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Virtue of Fortitude Part 1

5/16/2013

FORTITUDE

Virtue as we said at the very beginning of this catechism course is that which makes not only us good but also our action good as well. All good is compared with how it conforms to reason, and to our ultimate end.

To make our work and actions in accord and conformed to reason happens in 3 ways:

1. By making reason itself right, this is done as we saw by PRUDENCE.
2. By making our human affairs right, this is done by JUSTICE.
3. By removing the obstacles in order to do our human affairs by FORTITUDE AND TEMPERANCE

Now, our human will can be prevented from following reason in two ways:

· To be drawn by some object of pleasure other than what our reason tell us to do.

· To be not inclined of bothered to follow what reason says because of some difficulty that comes up.

In order to remove this difficulty fortitude of the mind is needed, just as to remove a heavy rock, that is in your way, requires strength of body.

To avoid something difficult involves some fear, because we fear something that is opposed to us and can cause us some lose or pain. Fortitude is principally about fear of difficult things, which can stop us from following our reason and cause us to do something we do not want to do. So in order to stand up to these obstacles we need also to be daring, that is to have courage, so as to free ourselves from these dangers now and if and when they may come back in the future.

The greatest natural good of our soul is the good of reason, when we go against this then we suffer a great lose and fall into sin. That which helps and guards us from the lose of this good is fortitude, which helps us in the face of these evils. The greatest evil to our souls is death, not only on a physical level, but also death of the soul to God and to His grace.

If Fortitude is a virtue and it is essential for virtue to tend to something good. It must be for some good then that man flees from the face of death. But dangers of death like sickness, storms at sea, attacks from robbers, as such similar things do not seem to come to a man from looking to obtain some good. But dangers of death which occur in battle come to a man directly on account of some good. He wishes to fight well and defend what is his own, be it his country, family household, or whatever, Thus he is defending the common good by a just fight. Fortitude then is concerned about the fear of dangers of death.

There are two kinds of combat, General when a man fights in battle and Private as when a man does not fear to say the truth or give the just judgement even though he faces the fear of the sword. Fortitude then, strengthens the mind against danger of death, not only in those general battles, but even those dangers that occur in single combat, which are also given the name of Battle. As St. Paul warns us of our battle, being not one necessarily a physical one, ' Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood: but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.' Ephesians 6, 11-12.

A brave man behaves well when faced with the danger of any other kind of death, especially since he may be in danger of any kind of death on account of virtue. For example, a man may attend a sick friend even though he fear the deadly infection or he may travel vast distances for some holy cause with the fear of plane crashing, or a car accident, or a cruel death at the hands of barbarians, like the Crusaders did of old. Just as the martyrs faced all kinds of sufferings, which was a fight directed against their own person, but directed to the sovereign good which is God. This is why in the office that the Church prays for Martyrs they are said to be valiant in battle.

Martyrdom

Is it a virtue?

There is a problem because:

It would seem that martyrdom is not an act of virtue for acts of virtue are voluntary, but martyrdom is sometimes not voluntary, like with the Holy innocents
It is praiseworthy to offer oneself to do an act of virtue, but it is not praiseworthy to put oneself in an occasion of martyrdom, which would be rash and presumptuous.

But on the Contrary

The reward of beatitude is not due except for acts of virtue, “Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. Therefore martyrdom is an act of virtue.

It belongs to virtue to safeguard the good of reason. Now the good of reason consists in truth as its object and justice as it effect. And martyrdom consists essentially in standing firmly to truth and justice against the threatening danger of death. Therefore it is obvious that Martyrdom is a virtue.

Solutions to the problems:

The holy innocents in being killed obtained by God's grace the glory of martyrdom, which others obtain by their own will. Because shedding one’s blood for Christ's sake takes the place of baptism. What is called Baptism of Blood.
A man must be prepared to do whatever is necessary and to do it whenever it is necessary. In other words to always be ready to act according to reason. Like the Boy Scouts 'Be Prepared'. Now in martyrdom this doing what is necessary consists in the right endurance of sufferings unjustly inflicted. But a man should not give another an occasion of acting unjustly, which is called presumption or being rash, asking for trouble as we commonly say. Yet if someone does act unjustly towards us we ought to endure it in moderation.

Well is Martyrdom an act of Fortitude?

There is a problem again:

Martyrdom means to witness, and witness to the Faith of Christ. But this seems more to do with the virtue of Faith than that of Fortitude.

It belongs to fortitude to strengthen man in the good of virtue, especially against dangers, and chiefly the danger of death in battle. Now in Martyrdom man is firmly strengthened in the good of virtue, since he holds firm to Faith and justice, even though he be threatened with the danger of death. Therefore it is an act of Fortitude.

