Category: Sins and Virtues

Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit [to] the deepest interpersonal affection and … the simplest pleasure.

Wikipedia

What a broad swath. We’re all familiar with love, whether we help our neighbors in our daily lives, hear kind words pass between people we don’t know, or even just get the interpretation of the media, we have some kind of exposure to love. But what is it, really?

What Is a Theological Virtue?

Let’s take the noun first. What is virtue?

Virtue is moral excellence.

Wikipedia

Thanks, Wikipedia! With that baseline, we can now look at its descriptor. What does the adjective “theological” mean in this context?

Theological – known only through Divine Revelation, Divinely infused, and God is the immediate and proper object.

New Advent

Putting these together, a theological virtue is moral excellence from, with, and for God:

• God makes the moral excellence available to us: it is from God.
• God Himself is in the moral excellence: to know it is to be with God.
• God is the proper target for the moral excellence: it is rightly for God.

When all three of these are true, we have a theological virtue.

Theological virtues are supernatural powers which enable mankind to attain our final destiny.

New Advent

Spoiler alert:
Our final destiny is with God.

Why is Love the Greatest of the Virtues?

Love is the only virtue that exists regardless of everything else: if the world were perfect, we would know love; our world is far from perfect, yet we still know love. Every other virtue requires an obstacle to be overcome whereas love exists independently.

Here’s an example which we’ll go further into later: for hope and faith to exist, there needs to be uncertainty. Hope and faith are meaningless if we know and can see the outcome; that’d be like showing up at the end of a ballgame, seeing the final score, and “hoping” for one of the teams to win. The game’s already over; we already know the score – so we can’t hope for a particular outcome because the outcome is already set in stone.

Contrast this with love. Whether you show up for the pre-game, make it just in time for the first pitch, or can only catch the teams as they walk off the field, you still love your team. Nothing changes from start to finish: if you love your team, you love your team.

Regardless of everything else, whether times are great or the world is literally ending or all of life on Earth is extinguished and all of God’s children are praising Him in Heaven, love endures.

Secular Love

Look up love in the dictionary: there are many definitions – none of which really fit what we mean when we’re thinking of telling a significant other I-L-Y for the first time. I, for one, would not be terrified of telling someone, “I have an intense feeling of deep affection for you,” or even, “I have a deep romantic attachment to you” – but dropping I-L-Y feels like I’m hitting the nuclear launch codes with myself at the targeted coordinates.

(As a side note, I really want to use one of those lines in real conversation. They make me smile, and I wouldn’t mind feeling like Data for a moment.)

Love is a difficult concept to take into the secular world because it is inherently and intimately divine. We humans try to control everything and form it to our will, to “perfect” it just the way we like it. There’s a problem with that: love is perfect the way God originally gave (and continues to give) it to us. When we alter perfection, it’s no longer perfect.

If you ever had the thought that love is fickle, you’re right: the version of “love” mankind peddles is imperfect and weak. When we look at the harm people who “love” each other do to each other, it can be difficult to believe in love at all. This “love” is not real love – the strong webbing God catches us in to cradle and nurture us when we allow ourselves to turn to Him.

Natural Love, Human Love

C. S. Lewis (best known for The Chronicles of Narnia) wrote about the four distinct types of love in The Four Loves. He differentiates genres of love in and understandable, relatable way; let’s check them out.

Storge: Affection

Affection is the most basic and most natural form of love; it is the result of fondness through familiarity, such as between mother and child. Such familiarity needn’t be from a familial tie; it can be by chance, such as a shared experience with a stranger you meet on the top of a mountain. C.S. Lewis describes it as a “warm comfortableness” with simple satisfaction in simply being together.

Philia: Friendship

Ah, friendship. The rarest and most insightful of all loves, philia is a strong bond between people sharing commonalities. Think about your closest friends: what do you have in common? Do you play the same sports? Do you believe the same things? Are you excited about the same topics? These commonalities are the basis of friendship.

Describing it as “the least biological, organic, instinctive, … necessary, [and] natural” of the loves, C.S. Lewis expresses a connection to the way some ancient cultures considered it “the happiest and most fully human of all loves; the crown of life and the school of virtue.” Because it is a love selected, by decision rather than by obligation or mere chance, it is on a higher plane than the other loves.

Eros: Romantic

You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.

Dr. Seuss

Gag me with a spoon.

This love is actually interesting once we get past the rah-rah we face in secular society. (That stuff should really only distract teenyboppers, but it seems people are so fascinated with youth that even that which is as lame as this is romanticized … literally and figuratively.)

Far from being erotic (and fickle) love, eros is the pre-occupation with a person as a whole. This is wanting to know everything about someone, being enraptured by a personality, being enthralled beyond the who to the why and the how.

The fact that she is a woman is far less important than the fact that she is herself.

C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Eros is romantic and passionate, but not in the way we tend to think about it. It vigorously proclaims an interest in knowing everything about its interest, to know that person as a whole person as thoroughly as one can know another. It’s sitting down to have a conversation with someone because you want to hear what they have to say, because you want to know how they think, why they think that way, and what makes them who they are.

The natural loves are not self-sufficient. … The human loves can be glorious images of Divine love. No less than that: but also no more.

C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Divine Love: Charity – Agape

Agape – unconditional “God” love … exists regardless of changing circumstances.

Wikipedia

Agape love is the love of God. It is also known as charity. This kind of love is totally selfless and undoubtedly the greatest of the four loves. It is perfect love: timeless and unconditional. It is the love we are called to have for each other yet can not hope to offer without God’s help.

