in the
real world it's deadly. If you don't reflect on your decisions beforehand, you
will make really stupid decisions. Look at the options, seek advice, pray to
God for His guidance, reflect, and take a reasonable amount of time before you
act.
Step two: Judgment. After deliberating, we must weigh all
the evidence fairly, and then figure out the best course of action. Judgment
separates the relevant information from the irrelevant information, and then
applies it to the problem at hand. You can't just think about something
forever; you have to come to some sort of conclusion. Failure to make a
judgment is called indecision. Procrastination, beating about the bush,
fiddling around, are all ways of expressing this common vice. Thinking about
some issue without actually arriving at a practical result does no one any
good.
Step three: Execution. Once we judge the right thing to do,
we have got to act! If you figure out the proper action, but then fail to
perform it, what's the benefit? You do not have the virtue of prudence until
you actually do what you have judged to be right. Failure to carry out what you
believe to be the proper decision is called irresoluteness. Plenty of people
make hoards of decisions, and never manage to keep any of them. They can't be
faithful to a resolution. One day they've decided to do this major in college,
then they change their minds and decide to do that major. The same happens in
the case of jobs, or vocations. Such people suffer from the vice of
inconstancy. A helpful exercise might be to analyse these three stages and see
where it is that you most often fail in your own life. Are you thoughtless?
Indecisive? Inconstant and undependable? Once you identify your weakness, you
can make the conscious decision to work on that area of prudence, and so
hopefully improve in this fundamental virtue.
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Some Further
Practical Guidelines for Prudence
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One very helpful technique for strengthening prudence is the
following rule: Take your time in consideration, but once you have reached a
judgment, act quickly and decisively. It is unwise to rethink an act when
you're in the process of carrying it out. Think about it before you begin it,
and then just do it. Also, don't wait until you have absolute certainty before
making a practical decision. As Josef Pieper states, "The prudent man...
does not deceive himself with false certainties."1 Remember that practical
matters don't have the same logical exactness or clarity as mathematical
equations, so if you wait until you've perfectly proven the right thing to do,
you'll never do anything. All you can do is to try and understand the situation
as best you can, given the information and time available. Then make a decision
and carry it out faithfully.
We have to realize that every practical decision entails
risk; there is no security that our decision will not result in difficult
consequences. But we must be able to make decisions and act with abandonment
and trust to divine providence. After we go through the necessary steps of
prudence (deliberation, judgment, and execution), we've done our part, and we
leave the rest to God. At that point we need faith in Him, faith that He'll use
even our imperfect human choices in bringing about His plan. Even if we don't
see externally discernable results or successes coming from our attempts at
prudential decision-making, God may be doing great things with our efforts.
Many holy people died in apparent failure (Isaac Jogues, Louis Marie
DeMontfort, even Our Lord Himself), but God used their work to bring about
wonderful changes in the Church and the world.
Lastly, there are certain times when it is prudent to avoid
decision-making. We have to be very careful that our judgments and actions are
the result of an honest examination of reality, and in certain situations, it
is very difficult for us to keep a proper perspective. It is important that our
judgments and actions are not reactions to strong emotions like:
Anger. A prudent person will, whenever possible, avoid
making a decision while he is angry. He will sleep on it, postpone it or put it
aside until he can weigh things calmly and coolly.
Lust. Lust can be a very powerful feeling, with the
potential to negatively influence our ability to think clearly. In fact, there
is nothing like desire to interfere with the proper working of our reason. St.
Thomas Aquinas goes so far as to say that imprudence is caused chiefly by
lust.2 The prudent person will step back and give himself space and time before
allowing himself to be ruled by lust.
Discouragement. When we are close to despair, our view on
reality will be skewed. We will be overly pessimistic, and so the decisions we
make will be based on error. Having suffered a failure, or fallen in sin, or
having made a stupid move; all these things discourage us, and so we should
avoid decisions at such times.
Remember, prudence is about allowing the truth, not
feelings, to determine our choices.
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Summary
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Prudence is about
smart living. It's not just about being smart in school, or being a smart
tennis player, or being smart in business. It's about being smart in life, and
just like all the other virtues, this takes practice. Experience, too, is a
great aid to prudence, not just your own, but also the experience of others.
Seeking counsel of wise persons can be very valuable. Most importantly, you
want to seek out the counsel of the wisest persons: The Blessed Trinity, Our
Lady, the saints and angels. Go to them in prayer, and ask for their wisdom and
guidance in making the right decisions in your life. Read the Scriptures, or
the Lives of the Saints, for insights on how to make prudent choices.
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Individual
Justice
Or: Our Obligations to God and Neighbour
We hear about justice a lot in our culture. We hear
discussions over legal justice systems, or what constitutes a just war, or a
just societal order. We hear phrases like "just cause," "just
desserts," and "just wage." (We also hear phrases like
"just in time" and "just kidding," but those phrases have
nothing to do with our present discussion, so why even bring them up?)
If you asked a group of people what the idea of
"justice" conjured up in their minds, most would probably tell you it
made them think of a criminal getting punished. This is a sadly limited and
negative conception of justice. The classical understanding, by contrast, held
up justice as that noble virtue by which we to give others what is their due.
The just person is always sure to fulfill his obligations towards everyone. He
sees to it that he does not withhold what rightly belongs to another.
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The Basis of Justice
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The notion of giving others what is their due begs a
question: How is it that someone can have something which is their due? How can
someone say: "I am owed this, I have a right to this"? Notice too
that only certain things have rights, not others. No one owes anything to a
rock; there is nothing that belongs to a tree by right. Merely material things
do not make claims on us, and therefore they do not enter into questions of
justice.1 This is a critical point in understanding justice, namely, that only
persons deserve justice. That's why whenever one group wants to commit an
injustice against another group, the perpetrators usually rationalize their
crimes by denying that the victims are really persons. For example, slave
owners and slave traders would always present blacks as sub-human. Nazis used
the same tactic to justify their horrific treatment of the Jews.