Martyrdom is related to Faith as to an end, that is, the end of suffering Martyrdom is for the Faith. The faith is the good which strengthens a man, the actual firmness and strength itself by means of which a man does not yield and stands firm against the contrary things thrown at him, which try and draw him from the good; this firmness is the virtue of Fortitude.

On the matter of fortitude the Church declares: readiness to shed ones blood for Christ is imposed by the strictly binding law of God. 'Man must be ready to let himself be killed rather than to deny Christ or to sin grievously. But as regards enthusiasm for martyrdom let us see what the Church of the martyrs thought about it. In the Martyrdom of St. Polycarp a brief passage is explicit:' But one, called Quintus became afraid when he saw the wild animals. It was this very man who had presented himself voluntarily to the court and persuaded others to do the same. By repeated urging the Proconsul brought him to sacrifice and deny Christ. Therefore, brethren, we have no praise for those who offer themselves voluntarily; this is not the counsel of the Gospel”. This appears in the teaching of the Fathers of the ancient Church, who said that those who actually assumed that God would most readily withdraw the strength of endurance from those Who, arrogantly trusting their own resolve, thrust themselves into martyrdom.

St. Thomas says that the pain of martyrdom obscures even the spiritual joy in an act pleasing to God, “unless the overflowing grace of God lift the soul with exceeding strength to things divine”. The brave man suffers injury not for its owe sake, but rather as a means to preserve or to acquire a deeper, more essential wholeness or perfection.

In the early Church martyrdom appeared as a victory, even though a fatal one. In Tertullian we read: “We are victorious when we are stricken down; we escape when we are led before the judge. For the Christian as for the “natural” man, “suffering for its own sake” is nonsense. The Christian loves his life, says St. Thomas, not only with a natural , life-asserting forces of the body, but with the moral forces of the spiritual soul as well. Joy, health, success, happiness, all these things are genuine goods, which the Christian does not toss aside and esteem but lightly- unless, indeed to preserve the higher goods, the loss of which would injure more deeply the inmost core of human existence

Virtue Of Temperance Part 2

5/16/2013

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Humility

The one good which man seeks is the fulfilment of his being, or as they say nowadays, to be fulfilled. Things are either “fulfilling” or not, if not then they are not worth doing. At least that is what your average man on the street thinks. In a way there is some truth in this, We all desire our own excellence, or superiority, or to be considered better than the average “Joe six-pack.”

The virtue of temperance, as far as it refers to this natural urge to the order of reason, is called humility. So the ground of humility is man’s estimation of himself according to truth. In other words to take a good look at oneself as we really are. Take away all the show and exterior, and see ourselves in reference to the Truth. And that is almost all there is to it.

The best way to see what true humility is firstly, is to see that humility and high-mindedness are not opposed to one another, but in fact are neighbours and are equally opposed to pride and what we might call “wimpishness.”

Firstly what is high-mindedness? It is the striving of the mind towards great things. The high-minded man is the one who feels, and sees the opportunity for greatness, and prepares his mind for it. In a certain way he is selective, he will keep himself for the greatness to which he feels he is inclined. But above all he aims for that which is demanding of the highest honour. So if a man would not take care to do what is deserving of honour, he would be deserving of reproach. We would call him a “wimp.” The high-minded man despises everything small-minded, he is not overly worried above the small things, he despises everything small-minded.

Fearless frankness, that is, to tell the truth no matter what the consequences might be, is a mark of the high-minded man. The high-minded man does not complain; for his heart is impervious, that is, rock solid, when it comes to external evil. High-mindedness means an unshakeable firmness of hope, and the perfect peace of a fearless heart. The high-minded man bows neither to confusion of the soul, nor to any man, nor to fate, but to God alone. The high-minded man is truly a “Braveheart.”

Therefore, a humility too weak, and too narrow to able to bear the inner tension of living with high-mindedness, is not true humility.

But people are quick to call the high-minded man proud, or haughty, over confident in his own strength of ability. Pride refers to man’s relationship to God. Pride is a false conception or idea of the relationship between the creature and the creator, it denies the creaturely nature of man. Every sin contains a two-fold element, first the turning away from God, and second the turning to a created thing. The decisive element is the first, that is, the turning away from God, and this is more profound in pride than in any other sin.

Humility looks first to God. That which pride denies and destroys, humility affirms and preserves, namely that man is a creature. This is the inner most nature of man, so humility is the “subjection of man to God.” Secondly, humility is not a mere outward behaviour but comes from inside, flowing from our will. It is the plain acceptance that man and humanity are not God, nor “like God” as the old serpent tried to tell Eve.