No true virtue is possible without charity.

Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae

Charity enables the other virtues. Through God’s grace, we have access to agape if we will accept His guidance. Agape love glorifies God by reflecting His nature, and He infused it into our souls so that we may be happy. Accepting the gift of God’s love, we are called to love God back but also to love ourselves and our neighbors just as God loves us.

Further Reading

• New Advent: Love (Theological Virtue)
• New Advent: Saint Thomas Aquinas
• C.S. Lewis: The Four Loves

Thoughts?

What’s your experience with love? Which types are you familiar with? Let me know in the comments!

And, of course, we’re finishing out today’s post with everybody’s favorite scripture passage about love.

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Caritas – the friendship of man for God which unites us to God
Liberalitas – the virtue of giving freely, hence, generosity
Generosity – largess; involves offering time, assets, or talents to aid someone in need
Charity – the voluntary giving of help to those in need as a humanitarian act

Wikipedia: Caritas, Liberalitas, Generosity, and Charity

Edit (08 Nov): originally, liberalitas was identified as the Latin for the relevant virtue; in my research, caritas has surfaced as the proper term, so I will be correcting this by adding a segment within this post specific to caritas. The information on charity was in the original post; liberalitas and generosity will stay in the series but will be demoted to their proper place. Stay tuned!

What is Liberalitas?

Liberalitas is a Latin term which most closely translates to generosity. Biblically, it’s typically referenced specifically to speak about generosity of spirit, a subcategory more reflecting the charitable side of the term. (Generosity can be used to promote a donor whereas charity is done in quasi-secret – in a way which neither advertises the donor nor allows the inquisitor to know who the donor is.)

Generosity – the quality of being kind and generous

Oxford Dictionary

Okay, But What Is Generosity?

Generosity of spirit is the openness and willingness to share our own gifts freely with others, joyously and willingly and without expectation of receiving anything in return.

Gayle Hardie, Global Leadership Foundation

We all have gifts readily available. It may be obvious that the wealthy person sitting next to you has something to share with the world, but you have gifts, too! Maybe you have an afternoon available each week you can spend at the soup kitchen, or maybe you have a skill with tutoring young children who are hostile to authority figures, or maybe you’re an artist involved in a local group who has a bazaar every year selling donations to patrons and you can provide a painting, sculture, or recorded single. Maybe you’re a sommelier with a friend at a local vineyard and you can combine to offer a service for free as a prize for a raffle that benefits a cause.

Generosity is doing something for someone else. Some may part with money, others may part with time, still others may easily and quickly part with a smile: they can all be acts of generosity if done with a loving heart. With an attitude of gratitude, we can more clearly see both the impact of what others do for us and the impact of what we do for others, enabling us to multiply our own generosity simply and humbly.

Nothing… is more costly than greed; nothing is more rewarding than generosity.

Donald DeMarco, Author and Professor

Relevant Story of the Day

I had the honor of attending a friend’s wedding in Albuquerque. I’d never been to New Mexico, so I made a run of it to make opportunity to visit the sights and get to know the area. I flew out but didn’t rent a car, depending on public transportation and my own two feet. (Thankfully, I enjoy walking… I have a story about walking in heels for a few hours because a bus opted to not stop for me. …What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.)

The one place the buses don’t go? The biggest tourist destination in the area: the Sandia Peak Tramway. I was staying downtown, so it took a fair amount of time and effort to get out there, but I was told it would make the entire trip worth it. I set aside a full day to trek out to the Tramway: a fifteen minute walk to Alvarado Transit Center, twenty minutes figuring out which bus to get on, and one-and-a-half hours for the bus trip to the coffee shop where I’d wait about twenty-five minutes for a car for a twelve-minute ride to the launch point. I expected approximately the same for the return trip.

The tram ride was kinda cool – the views of hiking without worrying about breaking your ankles on the climb – but the top panorama was gorgeous. Even better than the view? The people I met.

In particular, I remember one person struggling to take a picture of herself with the sunset; though traveling alone, she hadn’t mastered the art of the selfie, and she was trying to do it old school: aim the main camera at herself and hope she was in the frame. I offered to take her picture so she knew she’d be in the frame and with the proper lighting. She was delighted. She was even more delighted when I offered her a lesson in selfie-taking after and showed her how to use the secondary camera to see on her main screen that she was in the photo.

It was a super exciting night for both of us beyond the pink skies: we each learned things (her: how to take a selfie; me: that I have something to teach the world, and the world appreciates it; both: it’s easy to make friends on the tops of mountains).

The view was wonderful – and renowned. There is only one tramway, and hiking is not a viable option after sunset. Sunset on the peak is a major attraction, and I didn’t mind waiting for a later car while she was in a hurry to get down and eat something as she’d been traveling all day and hadn’t had a decent meal, so we parted ways, she taking the first tram after the sunset and me taking the final trip down of the night.

As we reached the bottom of the tramway, I pulled out my phone to double-check the bus schedule only to realize the bus had stopped running: I was either going to have to walk 22 miles to my AirBnB (probably arriving just in time to catch my scheduled ride to the airport) or go significantly over-budget to catch a car back. (I misread the bus schedule.) Disembarking, I opted against getting dinner, instead walking around the complex – a little hungry but knowing I would probably be using that money to get back to my luggage. I was simultaneously hopeful and frustrated, checking fares to see whether waiting (and walking) a mile or three would be better. I dithered as I meandered about the complex, being my best tourist (taking pictures) while I mentally beat myself up for not checking my work. I could walk the 22 miles – it’d take me about seven hours, and I could do it – and be just in time to toss my stuff into my suitcase for my scheduled trip to the airport, expecting a day of exhaustion. But was it worth the $35 for the ride?

