All of us love to be recognized and honored. We get a good feeling about ourselves when others see our worth and importance. What is critical here for the Christian is that others do that for us and that we do not do it for ourselves. Jesus says, "Do not recline at table in the place of honor . . . take the lowest place." If we give ourselves the places of honor then that honor has no real value precisely because it is not recognized by others, it is self-serving. If we do that Jesus will humble us and move us to the back. Yes, God does humble us and He even punishes us when we are self-serving, sinful, or foolish. However, when others move us to places of honor then the gesture-act is genuine because it is ratified by another who has seen our good works, and those works are the cardinal and theological virtues. We are not moved up because we are a nice persons, popular, in charge, educated, or part of the club, but rather because we are persons who emulate the two great commandments of loving God and neighbor.
The dangers of being prideful and self-serving is that we will shut ourselves off from many people. There is usually only one head table at a banquet, wedding, dinner party etc. There are many tables after table #1. If we seek out table #1 then we will probably dismiss all the other tables as less than us.
In the Church we must all keep our guard against allowing that kind of thing from creeping in. We usually point fingers at the hierarchy of the Church of being guilty of that type of thing, but in reality we are all guilty of it from time to time to lesser or greater degrees. For instance the very people who complain about the Pope and Bishops having "places of honor" will defend their own "places of honor" with vigor and a fiery determination if ever called into question.
Pope John Paul the Great lived the motto "Servant of servants." He truly lived it and while he was alive asked us to live it. Therefore, the Christian should not be looking to be honored, to have a place of importance, or even leadership, but instead should be looking, searching, and living out a life of service and competing to be a better servant.
When we do that Jesus will move us up to a place of honor because He grants it and it is not from ourselves. True humility can only happen when we take the last place of all and when we actually love taking that last place, anything else is tainted with pride.
Fr. John
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Discipline of the Lord
Reflection on Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13
As I read Hebrews this week in my reflection for the homily one incident-event kept coming back to me. When I was about a sophomore in High School I remember being in the Hallways with some friends and I was using some unsavory type of language. Just thinking I was being cool, playing the part of the tough cool jock. One of my teachers heard me and called me over. Now, you know when you have been caught red handed, but I was still playing it cool, because I was cool. He asked me, "John are you ignorant or stupid, or both?" I didn't care for that. I felt offended to be called stupid and ignorant, a simple watch your mouth would have sufficed. He could see my anger. He then said to me, "John when you curse you are substituting the curse words for words you should know, so you are displaying ignorance, when you curse in public in the hallways of High School with adult teachers walking those same hallways you are showing your stupidity. John, find the right words, your better than that, have a good day." Wow was I left stunned.
No one likes that kind of correction or discipline. But I got a good taste of it. Even though at the time I was very upset about his approach, it worked, ever since that day over 25 years ago I still remember the incident vividly and it is one that helps me often now when I may slip on some occasion due to anger. My teachers words echo in my mind. He did me a great service for he spoke a Truth to me, to avoid using curse words, for I was better than that. That Truth came from the Holy Spirit. In that Truth also came reproof, correction, admonishment, and discipline, all which built up a good habit and good character.
So what at the time "seemed a cause not for joy but for pain . . . later brought the peaceful fruit of righteousness." Hebrews
Parents: when teachers or coaches discipline your children welcome it
children: when you are disciplined reflect on why, it's mostly for your good
All of us: the Lord will discipline us at times, let us be open to it and accept it humbly, for who knows us and takes care of us better than the Lord...Amen!
Fr. John
As I read Hebrews this week in my reflection for the homily one incident-event kept coming back to me. When I was about a sophomore in High School I remember being in the Hallways with some friends and I was using some unsavory type of language. Just thinking I was being cool, playing the part of the tough cool jock. One of my teachers heard me and called me over. Now, you know when you have been caught red handed, but I was still playing it cool, because I was cool. He asked me, "John are you ignorant or stupid, or both?" I didn't care for that. I felt offended to be called stupid and ignorant, a simple watch your mouth would have sufficed. He could see my anger. He then said to me, "John when you curse you are substituting the curse words for words you should know, so you are displaying ignorance, when you curse in public in the hallways of High School with adult teachers walking those same hallways you are showing your stupidity. John, find the right words, your better than that, have a good day." Wow was I left stunned.