Pride

Opposed to the virtue of humility is pride. Pride is the inordinate desire of one’s own excellence. There are four principal manifestations of Pride:

to think that one’s gifts and talents are from oneself
to believe that the gifts of God are due strictly and solely to one’s own merits
to boast of possessing that which one does not have
to despise others and wish to appear the exclusive possessor of that which one has.

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Gifts of the Holy Ghost and the Fruits of the Holy Ghost

5/16/2013

We shall try to do a explanation of the Gifts and fruits of the Holy Ghost over a series of posts in the next week in preparation for Pentecost and for our meditation during the Octave following. Please stay posted.

Virtue of Justice Part 3

5/15/2013

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                                            Religion 1
    Religion is to give due honour to God , honour is due to a certain excellence that a person has, God being the most excellent being has a special honour due to Him which is called Religion. It is a part of the virtue of Justice in so far as it is a rendering of something due to someone, and a virtue, for it both makes the possessor good and his actions good, by rendering a good to God the ultimate Good.


    Does religion have an external act?

God is a spirit, so we should worship Him in spirit only!
God is our superior, so we should not use inferior actions of our body to worship Him

We pay God honour and reverence not for His sake because He is Himself full of glory to which no creature can add anything, but for our own sakes, because when we honour God we subject our minds to Him , and in this does our perfection consist.

For our minds to be united with God we need the sensible world, for we are not and never will be Angels. The divine worship then needs to make use of material things, to stir up man’s mind, as by signs, to spiritual acts, which are the means of uniting us to God. But these external acts are secondary to the internal ones, which belong essentially to the virtue of Religion.

To worship God perfectly we must try to be holy and pure. Purity is necessary that we apply our mind to God, for then the mind is not soiled with inferior and baser things, like when silver is mixed with lead. Thus without purity the mind can not be applied to God, this is why a priest must be, and remain pure and free from contact with inferior things.

Interior acts of Religion
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Devotion2

Devotion comes from the word devote, thus people are said to be devout who, in a way, devote themselves to God, so as to be subject completely to Him. Hence in the old days among the pagans a devotee was one who vowed to his idols to suffer death for the safety of the army. Devotion then is nothing else than to will to give oneself readily to things concerning the service of God. Therefore it is essentially an act of the will not one of the emotions or feelings.

How does devotion come about?

Devotion like we said is an act of the will, but to make an act of the will we must have some end or object to aim at. The object of the will is the Good, if you think something is good then you want it, ice-cream = good = I want. To have devotion to God we must meditate upon God’s goodness, and upon our shortcomings on account of which we need to lean on God. Therefore we don’t presume on our own strength (presumption) but submit ourselves to God completely = devotion. Things concerning God himself are the strongest incentive to devotion, but due to our weak human nature we need a guiding hand and help by means of the sensible objects that we know.

The main object then of our devotion should be the humanity of Christ, that knowing God visibly we should come the love of things invisible. But girls and women are more devote than boys and men, why is this? The answers lies in the fact the men are more thinkers than women, by the very nature God gave them and this can be a cause for too much self-confidence. We say, “I don’t need all these devotions like the Rosary and the Mass, that’s for girls or little old ladies!” This attitude causes a hindrance to devotion because of a lack of humility. So if a man submits his knowledge and mind to God, then this will help his devotion to increase.

The effects of devotion

The direct effect of devotion is a spiritual joy of the mind, and yet there is also a sorrow.

How can we have joy and sorrow at the same time?

This happens in two ways:

The reason is that by surrendering our wills to God we receive a spiritual joy, by thinking of His Goodness and Kindness in our regard, God made me, God loved me from all eternity and loved me knowing all the evil I would do, yet he still made me, and gave me life, and kept me alive till now, etc. But the sorrows comes from the consideration that we do not enjoy God fully that we can still lose Him by sin.
When we consider our own failings and the pain caused to God by them, this causes sorrow, then when we hope in God for help to overcome these failing, we receive joy from confidence in his assistance

An example of this is when we think about the Passion of Christ, there is something that causes sorrow, namely the defect of original sin which needed Christ to suffer, and there is something that causes joy, God’s loving-kindness in giving us such a deliverance from eternal misery.

Prayer3

Prayer is a lifting of the mind and heart to God. It is an act of religion by showing due honour to God, by subjecting ourselves to Him , because when we pray we confess that we need Him as the source of all our goods.

But God knows everything, and all the things that I need, so I don’t need to pray. Also it is more generous to give to one who does not ask than to someone who does, but God is infinitely generous so I should not pray to Him.
Man when he prays does not change anything in God, as if God were lacking something, but when he prays he fulfils God’s plan of providence for us. So we pray that we may obtain that which God has disposed to be fulfilled by our prayers from all eternity.

