- Feb 5, 2002
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“Growing in virtue is not a passive activity, nor is it complicated or enigmatic. It happens in the ordinary circumstances of daily living.”
Picture a virtuous person.
Maybe you thought of a cloistered nun in prayer. Or perhaps a saint on a holy card (probably also in prayer). If you’re honest, maybe you pictured someone who is no fun. A stuffy “prude.”
We should be picturing our neighbor. Our spouse. Our coworker. And someone out there should be picturing us.
This does not mean that I will never sin again, of course. But for the person who has acquired the virtue of honesty, their initial response in a situation is to tell the truth. They are not inclined to lie. The patient person does not get angry when someone in front of them is driving five below the speed limit. It does not bother them. It is not that they held their tongue once. It is that their inclination, their tendency, their status quo is not to get angry.
For the person who has acquired the virtue of temperance, he or she is not ruled by their sense appetites. They stop eating when they are full. They can look at one post on Facebook and then put their phone down for a few hours. They are not lured into eight minutes more of sleep by the temptation of their snooze button.
Again, it is not that there is never a temptation. Rather, the struggle against the temptation gets easier as the person works at growing in virtue. Perhaps some day they will have grown in virtue so much, there will be no temptation at all.
In all of this, the good is chosen happily. The virtuous person does not begrudge getting out of bed without pushing the snooze button. The virtuous person is not bitter they cannot lie when it would benefit them. If I am a virtuous person, not only is choosing the good easy, it makes me happy.
Continued below.
Picture a virtuous person.
Maybe you thought of a cloistered nun in prayer. Or perhaps a saint on a holy card (probably also in prayer). If you’re honest, maybe you pictured someone who is no fun. A stuffy “prude.”
We should be picturing our neighbor. Our spouse. Our coworker. And someone out there should be picturing us.
WHAT IS A VIRTUE?
The Catechism tells us that a virtue is “an habitual and firm disposition to do the good” (CCC 1803). It is important to note that first adjective. Habitual. If I am virtuous, it does not mean that I did something good once. It means it is my inclination.This does not mean that I will never sin again, of course. But for the person who has acquired the virtue of honesty, their initial response in a situation is to tell the truth. They are not inclined to lie. The patient person does not get angry when someone in front of them is driving five below the speed limit. It does not bother them. It is not that they held their tongue once. It is that their inclination, their tendency, their status quo is not to get angry.
For the person who has acquired the virtue of temperance, he or she is not ruled by their sense appetites. They stop eating when they are full. They can look at one post on Facebook and then put their phone down for a few hours. They are not lured into eight minutes more of sleep by the temptation of their snooze button.
Again, it is not that there is never a temptation. Rather, the struggle against the temptation gets easier as the person works at growing in virtue. Perhaps some day they will have grown in virtue so much, there will be no temptation at all.
In all of this, the good is chosen happily. The virtuous person does not begrudge getting out of bed without pushing the snooze button. The virtuous person is not bitter they cannot lie when it would benefit them. If I am a virtuous person, not only is choosing the good easy, it makes me happy.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT?
Continued below.
What Does the Virtuous Life Look Like?
Growing in virtue is not a passive activity, nor is it complicated or enigmatic. It happens in the ordinary circumstances of daily living.
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