Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Lenten Topic: Virtue


For Lent, I wanted to do something different with some of my posts. So many bloggers do various things during the Lenten season to help with their own personal journeys towards Easter, that I thought it would be a good idea to do the same. So during Lent I will have a special topic that I will keep going back to as a source topic for some posts. Now this isn't to say all of my posts will be about my topic, but it will be a way to reset, and to dive deeper into a subject than simply writing a few hundred words and moving on.

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The topic I am choosing is Virtue. As I wrote a few posts back, I have started reading a book about Virtue by Dr. Peter Kreeft, Back to Virtue. What got me thinking about this, was how the first few chapters of the book really hit home the idea that we have lost any concept, and even some have lost a total belief in the idea of virtue and moral absolutes. As someone that went to school for History, Philosophy, and then Law, and I have witnessed at the academic level a breakdown in belief concerning the idea of moral absolutes.

Even just the other day when I witnessed our Confirmandi at our parish go through their Sacramental initiation, I saw how absent the idea of the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit was from the Homily. The only idea of these gifts, which are a type of virtue i.e. those dispensed by the Holy Spirit, were the lovely felt banners hanging from the ceiling. We don't even talk about the vices or deadly sins which are a distortion of the good virtues. Why? Because it would take an understanding of Virtue to properly understand exactly what a vice is, and why it is bad.
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Now, there is a ton to talk about when it comes to virtue. First we must discuss what virtue is, what the various virtues are, and how we go about figuring out what is virtuous and what makes them so. Next, is figuring out how to adhere to the virtues in our ethical decision making process. From there we have to discuss what happened to virtues, because they are no longer a focal point in our culture; we need to figure out why they went "away" and whether or not we can get them back.  We also have to understand what has replaced virtues in the realm of "morality"; we haven't simply switched virtues but abandoned them altogether and filled the void with something quite perverse.

This is by no means an exhaustive outline, but is simply a general direction that we will head with our journey to rediscover Virtue.  There are a lot of areas we could cover, so I will do my best to present an informative and helpful presentation of what there is to know, and what will be helpful to myself, and hopefully others as we journey through Lent in an attempt to rediscover Virtue, Ethics, and Moral Absolutes.


7 Catholic Virtues:
4 Cardinal Virtues:
Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude [Courage]
3 Theological Virtues:
Faith, Hope, and Charity [Love]
···•°•···
7 Heavenly Virtues:
Chastity, Temperance, Charity, Diligence, Patience, Kindness, and Humility.
[Vices: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Pride]
···•°•···
7 Gifts of the HOLY SPIRIT
Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord
···•°•···


There will be a lot to discuss, so I will do my best to keep things concise and clear, but I can't make any promises. At the end of the journey, I hope that if nothing else, we all might have a little more understanding of what virtue is, and how to strive to be more virtue driven Catholics.

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