When we pray we don’t make known to God our needs and desire as if He did not already know them, but in order that we may be reminded of the necessity of having recourse to God’s help with these requests.

God bestows on us many things from His generosity, even without us asking for them, but He wishes to bestow certain other things at our asking, so that we may obtain a good, that is, that we may acquire confidence in having recourse to God, and recognise Him as our author.

To whom should we pray?

Should we only pray to God, or to the Saints as well ?

All our prayers should be directed to the acquisition of grace and glory, this only come from God, but this can be fulfilled by Him through the intercession of the saints, the angels and men. It is not that God through them may know what we want, but that our prayers may be effective through their prayers and merits before God. Thus when we say the litanies we ask the Holy Trinity to have mercy on us, and the saints to pray for us.

Should we ask for something in particular?

We can ask God for temporal things and spiritual things that is, to be saved and make it to heaven. Temporal things, that is, things of this world, we can ask God for in so far as they shall help us save our souls. We should not desire these things so much that our minds become so immersed in them, then when we have them we are satisfied and want nothing else.

Should we pray for other people?

We should desire good things not only for ourselves but also for others, thus charity requires that we pray for others. But it is also a condition of prayer that one pray for oneself, not because it is necessary to do this so that it is meritorious for the one praying, but as being necessary in order that the prayer not fail in its effect of begging God’s grace. For it sometimes happens that we pray for another with piety and perseverance, and ask for thing relating to his salvation, and it is not granted because of some obstacle on their part. Yet the prayer will be meritorious for the one who prays out of charity.

We ought to pray even for sinners, that they may be converted, and for the just that they may persevere and advance in holiness. Yet the prayers for sinners are heard not for all but for some, those whom are predestined, but as we don’t know who is predestined and who not, we need to pray for all, so that no man be denied the help of prayer.

We ought to prayer for the just for three reasons:

The prayers of many are more easily heard
To thank God for the graces given to the just, which help the many also.
That the more perfect may not become proud by finding how they need the prayers of the less perfect.

How should we pray?
With the voice

By praying in this way our inner devotion is more easily stirred, because we are men not Angels, so we need to use our senses to reach that which is beyond our physical capabilities, namely God. So by external signs like words or actions, the mind is moved to apprehend far easier, and our affections are then moved, these being in the will and the prime objective or result of prayer. By moving the affections we make acts of the love of God and submit our wills to Him, thus we render God the act of religion.
By praying with our bodies, that is with the voice, we repay the debt to God. By serving Him with all we have, not only with our minds, but also with our bodies.

With attention

The effect of prayer now must be considered, this is firstly merit, for those who pray with charity. In order to realise this it is not necessary that prayer be attentive the whole way through because the original intention is sufficient the whole way through.
The other effect is impetration, that is, the begging from God His help and assistance, this is covered by the original intention, to which God looks chiefly.
But if the original intention is not there, prayer lacks both merit and the help which we wish to obtain from God. Thus God hears not the prayer of those who pay no attention.

There are three kinds of attention:

Attention to the words in order that we don’t say them wrong.
Attention to the sense of the words.
Attention to the end of prayer, namely God, and to the thing we are praying for.

The attention which fixes us on God can be so strong that our mind forgets all other things, but this attention is sufficient for us to merit.
To purposely allow our minds to wander in prayer is sinful, and hinder the prayer from having fruit, but to have the mind wander unintentionally does not lose fruit, because God knows the weakness of our human nature, which at times weighs down our soul on its ascent to God in prayer. God looks at our efforts and our striving to overcome the distractions.

The length of prayer

We should prayer always, and especially in times of temptation, and do all for the glory of God. But prayer considered in itself can not be continual, for we need to be busy with other work. Now just as when we are hungry we eat enough to satisfy the hunger and no more, once we have our fill we stop, or at least we should try to. So too with prayer, we should pray until we arouse enough fervour of interior desire, then when we exceed this, so that we can not continue without weariness then we should cease. Like a bee taking pollen from a flower, he goes to one flower sucks out the pollen then when it is empty he moves on. He does not remain there sucking away till he is so exhausted that he can’t fly or do any more collecting of pollen.

So prayer should be short and sweet, and taken often so as not to be too wearying. We must avoid long drawn out prayers that are so wearying that we dread them or pay no attention to them at all.

This is why the Rosary, is so good when prayed properly. We use both our minds and bodies. Our minds by contemplating on the Mysteries of the life of Our Lord and His Blessed Mother, this helps our devotion, as I said above because we think about God’s love for us. Our bodies are used, especially when we pray vocally the Rosary in public with our family or at Church, and even more so by using our hands when we count out the decades. The prayers are not too long, for how long does it take to say 10 Hail Marys. Because of the repetition of the same prayer we are not completely taken up with the pronunciation allowing us to think about the mystery, or even the intention of each decade, or the intention of the whole Rosary.

