Email Guidelines Guidelines Introduction to the Christian Virtues
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During this summer 2010 we invite you to pray about our Christian virtues; how are we growing in those virtues that lead us to God’s Promises; to those dreams or callings that God has put in our heart.
Summer is a time where we may have a chance to stop and have some holidays, or even some time to reflect in a retreat or by the sea in the beach or in the countryside.
MONDAY: 1 John 3:1-2
Life itself is the biggest project we will ever get our hands on. It is about learning about who we are and becoming what we are meant to be as best as we possibly can; and that goes as much for the adults in a family as for the children…
But that also means who we are from God’s perspective, not just what each one of us might think is the best course of action. He was the one who created us and knows our potential, what we were meant to accomplish. Hence, it may come as a real surprise that in fact, the way St. Thomas Aquinas defines a virtue is as the ultimum potentiae, the “utmost best that a person can be.”
And that is what we want to deepen during these next weeks: what makes us into the best that we can possibly be in the sight of God, summed up by Saint Thomas in seven things we call the seven fundamental virtues: faith, hope, love, prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance.
Are my options in life helping me to be the best I can be? Lord, show me this path.
Do I believe God wants the best for my life?
TUESDAY: John 15
“Virtue” is hardly a “cool” word in our vocabularies today; it tends to conjure up images of people who are “priggish”, “pious”, proper “goodie goodies”; if you check out any online dictionary, they give you all sorts of similar definitions: people of moral excellence, uprightness, goodness and chastity. In our Christian tradition they have come to be understood as good habits of behavior. But the classical roots of the word link it to something quite different: to acquiring the strength and the power to fulfill a specific function in life.; in other words, the vocation God has called us to, being either raising up a family or being at the service of the Church in a particular way, or taking on a certain job where Christ’s Light can shine...; we all have specific functions in life to perform…
It’s about becoming complete people; and that is a really important thing for us to know as parents, educators, Christians in the world.
They give us the tools we need to build a happy, full and meaningful life in this world, which is always “incomplete” while we are here in this world, and always in need of refurbishment.
Am I open to God’s help so I can perform the task He called me to, in its fullness? Or instead, do I live as if everything depends only on me, on my strength and will?
WEDNESDAY: 1 Peter 2:11
“I urge you, my dear friends, as strangers and nomads, to keep yourselves free from the disordered natural inclinations that attack the soul.”
Life really is like a journey; we are, as the early Church Fathers teach us, homo viatoris, pilgrims, and the virtues are meant to help us get to our final destination, which is not so much a “place” as “who and what” we were meant to become for all eternity. They have been traditionally summed up in two groups: what are known as the three theological virtues of faith, hope and love and the four cardinal virtues of prudence (or practical wisdom), justice, fortitude and temperance.
Like Jesus, we are invited to live our life here on earth as a journey toward God, to believe He guides us towards fulfilment and happiness.
In following Jesus, we are shown the way that leads towards our Father in heaven. Our life is not aimless; it has a destination. We have not been left like alone in the desert.
How do I live my Christian life? Do I live it as a journey? What do I aim for?
In today’s reading, Peter speaks to his community that struggled for following Christ. But despite the struggles, Peter encourages them to put their hope in God, and not give up of the journey they had started towards living marked by Christ and His gospel, even if they have to pass through many difficulties, hostilities and adversities.
THURSDAY: Matthew 5:1-16
Jesus begins his Sermon on the Mount by giving his own little summary of the virtues, which we call the “Beatitudes”, the “attitudes to be”. Lets just listen to them for a moment; lets allow them to sink in a little; a Christian life is about “happiness”, “completeness”, “fulfillment”, and that is called “blessedness” because it is only in God that we can get that kind of satisfaction.
They are a set of basic attitudes – attitudes to be – if you like “beatitudes”, because in fact they are all very much related to the beatitudes – so that we can all grow together and be the shepherds to our own individual flocks, our families, friends and work environments. (Matthew 5:1-16 ) All of us are looking for happiness in life, and this happiness is ultimately found through God, with God, and in God, as the priest says in the Mass before Communion.
FRIDAY: Luke 23:39-43
In this journey, we may feel at times we are off course, or going backward or completely stationary, a way can still be plotted. We may also rebel against what we had thought it was worthwhile living for; our fidelity may be tested too.
Prayer can be very hard in these moments. However, what matters is arriving at the destination, keep moving, undeterred by mistakes and mishaps..., with the deep conviction that we don’t journey alone or in vain but our journey is in God’s hands. And so, there is always a way, a new way to be unfolding to us.
Wasn’t this what the good thief must have felt by hearing to Jesus’ words on the cross?
Prayer is much different from saying a few words. Prayer is our means of taking a sighting, of orientating ourselves by restabilising contact with our God.
We have public and private tragedies, sufferings, anxieties and our own deep, unspoken fears. This is stuff of human life. Yet, in the very worst moment of our suffering, often a spark of life appears. When all appears dead and our mood is wintry, a sign of spring is given us.
It is by passing through such periods, that we begin to discover our deep selves: we make contact with our neediness and find in our hearts a great longing and love for the God who remains unseen.
Although it is difficult to understand the purpose of suffering, sometimes one needs it in order to grow tender, more compassionate and truthful to oneself and others.
@ Verbum Dei Community * 2010
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