No one likes that kind of correction or discipline. But I got a good taste of it. Even though at the time I was very upset about his approach, it worked, ever since that day over 25 years ago I still remember the incident vividly and it is one that helps me often now when I may slip on some occasion due to anger. My teachers words echo in my mind. He did me a great service for he spoke a Truth to me, to avoid using curse words, for I was better than that. That Truth came from the Holy Spirit. In that Truth also came reproof, correction, admonishment, and discipline, all which built up a good habit and good character.
So what at the time "seemed a cause not for joy but for pain . . . later brought the peaceful fruit of righteousness." Hebrews
Parents: when teachers or coaches discipline your children welcome it
children: when you are disciplined reflect on why, it's mostly for your good
All of us: the Lord will discipline us at times, let us be open to it and accept it humbly, for who knows us and takes care of us better than the Lord...Amen!
Fr. John
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Theotokos
Forgot a very important dogma about our Blessed Mother, "Mother of God" or in the Greek "Theotokos" literal translation is "The God bearer." I will offer some reflections on the Mother of god in the coming weeks...God bless...Fr. John
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The Blessed Mother (The Church's Beliefs)
This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As Catholics we celebrate a number of feasts and solemnities associated with the Blessed Mother. Our devotion to her is different than what most Christians do or practice. Obviously our Eastern brothers and sisters, i.e. the Greek, Russian Orthodox Churches also maintain many of the same devotion as we do in the Catholic Church. Why is it that other Christians do not or did not maintain the same devotions? What exactly do we believe about the Blessed Mother?
Dealing with the second question first, as Catholics we believe in four major dogmas surrounding Mary. They are:
1) The Virgin Birth
2) Her Immaculate Conception
3) Her Assumption
4) Her perpetual virginity
The first one all Christians agree on. Mary was a Virgin when she bore Christ in her womb and when she gave birth to Him. The Gospels of Luke and Matthew are very clear in stating such. The virgin birth is one of the cornerstones of belief in being a Christian.
The issues arise when we begin discussing Mary’s perpetual virginity. The Gospels make reference to Jesus’ brothers and sisters as well as saying that Joseph knew her not until she bore her first born. Some Christians have come to accept that Mary knew Joseph intimately and had children with him after Jesus’ birth. We must first understand that marriage and procreation is a holy endeavor and vocation. By believing that Mary and Joseph had no children and remained chaste does not make marriage and procreation a bad thing, both are ordained by God. As Catholics we believe that the brothers and sisters of Jesus whom are mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures are either cousins (since the word for brother was used very loosely when referring to other relatives such as cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.) or that Joseph was previously married and was a widower when he met Mary, hence Jesus’ brothers and sisters would have been his step brothers and sisters.
Not knowing Mary until after Jesus was born does not explicitly state that Joseph ever knew her in that way, since the word until here refers to an indeterminate time (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica). Also the passage refers to what happened before Jesus was born not after, here is the passage: Joseph had no relations with Mary until she bore a son. Why would the author go to the pains of informing us on the sexual activity of Mary and Joseph? The author was more concerned about what happened before and up to that point, not what happens later since he was not there to see it. 'The use of 'until' in Matthew 1:25, then, is purely to indicate that Christ was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, not conceived by Joseph and Mary, since they did not 'know' each other 'until' the birth. In this context 'until' is really synonymous with 'before'. If on the contrary it were meant in its full contemporary English sense—that is, if it really meant that Joseph and Mary's chaste relationship changed after the birth—then the stylistics present another big problem: the reader would have to believe that Matthew was actually inviting contemplation of the couple's later sexual activity. This is doubtful to say the least." Although in the English translation the phrase with "until" is ambiguous, it is less so in the original Greek text, c.f. Anastasia Giannakidou. 2002. 'UNTIL, aspect and negation: a novel argument for two untils.' In Brendan Jackson (ed.), Semantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 12, CLC Publications, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. 84-103.
The dogma of Mary’s perpetual virginity is taught with the certainty of faith and the magisterium of the Church. It is to be believed with an ascent of the mind and with the ascent of faith. This does not mean that people do not search, inquire, and reflect on the teaching. Human beings are not robots and we ask questions. God invites the questions so that we may learn who He is, so that we can learn who the saints are, as well as learn who we are. If you have a problem with this dogma or have questions with it you can find a plethora of information on line by a simple search. Remember though if you are Catholic your first inclination is a bias towards faith not doubt, we live in a time where some Catholics have become so progressive that they actually have a bias towards doubt or at least a bias against the Magisterium.