Praying with song 4

Praising God with the voice is necessary to arouse our devotion to God. The human mind is moved in different ways according to the different melodies of sound. Thus the use of chant is good that the souls of the faint-hearted may be more inclined to devotion. As St. Augustine says, “That by the delight of the ears the faint-hearted may be raised to the feeling of devotion.” Even if you don’t understand what is sung, but understand why it is sung, that is, the glory of God, this should be enough to arouse your devotion.

1 Q 81
2 Q. 82
3 Q. 83
4 Q 91 Art 2.

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Why Are Catholics Poor?

5/15/2013

Why does He permit those who do serve Him to live in poverty, while the godless have a smooth path through life?

This is not always the case. However, when this does occur, it is not difficult to understand. The godless do not deserve to be invited to share with Christ in a life of suffering. Also, all men do some good in life sometimes. No one is entirely evil. God's justice rewards natural good, therefore, by natural prosperity, and that may be all that such men will receive. "You have had the reward of such good as you did," may be said at their judgement, "and now answer for the evil of your irreligious lives." On the other hand, those who love God are not given worthless and perishable rewards, but will receive a full return of supernatural happiness, the only kind that really matters. If Christ promised us happiness in this world, then let us murmur when we see the infidel prosper. But what did He promise? He promised what He Himself received, suffering here, and happiness hereafter. The disciple is not above his Master.

Virtue of Justice Part 2

5/15/2013

Back-biting or Detraction

Just as a man can take from another a thing in two ways:

By theft - by taking something from another secretly and without the owners knowledge
By robbery - By taking from another openly and against hi expressed will.

So too a man can injure another by words in two ways:

By reviling - openly injuring a man as we just saw
By Back-biting - secretly and behind the back of the other, that is, without his knowledge.

Backbiting differs from reviling in two ways:

The way in which the words are uttered, secretly and not openly.
The end intended, the reviler intends to injure a man honour, the backbiter injures a man’s good name.

The greater the good you take away from a person the greater evil is inflicted on him.

A man has three goods:

1. Those of his soul
These you can not take away directly, but can only be an occasion for him to lose these good.

2. Those of his Body
These goods excel those of external thing, thus murder is more grievous than theft

3. Those of external things
Among these comes those goods of wealth, being closer to the spiritual things, and a man greatest wealth is that of his good name.

We must remember that back-biting is wrong and even listening to it and not doing anything to contradict the backbiter, you in a way consent to what is being said, and can become a participator in his sin. This is especially true for those whose duty it is to correct the backbiter. What happens if what he says is the truth? Then we should tell him that what he is doing is sinful in back-biting his brother, or at least show by our outward appearances that we are not pleased with what is said.

Tale-bearing 1

Tale-bearing is similar to back-biting for it speaks evil of our neighbour. But the ends are different hence they are called by different names. The backbiter wants to blacken his neighbour’s good name, so he brings out those things which are likely to defame him or at least reduce his good reputation.

Whereas the tale-bearer wants to cut off a friendship, so he talks ill about him so that his hearers mind may be stirred up against the one under attack. The tale-bearer wishes to sever the friendship on both sides, so he can be called double tongued, or two faced, for he speaks ill of one and not to the other.

This kind of damage against justice is very grave, the book of Ecclesiasticus writes, “ An evil mark of disgrace is upon the double-tongued; but to the tale-bearer hatred, enmity and reproach”. Sins against our neighbour are more grievous, according as they inflict a greater injury on him, the greater the good, the greater the injury. A man can not live without friends, for Scripture tells us that, “ Nothing can be compared to a faithful friend.” To be loved by a faithful friend is greater than honour, tale-bearing takes away directly ones friends.

We must therefore avoid causing division among friends by saying nasty things about someone’s friends just in order to make them think badly of their friend and good of us.

Mockery 2

The mock a person is to bring shame upon him and to disturb a person’s conscience by confusing him with evil deeds that mocked person has supposed to have done. When one makes fun of anothers evil or defect it can be a slight evil or a great evil that is made fun of. If it be the defect be one of little children or someone handicapped and we make a game of it so that we no longer are worried about his misfortune but despise him altogether then this is a serious sin. Likewise if we mock God and the things or persons dedicated to God, then comes our parents, as proverbs tells us, The eye that mocketh at his father, and that despiseth the labour of his mother in bearing him, let the ravens of the brooks pick it out, and the young eagles eat it. Prov. 30 17.