And just in case we are tempted to think we belong to a
civilization which has progressed beyond such absurd and evil arguments, what
is the standard defense for the modern practice of abortion? Usually something
to the effect that the fetus, the infant in the womb, isn't really a person.
All human beings, however, were created by God with a spiritual soul, in order
to be in His image and likeness. This is why human beings must be treated
justly, because of their special stature in relation to God. As the Declaration
of Independence states, "They are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights," and these rights must be taken seriously.
The American Founding Fathers recognized this essential
truth: that God is the source of human rights, and that justice depends on
recognizing His unique love and gifts to humanity. If we see the human person
merely as a random collection of atoms, instead of as a child of God, we will
not be able to maintain justice. This is why, historically, whenever a society
attempted to rid itself of God and religion, the stage was instantly set for
widespread injustice. Divinity is the safeguard of justice.
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Justice and
Relationship
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Justice is the virtue
which is primarily concerned with the other. This is what makes justice so
important, and the reason why it comes right after prudence in the order of
primacy. With justice, we don't just realize our own private good, but are also
enabled to cultivate the good of relationships. Because it focuses on other
persons, it is a broader, more-encompassing virtue than Fortitude and
Temperance, which focus primarily on the self.
Justice is therefore absolutely essential if we want to be
happy. Without it we will fail in building relationships with those around us,
and what is more pitiful, more miserable, than a human being left only with
himself? Such a person is trapped and stifled within the narrow limits of
himself; he is self-enclosed, lonely, and unfulfilled.
The philosopher
Plato, recognizing the unhappiness of unjust persons, declared that the one who
commits injustice is more to be pitied than the one who suffers injustice.2 The
just man, by contrast, has healthy, properly ordered relationships with others,
and so has many avenues of escaping his solitude and emptiness, enjoying the
goods of friendship and society.
Now there are three
different kinds of relationship which justice promotes: relationship with God,
relationships with individuals, and relationships with societies. These are the
various "others" to whom we must give what is due. This lesson will
focus on the first of these two groups, while the next lecture will deal with
the third aspect of justice, or "social justice."
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Justice to God
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Justice concerns what we owe to others, so the question at
this point becomes, what do we owe to God? Well, quite obviously, we owe Him
everything! He has given us our very life, our existence, our salvation, and
all our other blessings. So right from the beginning, we can never attain to a
level of pure justice with God, because we can never repay our massive debt to
Him. "Man can never say to God: we are even."3
Nonetheless, we still have an obligation to at least pay
back what we can. This means giving God all that we are - our body, soul, and
spirit - and all that we have. This is simply a matter of justice, or rather,
less than justice, since we can never do for God what He has done for us.
Still, we must try to make our little offering to Him in humility. As Our Lord
said, "When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are
unprofitable servants; we have done only what we were obliged to do."4
Therefore, it is only just to obey God, to thank Him, to
worship Him. St. Thomas states that religion is strictly speaking a matter of
justice. Isn't it odd how we never think of it in those terms? Yet the fact
remains that we are obliged to try and please Him with everything that we do,
and follow all the directions He has given for our lives. One facet of striving
for justice with God is the practice of tithing. Sadly, this aspect of justice
is often lacking from the lives of many believers. They forget that God is
entitled to a portion of our earnings, that our relationship with Him demands a
financial offering as well as an offering of every other dimension of our
lives. The word "tithe" literally means "a tenth part," and
practically, it is usually best to give at least ten percent of our income to
God, through donations to the Church or to some other holy cause. (Note:
ideally, tithing should be given anonymously and without any hopes of
materially benefiting the giver).
Again, this is not a question of preference, or "going
the extra mile." We owe all this to God. It's not even justice; after all
He's done for us, it's the least we can do. But it's still an act of great
injustice against God if we fail to glorify Him, thank Him, and follow His
precepts. It's unjust for us to take His name in vain, since to do so does not
render to God the veneration owed Him. It is an act of injustice if we do not
keep holy the Lord's day, as He has asked. This is why the Catholic Church
still teaches that freely and deliberately missing Mass on Sunday is a mortal
sin. What a crime of injustice it is, after all God has given us, to deny Him
the weekly hour and a half we owe Him!
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Justice to
Individuals
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What does it take to develop and encourage good
relationships with other persons? Another way of asking this question is,
"What do I owe my neighbour?" Surely, there are many things we owe to
our neighbours, many things to which they have a right. Let's look at just a
few of them.
Innocent persons have a right to their lives. Murder is the
violation of that right, and so is unjust.
Before engaging in any sexual activity, our partner has a
right to a full, personal commitment, which can only take place through
marriage. Fornication and adultery is the violation of that right, and so is
unjust.
Persons have a right to certain material possessions. Theft
or swindling is the violation of that right. (Note: this includes any kind of
scam, where profit for one party depends on the loss of another party).
Others have a right to a good name, a good reputation.
Gossip or slander is the violation of that right, and so is unjust.
Everyone has the right to be treated courteously. Rudeness
is the violation of that right, and so is unjust.
Each person has the right to be respected. Malicious mockery
(that is, to make fun of someone with the purpose of belittling him) is the
violation of that right, and so is unjust.
Persons have the right to their spiritual dignity, that is,
to be appreciated for their full personal value (as opposed to being treated as
a merely physical object). Pornography is the violation of that right, and so
is unjust.
Others have the right to our good example. Scandal is the
violation of that right, and so is unjust.
Others have the right to truth. Lying is the violation of
that right, and so it is unjust.
Of course, there are many more kinds of injustice than those
listed here: in our pursuit of the virtue of justice, it is beneficial to
consider which kinds of injustice most characterize our dealings with others,
in order that we may more effectively root them out. Remember, justice and
injustice aren't simply about rules and rule-breaking. They're about being able
to form and sustain genuine community with the people in our lives. Only once
we realize this fact will we be able to rid our lives of the various
impediments to justice.