With a sigh, I brought up my phone to work out a plan. Given my unemployment, yes – it’s economically worth it to hike. Bringing up the map, I set my chin resolutely, nodding at myself and at my stubbornness.

“Hey!”

The friend I made at the peak found me. Having had dinner (thus no longer starved and more enthusiastic), she was eager to hang out. We started chatting, and she mentioned that she was driving cross-country to teach dance. Epic! We got to talking about how we each ended up in Albuquerque, and she noticed I had a (walk) map up on my phone. (I, embarrassed, attempted to hide it, thinking the screen should have dimmed by then.) She was eager to return the favor of helping her with pictures, and, seeing the hesitation in my eyes, also noted that she was staying in the downtown area. I both reluctantly and delightedly accepted.

Something about me: I’m bad at both requesting and accepting help. I was doing-backflips-overjoyed, but I was still resistant to accepting help. She thought of it as nothing: everything was in that direction – including her hotel – so it wasn’t even out of the way for her; I thought of it as so much more: a trusting act of kindness enabling me to get a full night’s sleep and not have to endure an entire night’s walk and fight crankiness the entire next day. (Sidenote: the ride was awesome. We enjoyed each other’s company thoroughly, exchanged contact information, and hugged so hard that I didn’t want to leave at the end.)

We still text (albeit haphazardly). She’s forever the person who reminds me to love people generally – because of her generosity.

You will be enriched in every way for great generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

2 Corinthians 9:11

Closing Statement

What do you think? What has been your experience in generosity? Let me know in the comments! I hope to hear from you soon!

Further Reading

• Interesting article on liberalitas and its philosophical journey starting with the Roman republic:
  The Decline and Rehabilitation of a Virtue.
• Paper from the Institute for Faith and Learning at Baylor University:
  Generosity of Spirit by Douglas V. Henry

Greed, or avarice, is an inordinate or insatiable longing for material gain, be it food, money, status, or power… an inordinate desire to acquire or possess more than one needs… typically used to criticize those who seek excessive material wealth, although it may apply to the need to feel more excessively moral, social, or otherwise better than someone else.

Wikipedia

What is Avaritia? What Constitutes Avarice and Greed?

Avaritia is Latin for avarice, greed. It’s more than that, though, because it’s also the personification of avarice and greed. This means it’s something more than a descriptor; it’s not a synonym for greedy. Rather, avaritia is greed itself. Do you remember ever having a really strict teacher, and people said if you looked up “strict” in the dictionary that you’d see that teacher’s picture? That’s what avaritia literally is to greed: if a person could be greed through and through, that person would be avaritia.

That’s Cool and All, But What Is Greed?

Avarice – extreme greed for wealth or material gain
Greed – intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food

Oxford Dictionary, Avarice and Greed

Avarice and greed are used interchangeably; both words indicate an overzealousness for some sort of personal gain. The desire may be for money, for power, for status, or for something material. Let’s parse this a little, shall we?

The Elements of Greed

For avarice to be a sin, it needs to check all of these boxes:

• Overzealous
• Aspiration
• For Personal Gain

Unless all the boxes are checked, it’s not (necessarily) sinful. Think about it: hoping to make rent and put food on the table is not inherently sinful; working hard to make something of yourself is not inherently sinful; being overly driven to achieve something for your community is not inherently sinful. When all these boxes are checked, though, it’s time to be careful.

Overzealousness

Overzealous – too zealous in attitude or behavior; extreme, fanatical, extremist, violent, uncompromising

Oxford Dictionary

Being zealous isn’t inherently a bad thing; being “too” anything is. There’s an optimal level for all things, with a grey zone around the summit’s plaque. We can want things too much; this may lead to excessive zeal to obtain the goal

We can generally tell when we’re nowhere near the right amount because the extremes are fairly noticeable: I haven’t gotten out of bed in a month because why would I – versus – I haven’t left my office in a month and only take cat naps when my body shuts itself off.

These examples are obvious; life isn’t typically so obvious. Our goal is to work, but not excessively. We’re not aiming for perfect (or maybe we are, dun-dun-dun!). We’re doing the best we can with the tools we have available; one of those tools is time – including the balance of our other obligations making demands on our time. Our goal is to find the summit plaque and do our best to stay on top of it.

Aspiration

Aspiration – hope or ambition of achieving something; desire, longing, yearning

Oxford Dictionary

This aspect of avarice is both simple and complex. It boils down to wanting something, to angling for a goal. There are a variety of things – material or immaterial – that we want, that can drive us to act. Maybe it’s money, or the latest gadget, or a nice house on a lake with access to all the amenities. Maybe it’s less about stuff and more about ego: prestige, respect, or simply having others associate a name with a certain trait, even placing a certain person on a pedestal.

“You will agree, Data, that Starfleet’s orders are difficult?”
“Difficult? Simply solve the mystery of Farpoint Station.”
“As simple as that.”

Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Data, Star Trek: The Next Generation, S1:E1

Goals are good things! It’s good to know where we’re going. Without having a destination, how are we ever going to reach it? The key here is that we need to select our goals carefully and with the knowledge that getting to that goal will influence others, and that even the noblest of goals may go sideways with overzealousness.

