Virtuousness

Now we will be dealing with virtues for some meetings. Basically, we have two ways to grow in faith. The first is the way of keeping the commandments – the morality of commandments and the second is the way of virtues – the morality of virtues. It should be pointed out initially that these are not two ways that contradict each other, but rather two ways to follow the same road.

We know the morals of the commandments. Again, in simple terms: “Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” This way is sure and simple. That is, it does not require much speculation, just decide to walk and the set boundaries will lead me to the goal. But there are some serious problems. Life brings different situations and not every legislator can anticipate and give guidance on how to act in it. Furthermore, there may be situations where the two commandments contradict each other – for example, tell the truth to a severely ill person. Can I lie if it helps the other person? Then there is the risk of external observance of the law without knowing what we are actually heading for. The result is then a hard faith, full of commands and prohibitions, but without a relationship with the Heavenly Father.

But the biggest problem of the law is that he gives an ideal – a goal, as it should be. But we are on our way, and we are no longer able to live the ideal. So what? The law has only two criteria – you did or did not. There is no room for growth. Therefore, many are trying to introduce the so-called sequence of the law. That means I’ll dilute the truth and say that if you can’t do something, you don’t have to do it because it’s not yet for you. But in this way we can adapt our whole life with God to our vision and abilities. I do not like something, so I will not even try and say that I do not manage and therefore it does not apply to me. And we are at one of the greatest mistakes of our time – subjectivity. Here, morality adapts to the measure of man, to his ideas and feelings, and not to man to the measure of God.

But it is not enough to condemn this phenomenon, but we need to solve the problem from which it originates. The law gives an ideal, and we are somewhere far below it, and we have no idea how to fulfill it. We thought that the sequence of the law does not exist. But there is a law of succession. So, we need to take into account the condition of a person, where he is, and gradually help him grow to fulfill the law.

The morality of virtues is very helpful in this journey. Namely, virtue is something that can always grow. Everyone owns it to some extent, and everyone can undermine it. Virtue can be defined as the ability to do good with ease. Or as a lasting and permanent disposition to do good. It is something that is our own and which directs our actions. For example, someone did something that made me angry. Everything in me tends to scold him, but I control myself, cut into ten, suppress the initial anger within me, and then look for a solution other than what my emotions dictate. In this case, I have kept the law, I have not acted in anger, but we cannot yet speak of virtue. Because it is something that I fought hard – hard. I will have the virtue of mildness when my reaction to the situation is no longer aggressiveness, but love, for example: how to help him to realize the inaccuracy of action and how to help him change it?

Of course, we all would like it to be. It would be wonderful! But how to do that? Well, it’s not easy to answer. It is easier to say what growth in virtues is not. Growth in virtues is certainly not drill. And this is extremely important to emphasize. In fact, most believers think that virtue is achieved as it is achieved in sport – by repeating, training, overcoming to push my limits. If we are not doing well, then we are angry at ourselves that we did not manage the training process, because if we prayed more, we had more time to silence, less devoted to it and surely the result would be better.

But growth in virtues is not drill. Which of course does not mean that there is no dimension of human effort, repetition, testing. Virtue is a gift. But again, not a gift that will fall like roast goose from heaven, just because I’m here. Here we are touching the mysterious cooperation between God and man. Here we will never know exactly how this is going on, but that is not essentially either. What matters is that God gives His gifts to those who desire them. And God gives His gifts to the extent that man is able to receive them. So, for growth in the virtues, it is important to long for them and prepare the heart of their heart for their acceptance.

More specifically, we will see this when taking over the individual virtues. I will start from Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan’s book – Priests for the Third Millennium, which gives practical guidance on how to grow in virtues. The book was written for seminarians, priests, but it is excellent for all who want to take their Christian life seriously. Therefore, I recommend reading this book.

Where did I get stuck in my spiritual life? What I find unmanageable?