The Theological Virtues: Charity
The Theological Virtues: Charity Or: Loving as God Loves The two terms “love” and “charity” are frequently used interchangeably, and with good reason, since the virtue of charity is in fact a kind of love. However, the two are not identical; not all forms of love are also charity. For example, we often hear expressions like, “I love hot chocolate,” or “I love...
The Theological Virtues: Hope
The Theological Virtues: Hope Or: Striving for Heaven As we saw in the previous lesson, Faith reveals to us God’s supernatural plan for our lives. With faith we know that the ultimate purpose and fulfillment of each human person lies in the attainment of Heaven. Once we have this knowledge, it is time to begin working towards that objective. That’s where the theological virtue of Hope enters the picture. Hope...
The Theological Virtues: Faith
The Theological Virtues: Faith Or: God’s Truth in Our Souls Perhaps you remember how back when we were discussing the Cardinal Virtues, the first on the list was Prudence, because it was the virtue of knowledge, and knowledge must always come before all other activities. You have to know what to do before you can do it. The same is true on the supernatural level: you have to have a supernatural...
The Cardinal Virtues: Temperance
The Cardinal Virtues: 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...
The Cardinal Virtues: Fortitude
The Cardinal Virtues: 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...
The Cardinal Virtues: Social Justice
The Cardinal Virtues: 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 neighbor), 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...
Protect Your Family Online!
Unplanned Pregnancy?