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Justice and Mercy
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As most people realize, justice and mercy are distinct
realities, yet few understand the profound link between the two. One person who
did understand this link was the late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, who
stated that mercy "reveals the perfection of justice."5 What then is
the difference and connection between these two attributes? Actually, the
difference is easy to articulate: Justice means to give others what we owe
them, whereas Mercy means to give others more than what we owe them.
Yet justice is not enough for relationships to thrive; mercy
is required for social interaction to function. This is evident from the fact
that we all owe and are owed more than can be paid back. For example, we all
owe our parents our life, and there is nothing so precious as life which could
be given to balance out that debt. Or take a starving person in need of food;
whatever we give that person, he will be unable to pay us back. But in these
cases, as in many others, generosity (i.e., mercy), is necessary for the
preservation of the good of proper relationships (which, as we saw, is one of
the goods we must pursue in order to be happy). Therefore, the virtue of
justice must be complimented by mercy in dealings with our neighbour.
Further, as our faith teaches us, there could be no justice
without mercy. After all, if God hadn't created human beings - which was more
than He owed us (i.e., mercy) - then there wouldn't be any issues of human
justice, since humans wouldn't even exist! And if He hadn't come down from
Heaven to redeem us - which was also more than He owed us (i.e., mercy) - then
we'd never have been freed from the slavery of sinful injustice. This shows us
that God's mercy comes before and goes far beyond his justice.
The Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit have always been merciful to humanity, most especially when the
Second Person of the Trinity became incarnate and died in order to restore the
proper relationship between God and man. We are expected to do the same: we
must go beyond the strict limits of justice and be generous, merciful, and
forgiving.
Divine mercy is to be
our model, as the parable of the Unmerciful servant so eloquently expresses.
"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against
us." Every Christian must give to others more than they are owed if he
would follow Christ's commandments. In the words of the Gospel: "You have
heard that it was said, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say
to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on
your cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law
with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you
into service for mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of
you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow."6 The devoted
disciple of Our Lord will never be satisfied with mere justice; he will
recognize the need to go further and delve into mercy.
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Justice and Love
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An important
distinction must also be made between justice and love. The distinction lies in
the fact that justice deals with our neighbour; justice makes us fulfill our
obligations to others. To put it simply, justice tells me what I have to do for
you. In love, however, we join others to ourselves, we unite with them so that
their happiness becomes identical with our own. In love, it's not about me and
you: it's about us.
So when we love
someone, we don't talk about what we owe that person, or about the obligations
to that person in justice. The notions of obligation, debt, or duty do not
enter into the mind-frame of love, for with love there is only a willing and
cheerful desire to serve the beloved. If, for instance, if a man truly loves a
woman, he won't think, "What do I owe her?" Rather, he'll think,
"How can I make her happy?" because her happiness has been united to
his happiness, in such a way that the two are inseparable.
This is our goal in
dealing with God and neighbour; we should try to go beyond justice. We need to
try and get beyond thinking in terms of debt and obligation, and arrive at the
point where we value God's happiness before all else, and value our neighbour's
happiness as much as our own. This is the ultimate goal, the goal of love. We
will speak more about the meaning of love when we discuss Charity.
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Social
Justice
Or: Our Obligations to Societies
As we saw in the last section, justice is the virtue whereby
we give others what we owe them. We have already discussed justice in relation
to individuals (God and neighbour), as well as the proper relation between
justice and the closely connected themes of love and mercy. Now we will look at
how we are to preserve our proper relationship to various groups of people.
This is the topic of social justice.
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The Family
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The most basic and fundamental of all human societies is the
family. Oftentimes the family as such is disregarded, and moral attention is
either restricted to the level of the individual, or is expanded to the level
of larger communities. This is a grave mistake, for without the solid
foundation of healthy families, both the individual (who is originally formed
within the family) and the larger society (which is constituted by a multitude
of families) will become disordered and dysfunctional. Consequently, it is
crucial to look at what we each owe our families.
Firstly, what are the obligations of children in families? A
common error is to assume that all children are mere recipients of familial
benefits, without duties of their own. On the contrary, children have a debt to
their family which must be paid as well as possible. Children owe their parents
gratitude, respect, and deference, which should, under normal circumstances express
itself through obedience. Children owe their siblings a special affection and
loyalty. They especially owe their families time, for only by making time to be
present can children contribute to the solidification of family relationships.
There is currently a popular misconception about families
that presumes children will be estranged from their parents and rude to them,
and that they will resent their siblings and only interact with them through
quarrelling. Children are expected to take their family members for granted, or
treat their families as an embarrassment. This model of the family goes
directly against justice, and it is every Catholic's obligation to try and
reform this image of the family, beginning with their own.
Secondly, what do mothers owe their families? In answer this
question it is well to call upon the authority and insight of the late Pope
John Paul II, in his treatment on the rights and role of women in society, in
his apostolic exhortation, Familiaris Consortio.1 The Holy Father begins by
stating that the perfect model for women is to be found in Our Lady. She is the
ideal of femininity. He goes on to affirm the right of women to be admitted to
public positions and offices.
However, he also states that the good of women will never be
truly promoted before clear recognition is "given to the value of their
maternal and family role, by comparison with all other public roles and all
other professions." John Paul explicitly emphasizes the "original and
irreplaceable meaning of work in the home and in rearing children. Finally he
declares that "the mentality which honors women more for their work
outside the home than for their work within the family must be overcome...
society should create and develop conditions favoring work in the home."
To summarize, the Holy Father is calling attention to the
nobility and absolute necessity of those women who dedicate themselves to
rearing children and creating a family environment. How different is the Pope's
perspective from the usual one which greets "stay at home moms" in
today's mentality! Today full-time motherhood is considered tantamount to a
failed life. "What does your Mom do?" "Oh, she doesn't do
anything. She's just a stay-home mom. She doesn't have a job." Work as a
housewife and mother is regarded as insignificant.