For Personal Gain

A reminder: these elements must be taken together to be bad for us. Doing things for yourself is essential to life, and we are tasked with taking care of ourselves. More than that, we have to take care of ourselves before we can help others. If we never eat, we won’t have the strength to carry a friend.

What are some hints we’re doing it for ourselves? We can go back to the gut check method, but that’s unreliable because we are extremely capable of making excuses for our own behaviors. If we didn’t think we had reasons for them, we wouldn’t do them. Thus, we need to look outside ourselves to objective indicia to determine whether we’re doing something for personal gain.

I volunteer with a local Catholic radio station. It’s awesome. After I started, I know for a certainty that I didn’t keep going for personal gain – I was terrified of going on live radio. Insecurities surfaced and fought back; I wanted to recant my commitment. However, I had promised a friend that I would co-host with her, and I knew that it would put her under tremendous stress to have to find someone else to cover for me. I got through my pre-air panic because I was focusing on everything external: my friend, the event we were covering, and anything I could do to prepare for the discussion.

Let me be clear: it was an amazing opportunity and I would have been foolish to walk away from it. When she asked me to co-host, I was thrilled – until I realized that meant dealing with my insecurities. If we look at the moment of the ask and acceptance, I may have done it for personal gain: how cool would it be to co-host a show? If we look at the moment of setting up the table at the back of the venue, heart racing as I dug out my prep work and travel-sized Winnie the Pooh bear for emotional support, I wasn’t there because I wanted it for myself. My desire to co-host a live radio program was much less than my desire to hide, but a dear friend was counting on me.

• 

• 

Objective indications that it wasn’t for personal gain: first and foremost, I saw nothing to gain from the experience other than working through the fear of it. Again, it’s not a bad thing to personally benefit from something; for example, education is highly praised, but it is at least in part for personal benefit. (Can you imagine paying tuition to graduate with nothing to show for it? That’s fiscally irresponsible.) I wasn’t planning any sort of launch into the media industry or to put a feather in my cap. It was a marvelous experience, but I wouldn’t say it got me anywhere.

If I did it for personal gain, how would that have changed the scenario? It certainly would depend on what the specific gain I was seeking was, but there are commonalities I would expect to find. Confidence in reaching for the goal, excitement at progression towards the goal, plans for what the event was supposed to achieve, and a tactical assessment of whether the achievements were made and how to progress from there. I likely would have acted differently during and after the interviews, depending on which goal I was aiming for: focusing on myself and how I am awesome, for example, as opposed to honing in on details about the event and its significance.

Summary: Avarice and Greed

Greed is overzealousness in aspiration of personal benefit. These elements are not problems in and of themselves: it’s good to have goals and to take care of yourself. Overzealousness in the pursuit of any goal can lead to a problem, but zeal in moderation is a good thing: we want to be enthusiastic about our pursuits! Where we may go astray isn’t in having passion and conviction, but in allowing it to overtake our good judgment.

Covetousness… is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, inasmuch as man contemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things.

Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae

Now that we have a good grasp of what greed is, we can jump into what we can do to counter it: liberalitas and love. Stay tuned!

What do you think about greed and avarice? Leave a comment to let me know!

Making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection. For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead. And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them. It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from sins.

2 Maccabees 12:43-46 (Vulgate)

All Souls… Who?

All Souls Day commemorates those who have passed on from this life in the hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the people who died bound for Heaven but haven’t crossed the threshold into the Lord’s Kingdom. Today is also called the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed because that’s who we remember! In overly-simplistic terms, today we pray for the people who made it into purgatory so that they may cross into Heaven.

The gospel was preached even to the dead, that though judged in the flesh like men, they might live in the spirit like God.

1 Peter 4:6

God’s dearly departed haven’t just finished one journey; they’ve started another. Jesus died for us that we may love Him, but one needs to be holy to see the Lord, and only the pure of heart shall see God. God wants us all to choose Him, to choose Life, and be saved and brought into Heaven to feel His love perfectly, but how many of us are holy and completely pure? I’m going to venture this number because, again, we’re all human here:

(That’s zero – a big ol’ goose egg.)

The thing is, God knows this. God knows we’re fallible, and He knew when He gave us freedom to choose that we would need His help to be able to choose Him, to see Him – so He made a way for us to return to Him after The Fall.

Purgatory

Let’s reel this in.

Many of us understand that the spirits of our loved ones go somewhere after being done with their bodies, but we typically talk in terms of Heaven and hell; purgatory can be a difficult place to wrap our heads around. Purgatory is the final absolution of sins before souls meet God in Heaven. God is so pure that He is separated from us by our sins. But God loves us! He wants to be with us! He loves us so much that He wants to be with us to love us personally! Therefore, God put a mechanism in place to completely wash us clean after death so we can be with Him: purgatory.

If you made it into purgatory, you made it.

Gus Planchet, lay theologian

Take comfort in this: God loves us so much that He made purgatory so that if we decide that we want to love Him back, we can still meet Him in Heaven. This means you! (And, quite thankfully, me!) In a previous post, we discussed that we’re all sinners, and as Saint John wrote in Revelation 21:27, “nothing unclean shall enter” Heaven. That’s why God made purgatory – to invite those of us who are flawed but still love Him to join Him after purification.