Even to mock good people is grievous, for honour is the reward of virtue. The kind of mockery does great harm, for it turns men away from good deeds. For if a man does good and is mocked every time, then is so much harder for him to do good the next time. Then the one seeing that good actions are so mocked with think twice about doing good, for he naturally fears to be mocked by others.

1 Summa Theologica IIa IIae Q. 74
2 Q. 75

Virtue of Justice - Part 1

5/15/2013

Justice in general

All just order in the world is based on this, "That man give to another man what is his due". For everything unjust implies that what belongs to man is kept from him or taken from him, and not by misfortune, like crop failure, fire, earthquake, tidal wave or any natural cause, but by man.

A just man gives to his fellow man what his fellow man should have, and he does this wilfully.

But what should he have so that I can know what to render or give to him?

A man's own is that which is owing to this man and to him alone, it could be a thing like a book, or an action, like writing, marrying, or going to church, or even by compromising a person's good name and preventing them from doing these actions.

There are three kinds of justice

Rendering a things to another person, that is Person to person Justice.
The community to the individual, one man to the whole justice
The individual relations to the whole, General Justice

PERSON TO PERSON JUSTICE

This kind of Justice consists in giving to the other person, the unrelated person, the stranger, what is owing to him and due to him, nothing more and nothing less.

This is strict justice, anything given over and above this is called a gift, for it is not strictly due. Like for example I owed you $14.95, and I paid you $15, and said keep the rest, this extra 5 cents is a gift and not Justice.

A man needs no justice in dealing with himself; he is careful enough of his own. But a friend is a sort of second self. "Yes," you will say, "but I like my first self best." Not in all things, if you are a true friend. A man will give his very life for his friend. This stems from friendliness and from love or charity, which is necessary in dealings with all men.

What then is true love?

To love is to wish good to someone. Thus love has a two fold movement

Towards the good which a man wishes to someone, to himself or to another
And towards that which he wishes some good

Thus we have two loves

One we can call "LUV", which is sensual and emotion love only.
The other is called truly by the name of Love

In the first, the man loves the good which he wishes to another.

Here a man does not wish his friend some good,, but his friendship is based only on pleasure or usefulness. Thus he make the end his own pleasure and this is not true friendship, nor true love.

In the second he loves the person to whom he wishes the good.

True love then is a going out of oneself to the thing loved, it consists in giving oneself to the another for their sake and not our own.

Opposed to Justice:

Reviling

Reviling is the dishonouring of a person which can happen in two ways:

By depriving him of some excellence for which he is honoured, causing some physical harm to him or taking something from him. Saying evil of him
By publishing or saying something against another’s honour, thus bring it out before him and others. Showing his faults

This can be done not only with words but also by actions, which signify words and take their place.

Words by themselves are just sounds and injure no man except if they be so loud as to be painful on the ears, like when a person speaks too loud, or if you have a room full of 5 year olds playing games. But words are signs of some knowledge which we wish to express to another and may do some harm.

Likewise when you bully another or because you know he is a thief and you wish to hurt him be telling him so in front of others. Likewise if a man reproach another because of his state in life, because he is poor, or because of his parents condition in life.

These all destroy some excellence which a man has and cause damage to him thus are contrary to Justice.

A man loves his honour as much as he loves his possessions, thus we must as far as we can, avoid using words of mockery towards others, and always try to have good words to say of them. Sometimes it is fine to have little jokes amongst your friends, but you have to be very careful, for our intentions can become tainted, for we prize our own honour over another’s most of the time. Thus, if we put another down we are looked upon as better, and more honourable!! Watch out for this danger, for we can fall easily into this trap

How about if we are the ones who suffer the reviling?

If I don’t do something the one mocking me then I would encourage him in sinning, so it seems that I must reply to the reviler and mocker.
We should love ourselves more than another, but if you see another being reviled you should do all you can to stop him.

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The one reviling you should be stopped with moderation, that is, out of a duty of Charity, not through the desire of your own honour.
When a man prevents another from being reviled he is not in danger of desiring his own honour as when we defend ourselves from being reviled, thus it flows more from the sense of charity.

Holy Scriptures tells us what to do, Psalm 37 v.14 “But I as a deaf man, heard not; and as a dumb man not opening my mouth”.

Just as we need patience in those things done against us, so too we need patience in those said against us. We need to follow our Lord’s Words of turning the other cheek, at least we should be prepared to do so in things done against us physically. Now with things spoken against us we should be prepared to suffer it if it fitting to do so. But sometime it is necessary to resist the reviler for two reasons:

For his own good, that his stupidity might be stopped.
For the good of many who would be prevented from progressing in virtue.

