Homily

The dictionary says that virtue is moral excellence, righteousness, goodness. St. Paul mentions several virtues in today's epistle to the Colossians: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and charity. If you asked the average 18- to let's say 30-year-old person what are some of the virtues they try to live by, what do you think they might say? I suspect from the list above they would agree with compassion and kindness as virtues. But what after that? Probably honesty (most of the time), having a passion for something, not being judgmental, respecting diversity and following your heart.

The catechism divides virtues into the categories of the three theological virtues, faith, hope and charity. They're called theological virtues because they are all about our relationship to God, they come from God and their object is to lead us into God's divine life.

But there are another set of virtues that come from and work with the three theological virtues, and they are called the human virtues. Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions and habitual perfections of our intellects and our wills that govern our actions, put our passions in proper order, and guide our behavior according to reason and faith. We achieve and obtain these moral virtues by our own effort. The catechism says there are four main human virtues, and all the other virtues fall under one of these four.

1. Prudence: Prudence allows our practical reason the ability to discern, to discover our true good in every circumstance, and to choose the right way to achieve that good. Prudence is right reasoning put into action. Prudence works with our conscience to guide us as we apply our moral knowledge and values to particular cases, and it helps us to make decisions without mistakes and to get over our doubts about what might be the good we can achieve or the evil we should avoid. Prudence.

2. Justice: Justice is a virtue where we always will to give to God and our neighbor what is due to them. So our love, obedience and worship are part of what we owe to God. Justice towards our neighbor means that we respect the rights of others, and work towards a harmony between people in a spirit of fairness, for the common good of all. It is about having right thinking and right behavior toward our neighbor.

3. Fortitude: This virtue keeps us strong during times of difficulty, and it keeps us on track to always be looking for the good. It gives us the strength to resist temptations and overcome obstacles that stand in the way of moral living. It helps us overcome fears, even the fear of death, and it allows us to endure trials and persecutions. It can even lead us to give up our own lives in the defense of a good cause.

4. Temperance: This virtue helps us control our attraction to pleasures and it helps us to keep a good balance in our use of material goods. It allows our will to be the master over our instincts and desires so that we keep our actions within the limits of what is good and honorable. So temperance may help us see that eating a piece of chocolate cake can be a good thing, while eating a chocolate cake is not a good thing.

Prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance--I admit it, that if you had asked me what the four human virtues of the catechism are, I would not have been able to tell you. But now we all know them--prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. We live in a time where many people hold that the best guide to life is found in your emotions, your desires, your dreams, your passions, your personal goals, and in finding ways to make yourself happy. And the primary emphasis is on ME, MY desires and MY happiness. This is why I think we have a genuine increase in unhappiness and discontent with life today.

The human virtues are built up by our exercising them and they can be a useful check on how we are living:

PRUDENCE--To use my reason, and not my emotions, to speak and act in a way that is good, not evil.

JUSTICE--Give to God and my neighbor what I owe to them, treating my neighbor as I would like to be treated.

FORTITUDE--To stand firm for what is right and true even if we are afraid, even if it takes sacrifice.

TEMPERANCE--To have control over our desires for pleasure, and to properly use the goods of this world in a balanced and moral way.

These virtues can and should be thought about so that we can build ourselves up as stronger and better and healthier human beings who can both love and serve God even as we also love and serve our neighbor, because that, my friends, is an important part of how we can find, as the rich man desired, our own path into eternal life.