Our prayers can shorten the distance across purgatory and quicken the pace of the saints suffering (“All Souls”) into Heaven. This is awesome because our cleansing in purgatory can take a long time, and it isn’t a cakewalk; the word “purge” connotes pain and other unpleasantness. I’ve heard purgatory described as worse than hell because you’re close to God, yet (for the duration of your stay) infinitely separated from Him, your dearest love; in contrast, those in hell have rejected God and His love, so their infinite separation from Him is less painful because they rejected Him and there is no intention, let alone hope, of rejoining Him. (There are other theories, too.)

The fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

1 Corinthians 3:13-15

Personally, I don’t need to know just how painful the procedure is. I know that if there’s any hope of me getting to Heaven, I will have to endure purgatory. That means I’ll have to go through the fire to burn off the excesses – and if those excesses weren’t of some kind of comfort to me right where they are, then they wouldn’t be there ’cause I’d’ve already cast them aside.

Staying the course: those who love God but tripped along the path to Him have to go through purgatory to get to Heaven. The saints and Saints made it to Heaven, but the faithful souls who left this world are still on their way through purgatory. We can help.

Paying the Last Penny

“You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You … shall be liable to judgment.’ Truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny. You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Jesus speaking in Matthew 5:21, 26, 48

The way I picture this uses the Les Misérables plot with a modern-day backdrop and a forgiving shopkeeper: someone steals a meal from a restaurant, but they get caught, so they have to scrub the dishes until their time has paid for their meal. (To extend the analogy, God the Father is the shopkeeper providing the opportunity for the thief to pay for the meal with elbow grease instead of cold, hard purity – err, cash.)

Plot twist. Think about this for a moment: if your loved one went to a restaurant, ate a meal, and reached for their wallet only to find their pocket picked clean, if they called you for help, would you swing by to help them out? With cash, with the dishes, or even just to be near them so they knew they weren’t alone as they washed the dishes?

Sure, they can get through it alone, but it would be better for both of us if we intercede on their behalf. When we pray for the souls in purgatory, we’re joining them while they wash dishes, rolling up our sleeves to help. When we offer a Mass for them, we’re offering the best currency ever: Jesus Christ, His life, His suffering, His death, and His resurrection.

A Dose of Empathy

Some of us are tempted to wag a finger and say, “Well, that’s too bad; you stole the meal, you can clean your own dishes.” But we’ve all been there: we wanted something, knew it was wrong, but decided that we’d rather be wrong than not have it. What’s more, Satan probably picked their pocket, misdirecting them into choices they shouldn’t have made or providing opportunities too alluring for standard willpower (and even sliding in slander about God to prevent them from asking for help), leaving them unable to foot the bill.

Here’s an analogy specifically regarding the temptations contrived by Satan.

I know my weak spots when it comes to grocery shopping. Specifically, I have a list and can meander a bit, but I avoid the aisle with Oreo cookies. There is nothing inherently wrong with Oreo cookies; I simply lack the willpower to eat them at a healthy rate. (If I buy a package, regardless of size, it might last three days.) My solution is to not purchase them by avoiding the aisle.

However, this plan fails if I get redirected into the aisle: spills, obstacles, or large crowds may alter that plan. Once I’m in the aisle, there’s about a 40% chance I’m buying Oreo cookies (my willpower has increased over the last couple of years – I’m pretty excited about being under 50%), and, if I buy them, I’m hovering around 90% chance of accepting defeat and gobbling them all up at a ridiculous rate of consumption.

In other words, if I stay away from the aisle of temptation, I’m in good shape to not make a decision which I know would be unhealthy for me. However, if I end up in the aisle, I stare at oblivion trying to say “no” when I want to say “now” – and sometimes the “w” just tacks itself on to the end of my “No.”

What would happen if I found myself in that aisle, staring down the countless packages of Oreo cookies, and a friend bumped into me, jolting me out of my internal battle? I’d win that fight because the treats no longer have a hold on my attention. With my power returned to me from a friend who may not even know about the assistance provided, I am again able to turn away from that temptation.

On that note…

“The righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’”

– Jesus speaking in Matthew 25:37-40

Final Thoughts

Today is an opportunity to pray for those who are between this world and God’s Kingdom. We’re asking God to grant His mercy to the souls undergoing the purification process. “They love You, Lord! Please bring them nearer You!”

How do you celebrate All Souls Day? Are there any particular loved ones you pray for who have passed from this life, whether today or other days? I tend to offer prayer for my departed loved ones on the anniversaries of their birth- and death-days; my mother prays for people all the time and offers Mass for them randomly (or at least it seems like it – I don’t know the method to the madness). How do you remember your loved ones who have gone to their rest in the hope of rising again in Jesus?

Music to Celebrate All Souls Day

• We Are Called – David Haas – performed by the Notre Dame Folk Choir
• Christ Be Our Light – Bernadette Farrell – performed by the Notre Dame Folk Choir
• You Alone – Sarah Hart and Dwight Liles – recording by OCP
• At the Hour of Our Death – power ballad by Servant Song
  (As several songs are listed on the page, Ctrl+F to find this one easily)
• O Bless the Lord, My Soul – Saint Thomas (Williams) – recording by OCP
• You Are Mine – David Haas – performed by Walkers to Heaven

I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!”
He said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

Revelation 7:9-10, 14

Today, the faithful celebrate all the Saints and saints who have gone before us, both known and unknown. We dedicate today to those who have already attained heaven. Practices vary throughout the world, some cultures decorating the graves of loved ones and others eating soul cakes or flying giant colorful kites at festivals. Something we share across cultures is the Mass. All Saints Day is a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics. I attended a beautiful Mass this morning in the local chapel (what a wonderful way to start the day!), know of friends attending the noontime Mass, and still others planning to attend tonight.