This second lot is especially concerned with those who are in a position of authority, or who are set up as an example for others, lest by the detractor not being silenced people may think what he says is true. This must be always done with the intention of helping the reviler and out of charity not in order to build up one’s own honour.

How to have a Happy Marriage

5/14/2013

"Then Tobias exhorted the virgin, and said to her: 'Sara, arise, and let us pray to God today, and tomorrow, and the next day: because for these three nights we are joined to God: and when the third night is over, we will be in our own wedlock. For we are the children of saints, and we must not be joined together like heathens that know not God.' So they both arose, and prayed earnestly both together that health might be given them, and Tobias said: 'Lord God of our fathers, may the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and the fountains, and the rivers, and all Thy creatures that are in them, bless Thee. Thou madest Adam of the slime of the earth, and gavest him Eve for a helper. And now, Lord, thou knowest, that not for fleshly lust do I take my sister to wife, but only for the love of posterity, in which Thy name may be blessed for ever and ever.' Sara also said: ; 'Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us, and let us grow old both together in health.'" (Tobias 8:4-10)

Have the correct attitude.

Look upon marriage as a very holy union, founded by God and raised to the dignity of a Sacrament by Jesus Christ as a means of saving your soul.
Have the correct purpose.

Look forward to having children and founding a Christian home. People who marry for selfish reasons (money, pleasure, beauty, fame, influence) very seldom, if ever, find happiness in marriage.
Do not marry for selfish reasons.

Genuine happiness is attained only by those who are completely generous and ready to sacrifice themselves in all things.
Study what marriage is.

Marriage, like a career, requires specialized knowledge, and this is obtained through study and prayer. Receive marriage instructions from a priest and/or read about the duties and graces of Catholic marriage.
Pray for a happy marriage.

You should pray every day for a happy marriage, because most probably, you will save your soul or lose your soul as a married person. "House and riches are given by parents: but a prudent wife is properly from the Lord."    (Proverbs 19:14)
Prepare for marriage by living a Christian life.

Receive Holy Communion worthily and often; go to Confession regularly; observe the Ten Commandments, especially the 6th.
Follow the advice of your parents and your parish priest.

It is wise to seek advice when making any important decision, but especially when deciding about your partner in this lifelong union.
Choose a suitable partner.

Look for a person who is a good Catholic, really serious about having children and founding a Christian home, one who is sincere, truthful, dependable, and chaste.
Do not marry too young.

Today, young people under 21 (especially young men), although capable of marrying and having children, are often still attached to youthful pastimes and thus may find it extra difficult to adjust to the responsibilities of marriage.
Have the correct attitude toward sex.

God created sex to attract the husband and wife to have children and to cultivate love for one another. Remember - to refuse intercourse to your married partner is a mortal sin, unless you have a serious reason.
Accept all the children that God wants to send you.

Look upon having children as one of the great blessings of marriage. Court records show that there are fewer breakups among couples with large families.
Have respect for your partner.

The person you marry shares in a union that was established by God Himself and raised to the dignity of a Sacrament by Christ. "Ye husbands, likewise dwelling with them according to knowledge, giving honor to the female as to the weaker vessel, and as to the co-heirs of the grace of life: that your prayers be not hindered."    (1 Peter 3:7)
Do not fight or argue!

Married people should learn to control their tempers and to discuss their problems as grown-ups and not as children. "Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another: even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so do you also. but above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection: And let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body: and be ye thankful...Wives, be subject to your husbands, as it behoveth in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter towards them."    (Colossians 3:13-15, 18-19)
Do not criticize!

Criticizing your partner's faults or constantly harping on trifles soon destroys a happy marriage. "And why seest thou the mote [speck] that is in thy brother's eye; and seest not the beam that is in thy own eye? Or how sayest thou to thy brother: Let me cast the mote out of thy eye; and behold a beam is in thy own eye?"    (Matthew 7:3-4)
Trust one another completely.

It is a sin to be jealous or judge without evidence. "Judge not, that you may not be judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete [measure], it shall be measured to you again."    (Matthew 7:1-2)
Do not live with in-laws!

Your first duty is to your married partner; parents and other come second. "Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh." (Genesis 2:24)
Do things together.

Husband and wife should find happiness in their own home with their children, and also should associate with other happily married couples.
Make your home a pleasant place.

The wife should make the home a place to which her husband longs to go after his day's work; it should be clean and orderly, and the meals well prepared and on time. "Happy is the husband of a good wife: for the number of his years is double. A virtuous woman rejoiceth her husband and shall fulfill the years of his life in peace. A good wife is a good portion; she shall be given in the portion of them that fear God, to a man for his good deeds. Rich or poor, if his heart is good, his countenance shall be cheerful at all times."    (Ecclesiasticus 26:1-4)
Use family money properly.