On the contrary, experience shows that this work is
absolutely indispensable to the flourishing of family life and to the
civilization as a whole. Stay at home mothers therefore have the most important
and most difficult jobs; after all, whether society succeeds or collapses
depends on the family, and the mother takes care of the family.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church also sheds light on the
important obligations of mothers to their families. It states that the prime
educators of children are the parents, and that it's practically impossible to
substitute for them. It says that a home must be created where virtue, love,
and holiness are going to flourish.2 So
who's going to do all this? Who's going to care for the children, educate and
form them, and create a proper home for them?
This is not to say that mothers must never seek work outside
the home. Certainly, there are instances when this choice is inevitable.
Nonetheless, ideally the focus of mothers should be on that challenging task of
home and family life. We must all do what we can to make society more conducive
to and supportive of mothers carrying out their sacred vocation.
Thirdly, what do fathers owe their families? Like mothers,
fathers must share in the role of forming and educating their children. To
quote again from John Paul II: "Where social and cultural conditions so
easily encourage a father to be less concerned with his family, or at any rate
less involved in the work of education, efforts must be made to restore
socially the conviction that the place and task of the father in and for the
family is of unique and irreplaceable importance."3
In other words, fathers owe it to their families, to their
wives and children, to be present to them, and concerned with their personal
(not just material!) well-being. This age has often been called an age without
fathers, due to the common failure of fathers to assume their responsibilities
towards their families. For a father to forsake his family, or become
uninvolved in his family, is not only a sin of cowardice; it is a sin of
injustice, and one that brings great harm. "As experience teaches, the
absence of a father causes psychological and moral imbalance and notable
difficulties in family relationships."4
Fathers must make time for their families. Certainly,
fathers are normally called to work outside the home, but this work is never to
be a cause of division or abandoning the family. Rather, career work is to be
moderate, and always directed towards the promotion of the family's stability
and unity.
Finally, what are the obligations of spouses towards each
other? Spouses owe each other a debt of committed service and devotion.
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Our Nation
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The country to which we belong has the right to expect
certain things from us as citizens. The privileges and benefits which accompany
belonging to a specific nation also carry with it certain responsibilities,
among them gratitude, honor and service.
Regarding government officials, we owe them a certain
respect for their position. It has become commonplace to treat civil servants
as fodder for all manner of contempt, ridicule, and defamation. This is an
injustice which does disservice to public leaders as individuals and to the
common good which they oversee. It is undoubtedly legitimate and often required
that we make our criticisms known to government officials, or even work for
their removal from power, but the mockery of those in authority unjustly
undermines personal dignity and national welfare.
Also, we owe our nation loyalty and devotion. Of course,
this does not mean that we must be blind to the injustice perpetuated by our
country and its leaders. True patriotism demands that we seek to end all the
injustice disfiguring our beautiful country, especially the legalized crime of
abortion.
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Other Nations
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We are also under particular obligations to foreign
countries. We owe them our respect and just treatment. Just as we have a duty
to never manipulate other persons as mere means to our own ends, we must also
use the same principle when dealing with the various peoples of the earth. All
nations are intrinsically valuable in themselves, and are not simply ways of
getting what we want. Finally, we owe it to other nations to lend support and
aid in times of need (although never in such a way as would be really damaging
to our own country).
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Future Generations
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Realizing that this world is not only our home, but also the
dwelling for all humanity which descends from us, it is critical to see to it
that we do right by those coming generations. Hence we owe it to them to be
careful stewards of the earth's material resources, but more importantly, we
have a duty to pass on to future generations the transmission of spiritual
goods in our possession: truth, Catholic cultural heritage, virtue, etc...
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The Church
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The Church is the supernatural society to which we, as
Catholics, belong and from which we receive the salvific grace of Christ. In
return for these heavenly gifts, we are obliged to make a return to this
spiritual organization which exists to sanctify us.
Practically speaking, this means we are to be obedient to
Church teaching on matters of faith and morals. We are also to support Church
officials - the Pope, our bishops, our priests and deacons - through our
finances, our friendship, and especially our prayers.
We must also see to it that we are obedient to the pastoral
decrees of the Pope and bishops, and that we lend our respect and our aid to
our parish priests. To fail in these duties is to fail in gratitude and in
justice, and it will lead to the distress of Our Holy Mother Church.
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Work
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One area of life which should be discussed under the heading
of justice is the area of work. Many would be surprised to hear that work is
one of our obligations to God, to neighbour, and to society as a whole, but
such is the fact. We remember that from the beginning, back in the Garden of
Eden, God gave man dominion over all the earth, and commanded him to subdue
it.5 Hence, He calls us to cooperate with
Him and with each other in bringing this world to perfection. This is the
beautiful gift of work. Our work, whatever it is that we do (student, business
man, stay-home-mom, receptionist, sanitation engineer, etc...) is not simply
for the sake of earning money. Rather, it is for the sake of making this world
a better place.
Perhaps you have never considered how your job helps make
the world a better place. Now is the time: ask yourself, "What good does
my job do?" and look for the deeper significance to your labors. Once you
find that good purpose, that deeper significance, cling to it tightly; don't
ever forget it. Often times our jobs are tedious, unpleasant, and
disheartening. During those times, if we maintain a conscious awareness of the
good we are doing by our jobs, we can stay motivated to do quality work.
Also, when we find that good purpose to our employment, it
helps us comprehend the fact that giving a weak effort at work is an injustice
on many levels. Not only is it a cheating of our neighbours (in the person of
our employer and co-workers), it is also a failure to serve the society as a
whole and a refusal of God's commandment to make the world a better place.
(What if you can't find any purpose to your work? What if
your job really doesn't seem to make the world a better place? If that is the
case, then it is time for some very careful examination, because to be engaged
in a useless or destructive task is unjust to God and to society.)
This stress on the importance of noble work is not meant to
imply that our jobs are everything. How we view work must be in proper
proportion to the rest of our lives. For example, if our work is detracting
from the time we owe our families, then of course in justice we have to back
off and be more balanced with our career schedules. But work is still an
important dimension of justice, and as such demands our attentive reflection.