Why is today a big deal?

The Saints and saints (whether canonized or not) provide guidance for us as we amble through our lives. Some of them were selected to play crucial roles for Holy Mother Church historically; all of them are actively cheering us on to join them. Before they crossed to the other side of the veil to join Christ in heaven, they lived their faith, helping the rest of us do the same, both in this life and in the next.

This doesn’t mean they were perfect; they were human, too. We needn’t look beyond our most well-known Saints Peter and Paul to know that. Peter denied Jesus thrice before the cock crowed on the first Good Friday and Paul was the Pharisee Saul who martyred Christians before his come-to-Jesus moment. The same Saints we ask for help struggled in life, falling into sin themselves.

This makes them excellent intercessors for our prayers: they struggled and fell, too, so they can empathize with us even in our unholiest of moments. If we ever feel too lowly to speak to Jesus, we can reach out to someone who fell and got back up. It’s kind of like offending one friend, then asking another for advice on how to right the situation. “What do I say? What do I do? When and how do I do it?” Even when we know all the answers, we sometimes want to run to a third party before making amends.

So, to answer the question, today is a big deal because the saints and Saints show us that getting to heaven is possible despite our sins. We struggle, yes; that is our role as saints militant – Catholics striving for heaven. More than this, today reminds us that those who have made it before us are available to act as intercessors; remember to ask them for help when you need it, because helping us in our Earthly struggle is part of their job description: saints help fellow saints.

I am going to Jerusalem with aid for the saints.

Romans 15:25

One of my favorites is Mother Teresa. Many know about her wonderful works to the poor, underserved communities. I find her most inspiring because of her repeated decision to continue serving the impoverished while enduring serious doubts about God. Her profound and repeated encounter with the dark night of the soul did not keep her from pressing on for the sake of those Jesus wanted her to reach on His behalf. Mother Teresa was a witness to Christ even when she felt nothingness, showing us – showing me – that conquering this struggle is possible.

Also among my favorites is Saint Michael: when I’m struggling with something, it’s the first rote prayer that comes to mind, so I cling to his sword in my battles to follow Christ. He often leads me to a song reminding me of who I am to God, reminding me that Jesus wants to hear from me directly, too. “My heart rejoices; with my song, I praise my God.”

How do you celebrate All Saints Day? Do you have a favorite Saint (or saint) that you pray to for help? (Perhaps a patron Saint?) Is there someone special you remember on All Saints Day? Whether it’s a simple, “Please help me through the day, Peppep,” or asking for the Virgin Mother’s guidance in a rosary, leave a comment; I’d love to hear about your favorite Saints and saints, what you talk with them about, and how you celebrate today.

Take this opportunity to reach out to a saint you feel called to connect with. This may be the start, or resurgence, of a beautiful relationship.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.

Psalm 28:7

Music to Celebrate All Saints Day

• For All the Saints (Sine Nomine) – recording from Te Deum 2015 in Grand Rapids, MI
• Many and Great – Ricky Manalo, CSP – recording provided by Oregon Catholic Press
• Blessed Are They – David Haas
• Sing with All the Saints in Glory (Hymn to Joy) – performed by Dawn Slike
• The Summons (Kelvingrove) – performed by Robert Kochis
• Here I Am, Lord – Dan Schutte

A List of Yet More Options to Check Out

Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8

Yesterday, we forged a working definition for sin: intentionally doing wrong, whether it be against the laws of man or the laws of God. Today, we look to ways to avoid sin with virtues – working definition to follow.

Overview

Just as we’ve all sinned at some point – it’s part of being human – so, too, we’ve all been tempted with sin yet abstained from it. Well done! Life is conquered one step at a time!

Some of us may ask, How did I not fall into the trap? How did I not sin there, especially since I committed the same grievance other times? How did I manage to cling to what is right when it was so difficult and when doing wrong was so easy?

Virtue: behaviour showing high moral standards; a quality considered morally good or desirable
Etymology: from the Latin virtus, meaning valour, merit, and moral perfection

Oxford dictionary

Okay, so virtue is good and morally desirable behavior, but what exactly is good and morally desirable behavior?

Try to simply find a list of virtues; it seems most sources disagree on what exactly makes the cut. Part of this is because there are lead virtues and subordinate virtues – ones that can be characterized within an umbrella virtue but may be crucial enough in a specific place and time to get a particular call out.

Here’s an example: honesty. Honesty is an amazing virtue, one I hold in high regard, but it’s not among the theological or cardinal virtues by name. I hypothesize that honesty fits under the umbrella for combating pride with humility and justice. Why does it get its own name, its own shout-out, its own title? Because language is important. Language highlights the terms we have need for. Just as the Scots have 421 words for snow (my favorite: feefle) because the weather has been so important to their livelihoods, we all use words that are important to us – or make words up to fit the missing meaning.

But wait a second – theological and cardinal virtues? In combatting sin, we use both theological and cardinal virtues. Let’s take a quick look at this. (There are several ways these are discussed; I’m taking that I believe to be the generally accepted Catholic route, but feel free to point out if I’ve gone astray.)