A husband is bound to the complete support of his wife and children; a wife is obliged to use the family money wisely. "But if any man have not care of his own, and especially of those of his house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."    (1 Timothy 5:8)
Pray together!

As the saying goes, "A family that prays together stays together," and this includes the family Rosary, attending Mass and receiving Holy Communion together. "Where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."    (Matthew 18:20)

Padre Pio on women's dress

5/14/2013

from Prophet of the People, by Dorothy M. Gaudiose, pp. 191-2

Women received especially rough treatment from Padre Pio because of current fashions. He had always been a merciless enemy of feminine vanity. "Vanity," he said, "is the son of pride, and is even more malignant than its mother. Have you ever seen a field of ripe corn? Some ears are tall; others are bent to the ground. Try taking the tallest, the proudest ones, and you will see that they are empty; but it you take the smallest, the humblest ones, they are laden with seeds. From this you can see that vanity is empty."

Padre Pio wouldn't tolerate low-necked dresses or short, tight skirts, and he forbade his spiritual daughters to wear transparent stockings. Each year his severity increased. He stubbornly dismissed them from his confessional, even before they set foot inside, if he judged them to be improperly dressed. On some mornings he drove away one after another, until he ended up hearing very few confessions.

His brothers observed these drastic purges with a certain uneasiness and decided to fasten a sign on the church door: "By Padre Pio's explicit wish, women must enter his confessional wearing skirts at least eight inches below the knees. It is forbidden to borrow longer dresses in church and to wear them for the confessional."

The last warning was not without effect. There was a furtive exchange of skirts, blouses, and raincoats, that took place at the last moment in the half-lit church to remedy any failings.

The women made their adjustments, but perhaps not exactly enough. Padre Pio continued to send some away before giving them a chance to confess. He would glower at them, and grumble, "Go and get dressed." And sometimes he added, "Clowns!" He spared no one... persons he saw for the first time, or his long-time spiritual daughters. Often the skirts were decidedly many inches below the knees, but not sufficiently long for his moral severity.

As the years began to weigh on Padre Pio, his daily hours in the confessional were limited to four, equally divided between men and women. In addition to being dressed properly, they had to know the Italian language, even though he could somehow understand people speaking another language. But he knew Italian, Latin, and very little French, consistently refusing to hear confessions except in Italian or Latin.

Sometimes when Padre Pio refused to absolve his penitents and closed the small confessional door in their faces, the people would reproach him asking why he acted this way. "Don't you know," he asked, "what pain it costs me to shut the door on anyone? The Lord has forced me to do so. I do not call anyone, nor do I refuse anyone either. There is Someone else Who calls and refuses them. I am His useless tool."

Even the men had rules to follow. They were not permitted to enter the church with three-quarter length sleeves. Boys as well as men had to wear long trousers at church, if they didn't want to be shown out of the church, that is. But women in short skirts were his prime targets. Padre Pio's citadel was perhaps the only place in the world where the fashions of the 1930s still ruled in the 1960s

(Do you recall what Our Lady of Fatima said about "certain fashions"?)

Is Leisure the same as idleness?

5/14/2013

Idleness, in the old sense of the word, so far from being synonymous with leisure, it is better to describe it as the absence of leisure. Leisure is only possible when a person is one with themselves.

Leisure it must be understood, is a mental and spiritual attitude, not simply the result of external factors, like spare time, a holiday, week-end or a vacation.

Work in its ideal, implies activity, leisure implies in the first place an attitude of non-activity, of inward calm, of silence; it means not being "busy", but letting things happen.

Leisure is a form of silence, of that silence which is the prerequisite of the apprehension of reality: only the silent hear and those who do not remain silence, do not hear.

There is a certain happiness in leisure that comes from the recognition of the mysteries of the universe and the realisation of how incapable we are of understanding it, flowing from this comes a deep confidence, so that we are content to let things take their course.

When we let our mind rest and contemplate a rose in bud, or a child at play, or a divine mystery, we are rested and in a state of dreamless sleep. It is in these times that great and imperishable intuitions visit us in our moments of leisure. It is in these silent and receptive moments that the soul of man is sometimes visited by an awareness of what holds the world together.

In these moment one can never be said to be idle.

Adapted from the book, Leisure the basis of Culture by Josef Pieper

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Virtue of Fortitude Part 1

Virtue Of Temperance Part 2

Gifts of the Holy Ghost and the Fruits of the Holy Ghost

Virtue of Justice Part 3

Why Are Catholics Poor?

Virtue of Justice Part 2

Virtue of Justice - Part 1

How to have a Happy Marriage

Padre Pio on women's dress

Is Leisure the same as idleness?

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