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Fortitude
Or: The Determination to Become Happy
In our lives many
situations arise in which it becomes difficult to do the right thing, even when
we know what it is. There may be all sorts of reasons for why it is
disagreeable to act according to what we know is best. In order to stay strong,
to do what is good, we need the third cardinal virtue, known alternately as
fortitude, courage, or bravery. This is the virtue by which we do the right
thing, even in the midst of hardship.
Fortitude helps us to
overcome any dangers, obstacles, and fears; it enables a person to withstand
whatever difficulties may block him from attaining his true goal. Classically,
fortitude was that virtue which made a man willing to fight and even
potentially die in battle. It was seen as the virtue of the soldier, who was
determined to offer his life for the sake of a greater good. Now, we Catholics
believe that we too are soldiers, that we too are engaged in battle, although
the battle is not a physical one, but rather spiritual. We too, must be willing
to offer our lives for the greatest good, namely, the glory of God. In early
Christian times, and even in parts of the world today, this possibility of
being killed for the sake of the faith was and is very present, and so the
Church has been provided with the most shining examples of fortitude, namely,
the martyrs.
This is the call of
every Catholic: to possess fortitude to the extent that we willingly offer up
our lives for God and the Church. Although we probably won't be literally
killed for our faith, still we must be prepared to make all kinds of great
sacrifices in living out our Catholic identity.
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Fortitude lies
between Extremes
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All the cardinal virtues exist as forms of balance, and so
must be carefully distinguished from the various excesses which threaten to
substitute for virtue. This is especially true in the case of fortitude, with
can easily degenerate into one of the following extremes:
Firstly, Brashness. Brashness is the vice of lacking a
proper awareness of or concern for real danger. A brash man, an excessively
bold man, foolishly charges into dangers and difficulties that could have been
avoided. He is the one who goes looking for trouble, who enjoys risk for its
own sake. But there is nothing virtuous about needlessly courting danger; such
an attitude is foolhardy, not brave.
Secondly, Cowardice. Cowardice is the vice of refusing to
take a prudent risk or making a prudent sacrifice because of fear. It is the
abandonment of the greater good due to the terror of sustaining loss and hurt.
The coward is so concerned with total self-preservation that he becomes
crippled in relation to the world; the world presents itself not as an
opportunity for attaining goods, but rather as a collection of personal
threats.
Such a person is incapable of take advantage of the joy and
happiness of life. The virtue of fortitude helps steer a middle course, as it helps
overcome fear and yet restrains excessive boldness. It is interesting to note
that someone who is brash or cowardly will be unable to comprehend courage. The
too-fearful person tells the courageous man, "You're crazy! Always taking
risks! What a daredevil!" Whereas the too-bold person tells the courageous
man, "You're a wimp! Always playing it careful, like a frightened
chicken." One can always tell a balanced, virtuous person, because all
those around him will be accusing him of opposite extremes. As G.K. Chesterton
pointed out, if half the people declare a certain man to be too tall, and the
other half declare him to be too short, one can reasonably assume that man is
just the right height.1 This is the
balanced life that every Christian must strive for, an integral dimension of
which is fortitude.
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Fortitude, Fear, and Love
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An illuminating principle for understanding the virtue of
courage is the following: In order to have courage you must have fear, and in
order to have fear you must have love. Let's unpack this idea a little bit:
Courage means being able to overcome fear in order to pursue
the greater good. This is not the same as being fearless; quite the contrary,
the fearless person can never be truly brave. This is because fear is based on
love for something, and a desire not to lose it. But if a person does not love
the thing he risks, does not value it, then where is the merit in risking it? A
suicidal maniac, for example, is not brave because he risks his life for
anything; he is stupid for not recognizing the value of his life, and for so
casually placing his life in danger.
A brave man experiences fear because he loves the thing he
is risking, and so he is afraid to lose it. No one fears the loss of something
he does not love and value. Yet what makes a person able to be brave is that he
values the thing he is pursuing more than the thing he is risking. Courage
means the willingness to sacrifice something lesser for something greater.
In the gospels Our Lord give us two illustrations of this
willingness to sacrifice. The first is of a man who finds a treasure buried in
a field. The man sells "all that he owns" in order to purchase the
field and acquire the treasure. The second story is about a man who finds a
very valuable pearl ("the pearl of great price"), and sells
everything he has in order to buy it.2 These parables do not describe brash
men, men who liquidate their assets over any passing impulse; rather, these two
men are prudent enough to recognize that which is most desirable in life, and
are brave enough to sacrifice everything they have so they can possess it.
Really then, the first step in gaining fortitude is to ask
yourself, "What do I value the most?" Another way to ask the same
question is, "What do I fear losing the most?" We must deliberately
construct a hierarchy in our mind, with the most valuable thing at the top, and
then be willing to pursue that one thing at the expense of everything else. So
what do you see as your number one goal in life? Is it high academic grades? Is
it human society? Is it excitement, or deep emotional experience? Is it success
at work, or maybe someone of the opposite sex? Or is it your relationship with
God? Which of these things do you love/value the most? Which of these is the
last thing in your life you'd be willing to sacrifice?
To have courage, it is absolutely essential to first have
your priorities straight. A man who pursues a lesser good at the expense of a
greater good is not brave, but stupid. It is stupid to exchange a dollar for a
penny, and it is of no profit to a man if he gains the whole world and loses
his soul. Courage is about ordering your loves and fears so that you fear most
the loss of what is truly most valuable. Only then will you be able to overcome
lesser fears in carrying out what is right. Pray then to the Holy Spirit for
His gift of the "Fear of the Lord," which allows us to fear the loss
of His love before all else.