I found additional information recently, so I’m amending a previous post. (I’ll tag it so it’s not “ghost” edited; I’m learning, so I’d rather admit my mistakes lest I accidentally lead another astray.) As an update to our chart from the other day…

Updated Chart of Sins and Virtues

Sin	Principal Virtue	Theological or Cardinal Virtue
Avaritia: avarice, greed	Liberalitas: generosity, charity	Love (Theological)
Invidia: envy, jealousy	Humanitas: kindness, gratitude	Hope (Theological)
Ira: wrath, anger	Patientia: patience, compassion	Faith (Theological)
Luxuria: lust, impurity	Castitas: chastity, purity	Prudence (Cardinal)
Superbia: pride, arrogance	Humilitas: humility, modesty	Justice (Cardinal)
Gula: gluttony, voracity	Temperantia: temperance, moderation	Temperance (Cardinal)
Acedia: sloth, laziness	Industria: diligence, fervor	Fortitude (Cardinal)

Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love

Faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

This may be the most recognized Bible verse. It often appears in weddings, on billboards, and on home decor.

These three are the lighthouses we can reach for even when we’re lost amidst the worst of storms. Remember a time when you felt trapped, like your world was ending; what got you out of it? Maybe someone swooped in and saved you, but unless you had a way of mentally getting out of that trap, you wouldn’t have truly escaped. What helped you get out? What helped you move on? Having no idea what circumstance you’re thinking of, my bet is on one of these three: faith, hope, and/or love.

The theological virtues are some of the most powerful weapons against evil in all of its forms; they’re also some of the most direct conduits we have to God. (Ranking higher: Jesus on speed dial, the Holy Eucharist, and the celebration of the Mass.)

Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude

If any one loves righteousness, her labors are virtues;
for she teaches self-control and prudence, justice and courage;
nothing in life is more profitable for men than these.

Wisdom 8:7

These virtues are both the seeds and harvest of moral goodness, helping us to conduct ourselves in a moral manner. They seem like habits: when we start, it may be difficult, but once established, that we do it makes it easier to do the next time. Example: starting a workout routine can be difficult, but if you get up every morning at 5 am and go for a run every day for a month, it’s much more difficult to not get up for your morning run than it was before. Maybe it takes a day or two to settle in, but you get restless and feel the urge to just go for that run. It goes the same for habits of virtue: if you consistently look before you leap, it can be incredibly difficult to suddenly not.

The cardinal virtues are called by a number of names in the Bible, and sometimes they are referred to with other virtues within their umbrella. Put simply, prudence is right reason in action, justice results in habitual right thinking and uprightness of conduct, temperance provides balance in our lives, and fortitude ensures firmness in difficulty and constancy in the pursuit of good. The cardinal virtues are called as such because they are particularly important, hence part of our study.

We will go deeper into these seven virtues in the weeks to come. Let me know what you think thus far, and stay tuned!

Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

2 Peter 1:5-7

Further Reading…

Virtue and Vice Lists in the Bible

Catholic Resources has a wonderful article compiling biblical and catechetic information about the major sins and virtues. This is very short, and quite information dense. I suggest printing the article to your computer (as a .pdf) because the background on the website and the tiny font size make it very hard to read. (Print it at regular size so the chart at the top is visible, then use your .pdf reader to zoom in for the small font.)

Short Workbook on Virtue

The Institute in Basic Life Principles offers a .pdf workbook online including explanations, examples, and Bible references (chapter and verse). There’s also a coloring page, a craft, a doodle maze, and music with a backstory – perfect for engaging a young or young-at-heart audience.

Fruits of the Holy Spirit

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist,
and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.

Isaiah 11:1-5

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Galatians 5:22-24

Some of the fruits of the Spirit are among the above-listed virtues, but not all are included, and some are not on the list. This piqued my interest, but I didn’t want to overload this post, so … more later.

Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

Romans 3:23-24

This can be a sorrowful topic, so I’m starting it off with a spoiler alert:

Jesus won on the cross. He came to love you and to die for you, and He did just that and then rose from the dead for you to show you the way to eternal life.

Whelp, now that the wonderful spoiler is out there, let’s dig in.

Overview

As a Catholic, my lay-person view of sin is that it is essentially a wrong committed. Theologians may debate the interpretation of Matthew 5:28, what it means to sin in your heart, and the legalese definition of sin; I’m not there yet, so I’m not going to take anyone else there. Here is what I understand: sin is intentionally acting against the will of God.

Secular and don’t like that definition? Well, here’s a more grey offering: sin is intentionally doing something wrong. Despite the relativism we face in the world today, there are acts that we inherently understand to be wrong. Maybe you feel guilty after, maybe you were really excited to get someone back but then didn’t feel so hot after retribution, or maybe you just have a feeling of unease after doing something. This is gray because I can only offer symptoms: there isn’t much of a proper secular definition of wrongdoing; we explore this further below, but in the end, we only have a gut check.

We’ve all done something wrong; it’s part of being human, so don’t beat yourself up over it. Part of becoming our best selves is to learn from our mistakes and grow. Sins are moral errors in judgment: choosing the easy over the right, the pleasure over the pain, the impulse over eternity. Some of these errors in judgment we will make recurringly, and some we will cross the line once and refuse to cross it again.

Back to the topic: what is sin? Here are our working definitions:
– Theist: sin is intentionally acting against the will of God.
– Secular: sin is intentionally doing wrong.

While these are the definitions I am going to use for this series, it requires a little further explanation. Given that we have two definitions, parsing them will require taking both forks in the road.

