Virtues Continuing the discussion

What is a virtue?  A habit  Perfects the powers of the soul  Disposes one to “do good”  God gives us grace which allows us to do the right thing  Catholics believe that virtues prepare us to recognize, accept and cooperate with God’s grace

Four Cardinal Virtues  The basis for moral life  The “hinges” (cardo Latin for hinge) that support human life

Prudence  How to reason well in moral decision- making  Wise judgment  Knowing the appropriate time, place & manner to conduct oneself. To know and judge when to speak & when to stay quiet.  The opposite of being impulsive  Stopping to think before acting

Justice: promoting fairness & equality; giving others their due 1.COMMUTATIVE: fairness in relationships between individuals (e.g., contracts, restitution) 2.DISTRIBUTIVE: fairness between individuals & a group (e.g. government’s responsibility to all its people, sharing of food and resources) 3.SOCIAL: fairness between individuals/groups and one another (e.g. Common Good, public welfare)  Justice is about loving your neighbour

Temperance  Being moderate in the exercise of emotions  Using balance in life between pleasure and self-control  Knowing your limits and keeping them  Establishing, respecting and enforcing boundaries

Fortitude  How to be courageous in the face of life’s difficulties  Persevering in times of trouble  Courage to do the right thing, no matter the outcome  Helps overcome temptation

Theological Virtues  A source of energy for perfecting our relationship with God  Draw us into a deeper understanding and relationship with God

Faith: belief in God as gift & response  Faith invites us to believe in God and to accept or reject Him  We believe in God and believe all that God has revealed to us  We freely commit our entire selves to God  We seek to know and do God’s will.

Hope: enables us to live for the Kingdom & eternal life  Helps us to overcome discouragement  Works with faith and love to give us confidence to live a better life  We desire eternal life and the graces to merit it  We trust in Christ’s promises & rely on the help of the Holy Spirit  God placed the desire for happiness in the heart of every person: hope responds to this desire

Love/Charity The greatest theological virtue  Gives the commandment to love all things, including one’s neighbour  God is Love, and Love is God  Love makes all things possible  We love God above all things, and our neighbour as ourselves  By loving others, we imitate the love of Jesus which we receive  Inspires the practice of all the virtues  Upholds and purifies our human ability to love

The Seven Deadly Sins (1 st 3)  Pride:  overly high opinion of self, conceit, arrogance, vanity, self-satisfaction  Greed:  excessive desire for acquiring or having, desire for more than one needs/deserves  Lust:  intense sexual desire, to long after or for

7 Deadly Sins (The last 4)  Anger:  strong feeling excited by real or supposed injury, often with desire for vengeance; resentment  Gluttony:  eating too much  Envy:  to resent another for excellence or superiority, to be desirous of what others have  Sloth:  laziness, idleness, slowness, delay, disinclined to action

Seven Deadly Sins & the Seven Contrary Virtues Let’s compare

Seeing ourselves as we are and not comparing ourselves to others is humility. Pride and vanity are competitive. If someone else's pride really bothers you, you have a lot of pride.  Sin:  Pride  Virtue:  Humility

"Love is patient, love is kind…" Love actively seeks the good of others for their sake. Envy resents the good others receive or even might receive. Envy is almost indistinguishable from pride at times.  Sin  Envy  Virtue  Love / Charity

Temperance accepts the natural limits of pleasures and preserves this natural balance. This does not pertain only to food, but to entertainment and other legitimate goods, and even the company of others.  Sin:  Gluttony  Virtue:  Temperance

Self control and self mastery prevent pleasure from killing the soul by suffocation. Legitimate pleasures are controlled in the same way an athlete's muscles are: for maximum efficiency without damage. Lust is the self-destructive drive for pleasure out of proportion to its worth. Sex, power, or image can be used well, but they tend to go out of control.  Sin:  Lust  Virtue:  Self-control

Kindness means taking the tender approach, with patience and compassion. Anger is often our first reaction to the problems of others. Impatience with the faults of others is related to this.  Sin:  Anger  Virtue:  Kindness

This is about more than money. Generosity means letting others get the credit or praise. It is giving without having expectations of the other person. Greed wants to get its "fair share" or a bit more.  Sin:  Greed  Virtue:  Generosity

Zeal is the energetic response of the heart to God's commands. The other sins work together to deaden the spiritual senses so we first become slow to respond to God and then drift completely into the sleep of complacency.  Sin:  Sloth  Virtue  Zeal