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The Two Forms of Courage: Attack and Endurance
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fortitude is lived out in different ways, according to
different conditions of the concrete situation. The first of these involves a
direct attack on whatever evil is attempting to hinder the promotion of
goodness. This kind of courage is sometimes called holy wrath. Holy wrath is
frequently neglected in the life of the Christian, since many believers make
the mistake of identifying anger as an un-Christian feeling. They forget that
there can be holy anger, an outrage which rises up against some atrocity. They
forget that it is sometimes proper for us to get "fed up" about evil,
and that if we just stay even keel, we will never do anything to change it. Our
Lord certainly manifested this holy wrath on various occasions. For instance,
in His diatribes against the Pharisees, or in His violently casting the
money-changers out of the temple. He encountered evil, grew angry, and directed
His anger in an attack upon that evil. We too must sometimes respond this way
to evil in the world, by taking the offensive against it. Things like abortion,
pornography, prostitution, blasphemy, etc... are not going to go away on their
own, and only when we finally get upset about it will we get involved in the
fight against these things.
For example, a video rental store near my hometown began
aggressively advertising their pornographic films, placing them in the front
and center of the store. Two college students noticed the change, were
appalled, and went around the surrounding community collecting petitions for
the store to rid itself of such movies.
Enough petitions were collected, and the store complied with
the demand, which it surely would not have done had it not been for the efforts
of these two principled young persons. The point is that our faith is not a
faith of pure passivity. Courage demands that we be ready to act, to stand up
for what we know to be right.
A second form of courage is needed for those times when the
only viable option is to suffer patiently and endure the trials that beset us.
In these situations, directly attacking the evil is ineffective; what is
required is a persistent pursuit of the good in holy patience. In fact,
patience is the supreme test of fortitude, for when a person has run out of
other options, patience still enables him to hold his ground and persevere
through any oppressing hardship. The measure of courage is endurance.
So, ask yourself, what hardship is present in your life, and
just won't go away? Is it some addiction you can't break? Some disappointment
you can't get over? Do you have some kind of chronic problem? Are your family
relationships or your friendships always strained? Is there something you've
never been good at? Are you depressed? Can you not figure out your vocation?
What is that difficulty that you just can't fix, no matter how hard you try?
Because in that difficulty is the opportunity to prove
yourself brave: will you persevere in doing the good, in spite of whatever
problems continue to weigh on you? For example, let's say you can't manage to
stop a certain vice: will you keep going to confession, and keep trying to do
better? If so, that's fortitude. Or maybe you're in a marriage that is terribly
unhappy, that is deeply unsatisfying to both you and your spouse.
Will you stick it out, continue trying to love your spouse
and children, and asking God for the graces to bring peace into your family? If
so, then you are proving your bravery, and you will be greatly rewarded for
your courage. It's also important to keep in mind that endurance, or patience,
is not a virtue for downcast, pessimistic, broken people. Patient, persevering
people are not the ones who say, "Yeah, you know what, I don't even care
anymore, so whatever." As opposed to the state of dejection, "to be
patient means to preserve cheerfulness and serenity of mind in spite of
injuries that result from the realization of the good."3 Patience is not
something that belongs to sad, weak people, but rather to the strong and
joyful. In the words of St. Hildegard, "Patience is the pillar which
nothing can soften." The reason is that what motivates patience, like what
motivates all the virtues, is the desire for the good that we want to obtain.
Patience comes from that wise realization that "What's worth having is
worth waiting for."
But how will you know whether you should be courageous
through attack or through endurance? The answer to this question is simply
said, but hard to carry out: in order to discern how to be brave, one needs the
virtue of prudence. (Recall that prudence is the virtue which allows us to see
what decision is needed in any given situation).
Ultimately, such prudence comes from a prayerful
relationship with God. A good daily prayer that asks for the twin virtues of
prudence and fortitude is the following: "Lord, God, grant me the patience
to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference."
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Fortitude and Hope
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Before a person can pursue the greater good courageously, he
has to actually believe that the greater good exists and is capable of being
obtained. This is Hope: to acknowledge the highest good and one's capacity to
acquire it. The opposite of this is a form of despair: not to believe in
supreme happiness, but to think that the best a person can achieve is passing
pleasure or thrills.
The tragedy is the great number of those who really think
that's it. They think, "Yeah, you can have a good time here or there, a
few kicks, but perfect happiness is just an illusion." These people live
in despair, and no one in despair can ever be courageous. They are incapable of
ever being thoroughly brave, of laying down their lives for some higher good,
because they don't even believe in a higher good.
The only source of fortitude is a constant reminding of the
good that awaits us through the virtues, that is, complete enjoyment of all the
basic human goods. Only perfect happiness is worth dying for, and really, only
perfect happiness is worth living for.
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Our Top Fear: Fortitude and Public Witness
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since courage is about overcoming fear for the sake of a
greater good, it's probably a good idea to try and figure out what our top fear
is. Time and time again, studies show what Americans are most afraid of: it
isn't heights, it isn't mice, it isn't even death - it's public speaking.
Americans especially dislike speaking publicly about important and
controversial matters, because such conversation usually feels awkward, and
Americans hate to say awkward things in public. And nothing is quite so
important, controversial, and awkward as talking with conviction about one's
religious beliefs. So most of us would rather never discuss our faith as long
as we lived.
Still, as Catholics, speaking up about our faith isn't
really an option. Our Lord sent out His first followers to spread His teaching
and His salvation and the same is expected of us. Many Catholics like to quote
a dictum attributed to St. Francis, "Preach always, and when necessary use
words." This is indeed a beautiful saying, but no one who is serious about
their faith, least of all St. Francis, would ever interpret him to mean that we
can avoid using words as a tool for evangelizing to those around us.
We have got to start making a conscious effort to verbally
witness to our faith, even in difficult situations. For example, when people
say things against the Church, or against our moral code, when people make foul
jokes against the dignity of women, or against the priesthood, we have a duty
to stand up for what we believe. If we're at somebody's house, and something
inappropriate comes on the screen, we need to have the guts to say something,
or at least to leave the room.
Most importantly, we need to have the courage to try and
invite people to Christ and the Church. Of course it's intimidating, any many
will not come; our obligation is simply to make the invitation, and then let
the Holy Spirit take care of the rest. (Think of how Philip simply said
"Come and See" to Nathaniel.)4 If we don't even make the gesture,
what does that say about our own dedication as Catholics?