Theistic: Intentionally Acting Against the Will of God

Sin: an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law

Oxford dictionary

Simple enough: to sin is to breach divine law. Here’s a slight problem, though: what is divine law? Again, I’m among the laity, not a theologian or a theology scholar, so (without going down the rabbit hole), I can only interpret this through the lens I have: the lens of the lay. (I’ll look things up when they pique my interest, but I’m not chasing the rabbit if I realize I’ve started after it.)

In plain English, to sin is to break a rule set by God – that’s what this definition says. It seems a pretty fair and accurate assessment based on what I knew coming to the table. However, if I care what rules God is laying down, I should probably check God’s definition, too, right?

Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

James 4:17

This verse points out that there is right and wrong, and God wants us to do what is right. Overall, we know what is right or wrong. We don’t need someone to tell us it’s wrong to attack the neighbor’s pet dog with a fork, even if that same dog won’t stop barking at the orchid we placed on the porch yesterday. There are times when we need to figure things out, even getting help to interpret the proper direction.

This verse also declares the intentionality part of our working definition: “Whoever knows… for him it is a sin.” If we don’t understand something is wrong, it isn’t sin. This is necessarily on the honor system; whether or not I comprehend is not something someone else could know.

Part and parcel to intentionality: sin is between the sinner and the Savior. While we can (and should) help and guide others away from treacherous ways, we can’t truly understand another’s comprehension without divine intervention. Any admonishment must be done out of love – to urge a friend for their own eternal sake – and not selfish or any other reasons.

A quick rewind before marching on: if sin is breaking a rule set by God, that means God pre-selected a certain “right” because sin is not adhering to the “right.” In un-gibberish, God chose what is right for us. Logically, that means if we chose to do right, we’re not just choosing God’s path, we’re choosing God.

Secular: Intentionally Doing Wrong

Sin: an act regarded as a serious or regrettable fault, offence, or omission

Oxford dictionary

Oooch, look at the end of that definition again. This adds a bite to the apple, doesn’t it? Or, rather, it clarifies something: the act may be affirmative or it may be omissive – something done or not done.

Every one who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

1 John 3:4

Not that the secular reader is interested in a Bible verse, but this one is pretty useful for following the train of thought. This is of particular interest because it gives a cut-and-dry approach to the term in ways comprehensible to the secular mind. (I will assume that you, dear reader, are interested in the perspectives of others, including those in a relationship with a greater power which you may not believe exists – at least as much as you would like to know why someone might think differently than you do.)

In effect, sin is breaking the law. There are presumptions to be made (that the law is just, for example, and imposed by a legitimate governing body). Unless laws are wrong (unjust, invalid, or against more core laws), they should be followed – even if they seem arbitrary. (The rants I’ve heard about the outdated scientific inquiries and historical bias of speed limit laws bears a mention.) Rules, regulations, and policies overseen and enforced by a legitimate overseer, whether a government, business one engages with, or religious group one participates in, count as laws in this context.

TL;DR (Recap)

Sin is an intentionally wrong act. We know that the act is wrong because it is against a proper law set by a legitimate person (or Person or persons) in charge of setting the laws.

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not continue in the house for ever; the son continues forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

John 8:34-36

What’s Next?

Now that we know what sin is, we can investigate how to overcome temptations to sin with virtue!

Preface

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

– Matthew 7:3

I know we’re excited, but, before we dig in, I preface these posts with this reminder: we all fall short of the glory of God. That statement can either condemn you for never being worthy or set you free because God loves you just the way you are. Let it liberate you. Let it liberate you from your own self-condemnation, but also let it liberate you of the urge to condemn others. We’re all in the same boat; would you rather yell at the sailor next to you or bail the water spouting in from the leak at your foot?

I urge you to take these thoughts to prayer. If the Spirit moves you, comment here, ask me something, or talk it over with a trusted friend or spiritual director. I’m interested to hear (or read) what you have to say, and I’m hoping this series will inspire a little introspection and hope. Why hope? (I’m glad you asked, dear reader!) Because knowing there is a treatment for a disease is reason for hope, and we have treatments and a cure waiting for us if we so choose to accept them. Blessed be God forever!

Introduction: Sins, Virtues, and the Investigative Game Plan

Are you interested in the fight between good and evil in the world today? The concept we’re exploring first: sins and virtues. Between now (All Hallows week) and Christmas, we’re going to delve into the seven deadly sins and the virtues that triumph over them.

Have you heard of the seven deadly sins? Pope Gregory wrote about them in the year 590 (AD). The seven deadly sins are lust, gluttony, sloth, pride, wrath, envy, and greed. There are also seven theological virtues, each one protecting against the temptation from one of the seven deadly sins. In the order of the above-referenced list, the seven theological virtues are chastity, temperance, diligence, humility, patience, kindness, and charity.

The seven virtues may also reference the seven cardinal virtues. The cardinal virtues somewhat parallel the theological virtues: prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice, faith, hope, and love. Below, find a chart of the seven deadly sins, the theological virtues which protect against them, and the parallel cardinal virtue.

Sin	Theological Virtue	Cardinal Virtue
Lust	Chastity	Prudence
Gluttony	Temperance	Temperance
Sloth	Diligence	Fortitude
Pride	Humility	Justice
Wrath	Patience	Faith
Envy	Kindness	Hope
Greed	Charity	Love

Have I whet your appetite? I’m thrilled to jump into this. The deadly sins? Interesting. The heroic virtues? Count me in! This is going to be awesome, and I have hope that you will enjoy the adventure with me.