Diocese of Toledo, Ohio

Browsing From the Pastor

April 2nd/3rd Bulletin Article

Dear Friends,

            Last week, I began discussing the deadly sins, known as the capital sins, and gave them a brief bit of context based on the Purgatorio section of the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. Today, I want to pivot and discuss virtue before going ahead and delving more deeply into the deadly sins. Virtue isn’t something discussed all that often, even though it should be. Perhaps the only time we hear about virtue in regard to patience. I remember adults telling me as a child that patience is a virtue. In simplistic terms, virtue is a good habit, but at the same time, it is far more than that. Virtue is a word coming from the Latin word vir. Vir has two meanings: man as in male (as opposed to the general man in “mankind” or “humankind”) and strength. Virtues are strengths, and virtues are about living freedom.

            As I mentioned, a virtue is more than a good habit, but that definition is helpful. A habit is something that we do without effort and even without thinking. Typically, we think of our bad habits (vices), and it seems like we have little control over these vices: taking the Lord’s name in vain, flying off the handle in rage, and more. We may think that living out the virtues is arduous and laborious; we may think it’s too difficult to the point of being impossible.

            Here’s another way to think about a virtue. A great basketball doesn’t have to think about shooting, dribbling, or passing; he or she just does those things. A great tennis player doesn’t have to think about hitting the ball; he or she just does it. A world-renowned pianist just plays the piano without thinking. Someone fluent in multiple languages can speak them without fumbling over grammar, syntax, diction. Basketball and tennis players possess the virtues of basketball and tennis; musicians possess the virtues of music; someone speaking other languages possess the virtues of that language. It takes them little effort and thinking to do those activities, but for the rest of us, we struggle to do any of those things well, and it probably takes a great amount of effort. We are not free to do those things, but they are engage in those activities freely. However, it’s important to know that even if they had natural talent they also had to spend hours practicing and learning the laws and rules of those activities. They had to practice something well repeatedly before it became second-nature.

            Let’s go back to what we normally think of when it comes to virtue: patience, prudence, courage, and more. Living these virtues means we live well and live the life of heaven. However, we know from experience that we often do live the virtues very well. We want God to simply give us the virtues, but the reality is that we have to practice the virtues repeatedly. We have to learn the laws and rules of God and make them a part of our thinking. The more we practice the virtues, the easier it will become to actually live them out freely. The more we live out the virtues, the more freedom we enjoy: we struggle less and less to do to good, and our vices and sins have less of a hold over us.

            As a quick aside, there are the cardinal virtues: prudence, courage, justice, and temperance. There are also the theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity (love). At some point we may discuss these, but next week, we will return to the capital, or deadly, sins, and the virtues that oppose them.

            We are saints under construction, seeking to live the virtuous life and live the life of Heaven even now. Have a great week!

 

In Christ,

Fr. Matt

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