Fulton Sheen told a story of two good friends who were
partners together in a law-firm. The first was a Catholic, and the second an
unbeliever. The latter became terminally ill, and upon visiting him the
Catholic friend asked, "Don't you want to make your peace with God before
you die?" The sick man answered him, "All the years we have been
friends and colleagues, you've never once spoken with me about religious
matters. If your faith has mattered so little to you in your life, of what use
can it be to me at my death?"
Pray to God for the grace to overcome cowardice, for the
strength to courageously witness to the truth of salvation before it is too
late.
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Temperance
Or: Avoiding Ruin
Throughout our lives, we will all have struggles against
temptations for what we know to be detrimental to ourselves and others.
Temperance is the virtue which counteracts these temptations. Temperance
enables us to keep from doing what is wrong, even when we have strong feelings
for it. In other words, temperance is what keeps us from sinning, even when we
want to.
Notice that temperance is the last of the cardinal virtues.
That's because temperance is about maintaining the good, but you can only
maintain the good if you already have some idea of what the good is and how to
acquire it. That's why we needed to discuss prudence (which is how we know the
good) and justice and fortitude (which is how we do the good), before we
discuss temperance, which is how we avoid doing evil, or losing the good.
The problem is that most people see the major goal of the
Christian life as the avoidance of sin. If someone were to ask the question
"What's a good Christian?" most people would answer in purely
negative terms: "A good Christian is someone who doesn't fornicate, or
masturbate, or get drunk, or do drugs, or be mean to people, or tell dirty
jokes, or steal." This is hardly an accurate answer. People in comas don't
do any of these things, neither does my neutered dog (named Max), neither do
some terribly evil people, neither do the demons - but when we think of ideal
Christians, hopefully we don't think of comatose persons, or Max, or evil
persons, or fallen angels.
Someone isn't a good Christian, or even a good person,
because he doesn't do certain things, but because he does certain things,
because he pursues the goods of live, because he strives to promote beauty,
health, holiness, friendship, truth, etc... We have to make sure that our focus
is more on doing good than on avoiding evil. In the moral life, the best
defense is a good offense. That's why prudence is the last in the order of
virtues, though it's just as indispensable as the others.
At this point, it may be helpful to sum up the four cardinal
virtues with the analogy of learning to drive a car. If you want to learn to
drive, the first thing you need to learn is how to steer the car; this
corresponds to the virtue of prudence. Next, you will have to learn to be aware
of surrounding traffic, to be able to relate to other cars on the road; this
skill corresponds to the virtue of justice. Thirdly, you'll have to learn how
to use the accelerator, how to depress the pedal with sufficient (but not
excessive) force for propelling you to your destination. Lastly, you have to
learn how do avoid crashes and mechanical failures; this ability corresponds to
the virtue of temperance.
Clearly, the main purpose of a car isn't just avoiding
crashes, but rather arriving at a destination. So too, the main purpose of life
isn't just avoiding sin, but rather attaining perfect happiness. Nonetheless,
if the car crashes or breaks down, it's not going to get you very far, and if we
don't avoid sin, we're not going to become very happy. So even though
temperance is not to be confused with the Christian's ultimate goal, it is
still an essential prerequisite for happiness.
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Overcoming Concupiscence
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Concupiscence is a fancy theological word that describes the
human desire for things we know aren't good for us. Diabetics sometimes have
sugar cravings, alcoholics sometimes desire whisky, and we all sometimes just
long for something sinful. We want something good in a disordered way. Recall
the first lesson, where we saw that all evil comes from an inappropriate mode
of pursuing a good. It is a constant human temptation to go after one good by
doing damage to another good. When we do that, we hurt ourselves and others.
Temperance prevents us from acting on these dangerous urges.
It allows us to govern our desires, instead allowing our desires to govern us.
For an intemperate person - that is, someone who permits their impulses to run
rampant - it is much harder to see the truth, and much harder to do what is
right. One's life is run by emotional drives, instead of by prudence, justice,
and fortitude. But temperance takes the reigns from the urges and gives it back
to the first three virtues. In a way, one could say that temperance allows the
other virtues to get their job done.
Also, temperance safeguards whatever good it is that we are
pursuing. If a person pursues a good in a disordered way, he is sure to end up
hating that good. For example, alcohol is a good thing, but nobody hates
alcohol more than an alcoholic; he hates it because it's separated him from
everything else: his family, his job, his self-respect, etc...
Sexuality, too, is a good thing, but no one hates it more
than a nymphomaniac, because through her slavery to desire she has degraded
herself and let herself be degraded by others in terrible ways. The point is
that addiction ruins appreciation; an uncontrolled over-focus on just one good
at the expense of all others will not only cause a person to lose all the other
goods, it'll also make him cry out in remorse, "I gave my life for that?!
Temperance, therefore, by directing our desires and overcoming concupiscence,
protects the human goods and happiness as a whole.
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Temperance lies between Extremes
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As is the case with fortitude, certain excesses must be
avoided to achieve genuine temperance. The first of these extremes is a lack of
self-control, that is, intemperance. We have already talked a bit about this
vice; this is when a person can't control any of their impulses, and so he
follows wherever they lead at any given moment. Such indulgence inevitably
leads to disaster; to continue the above analogy, intemperance results in a car
wreck.
But the second extreme is also to be discouraged, namely
insensibility. This is the undesirable condition in which the person is not even
attracted to the goods of life. One should be attracted to sex, to food, to
achievement, to social life, etc... Temperance is only admirable if it is
accompanied by a healthy appreciation for the goods of life.
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Forms of Intemperance
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a practical aid to advancing in temperance, it's good to
do a basic review of certain temptations against which many of us struggle.
Intemperance in the areas of food and drink is called
gluttony. Regarding food, the question isn't just how much does a person eats
(although that's part of it); there can also be sins which arise from being
extremely picky, or attached to a certain kind of food. Many people make those
around them miserable by refusing to eat anything other than exactly what they
want. As C.S. Lewis points out, every time a person is grumpy, impatient,
uncharitable, or self-concerned because of their stomach, it's a case of
gluttony.
The vice connected with alcohol is called drunkenness. In
drunkenness (and also illegal drug use), we take our beautiful nature, a
masterpiece of creation, and we contort and twist it into something ugly. We
take the noble, dignified child of God and turn him into a creature that is
low, unintelligent, and out-of-control. It is a direct self-debasement, and
hinders our capacity for the basic human goods.
The form of intemperance which is generally of most interest
to people is intemperance with regard to sexuality. Of course sexuality, like
all the other human goods, is appropriate to and fulfilling of the human
condition. It is fitting to desire physical union with the beloved, and to
experience an accompanying pleasure when that desire is fulfilled.
Lust, however, is the vice which simply uses the other
person for sexual gratification. Lust disregards the true good of the other
(and oneself) in order to get what one wants. In fact, a good tactic for trying
to tell if you're lusting is the following: ask yourself, "Am I really
thinking about the happiness of the other person, or simply trying to enjoy
myself?"
Lust can take place in either of two ways. The first
possibility lies in lust before marriage. Fornication, for example, is sexual
activity with a person to whom one is not married (note that this includes
behaviors besides just intercourse). Pornography, or any visual sexual
objectification of a person is another widespread form of lust (note that
making use of someone sexually doesn't require the sense of touch; the eyes are
equally capable). Finally, masturbation is a form of intemperance that
completely dispenses with the good of interpersonal love, and so goes contrary
to human happiness.
Nor does the potential for lust disappear with marriage.
Obviously, opportunities to fail in temperance through adultery, pornography
and masturbation remain, and so the married man must stay on his guard. There
can even be a selfish, pleasure-seeking use of one's own spouse, where the
focus is more on getting gratification than on loving. Prayers to St. Joseph,
the model of married chastity, are especially powerful in overcoming such
temptations.
Immodesty is the vice that encourages lust, and is
particularly common in our society in the way people dress. Women must ask
themselves, as they look at their clothes (or lack thereof!), "What
response are these clothes designed to elicit?" If the answer is
"sexual stimulation," then it is best not to wear the outfit in
public. Of course, everyone wants to be desired, but the real question is:
desired how, and by whom? By God, as a beautiful, infinitely valued child? By a
loving, respectful man? Or by anyone who wants to manipulate your body as a
tool for his own physical satisfaction? Never seek the attention of anyone
other than those first two options.
As we have seen, anger is sometimes perfectly fitting for a
given situation. It can be used to correct an evil, can motivate us to end some
injustice. However, anger becomes intemperate when it is, a) inappropriate for
the circumstances, that is, the anger is too long or too intense, or b) seeks
to hurt others, get revenge, protect our egos, or show our importance and
power. Such anger is not constructive, not directed towards a good. It is
destructive, and hence temperance demands that it be carefully restrained.
The vice of pride is a sin against temperance, as it
exaggerates one's own importance; pride is when a person acts as though he is
more significant than he really is. Temperance with regards to self-image is
called humility. Everyone is guilty of at least some degree of pride, and the
following list (compiled by St. Josemaria Escriva) is a good criteria for
locating your dominant form of pride:
"Always wanting to get your own way; Thinking that what
you do or say is better than what others do or say; arguing when you are not
right; arguing when you are right but with bad manners or insisting stubbornly;
giving your opinion without being asked, when charity does not demand you to do
so; despising the point of view of others; not being aware that all the gifts
and qualities you have are on loan (from God) feeling anxiety and fear (a lack
of trust); Speaking badly about yourself, so that they may form a good opinion
of you; making excuses when rebuked; being hurt that others are held in greater
esteem than you; refusing to carry out menial tasks; seeking or wanting to be
singled out; dropping words of self-praise in conversation, or words that might
show your wit or skill, or your professional prestige; being ashamed of not
having certain possessions."
These characteristics are all symptoms of exulting one's own
identity to the detriment of the other goods. It is very humbling to reflect on
one's own pride, but hopefully that reflection can lead to the amendment of
excessive self-assertion and even excessive self-consciousness.
One final point about intemperance deals with the phenomenon
of modern entertainment. In a culture of ipods, portable dvd players, home
televisions, car radios, cell-phones, and video games, we are perpetually
bombarded with services designed for our personal amusement. And not
surprisingly, for we all normally have some daily free time, and we seek to
fill that time with enjoyable forms of recreation.
The question, then, is: Do we seek out entertainment that is
destructive instead of edifying? Do we look at pornography, or get involved in
celebrity gossip? Assuredly, these degenerative amusements will not refresh or
renew us, but will leave us more depleted and less capable of pursuing
happiness. Other areas of entertainment, while not being in themselves evil,
are nonetheless very susceptible of taking too much of our focus, and can
become distractions from that which has a greater demand on our time. For
example, there's may be nothing wrong with watching a football game every now
and then. However, often sports viewing becomes an obsession, or detracts from
religious and family obligations. The same is true of concern with news, and
staying up to date on international affairs (the majority of which cannot be
influenced by us in any way). Or do we become addicted to low-grade
entertainment: mediocre movies, inane sitcoms, soap operas, poor quality songs
we've heard a hundred times? Do we use these things to just kill time, to waste
the precious moments we've been given to acquire virtue and gain happiness?
This is not to deny
the absolute necessity of genuine recreation. We all need to be able to take a
break, relax, and engage in some stress-relieving activity. But that activity
should be worthwhile, not morally offensive or a simple frittering away of
time. Further, whatever leisure we pursue, temperance demands that we not
become addicted to it to the point of failing to meet the other obligations of
life.
So in what area are
you intemperate? What desire, what urge dominates you to the point of harming
your capacity for virtue and goodness? Pray to God to reveal to you your
weaknesses in the areas of self-control, and to give you the strength to free
you from all addictions through the virtue of temperance.
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Courtesy of:
http://www.schooloffaith.com/
Printed with
permission from eCatholicHub.