The Immaculate Conception is another dogma about the Blessed Mother. The dogma declares she was free from original and all actual sin from the moment of her conception and throughout her entire life. The teaching finds its roots in Scripture when the angel Gabriel says to Mary, “Hail, full of grace.” No one besides Jesus is ever referred to as full of grace. There is one exception with Jesus, in the Gospel of John it says of Him, “Full of grace and Truth.” Mary does not receive the second part, full of Truth, since she is not divine. Nevertheless the angel declares who she is in essence. The difficulty arises when St. Paul says in Romans, “all have sinned and all are deprived of the glory of God.” This led some to believe that Mary was exceptionally holy and may have been delivered from original sin and actual sin before her birth but not from conception (Thomas Aquinas and Bernard of Clarveux did not believe in the Immaculate Conception, but more in a Immaculate birth) since they could not reconcile Romans 3:22-23. If Paul was being super literal than does that mean Jesus as well in the “all have sinned”? Obviously not and when he wrote the letter to the Romans he may not have been aware of all the truth’s concerning Mary as all doctrine develops through sacred Tradition, not all the answers came immediately.
And for this week we celebrate the Assumption. There is a quick little side joke that when Mary passed away she went missing and no one could find her so we just ASSUMED she went to heaven. Actually the Church does not define or declare if Mary actually died or was taken to heaven while still alive, that is up to the believer, but what must be believed is that she was rewarded with the resurrection for her co-work with Christ her son in His passion and resurrection. No one gave up more than Mary besides her Son, the love and sacrifice she offered as a mother knows no equal, therefore the gift of Jesus taking His own Mother to Himself makes perfect sense.
Why some Christians argue against all the gifts that the Catholic Church showers upon Mary is hard to understand. When we shower all the titles on her, devotion to her, and believe in dogmatic truths about her life we are actually sharing in them, because what mother would not share her gifts with her children? The more you take away from Mary the more you take away from yourself.
The assumption is waiting for us now, we too will be resurrected and experience what Mary has already done, and she will be there waiting guiding us towards the light – her Son, so that she can share with us what she has, eternal life and happiness, i.e. Made immaculate.
By Fr. John
Dealing with the second question first, as Catholics we believe in four major dogmas surrounding Mary. They are:
1) The Virgin Birth
2) Her Immaculate Conception
3) Her Assumption
4) Her perpetual virginity
The first one all Christians agree on. Mary was a Virgin when she bore Christ in her womb and when she gave birth to Him. The Gospels of Luke and Matthew are very clear in stating such. The virgin birth is one of the cornerstones of belief in being a Christian.
The issues arise when we begin discussing Mary’s perpetual virginity. The Gospels make reference to Jesus’ brothers and sisters as well as saying that Joseph knew her not until she bore her first born. Some Christians have come to accept that Mary knew Joseph intimately and had children with him after Jesus’ birth. We must first understand that marriage and procreation is a holy endeavor and vocation. By believing that Mary and Joseph had no children and remained chaste does not make marriage and procreation a bad thing, both are ordained by God. As Catholics we believe that the brothers and sisters of Jesus whom are mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures are either cousins (since the word for brother was used very loosely when referring to other relatives such as cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.) or that Joseph was previously married and was a widower when he met Mary, hence Jesus’ brothers and sisters would have been his step brothers and sisters.
Not knowing Mary until after Jesus was born does not explicitly state that Joseph ever knew her in that way, since the word until here refers to an indeterminate time (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica). Also the passage refers to what happened before Jesus was born not after, here is the passage: Joseph had no relations with Mary until she bore a son. Why would the author go to the pains of informing us on the sexual activity of Mary and Joseph? The author was more concerned about what happened before and up to that point, not what happens later since he was not there to see it. 'The use of 'until' in Matthew 1:25, then, is purely to indicate that Christ was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, not conceived by Joseph and Mary, since they did not 'know' each other 'until' the birth. In this context 'until' is really synonymous with 'before'. If on the contrary it were meant in its full contemporary English sense—that is, if it really meant that Joseph and Mary's chaste relationship changed after the birth—then the stylistics present another big problem: the reader would have to believe that Matthew was actually inviting contemplation of the couple's later sexual activity. This is doubtful to say the least." Although in the English translation the phrase with "until" is ambiguous, it is less so in the original Greek text, c.f. Anastasia Giannakidou. 2002. 'UNTIL, aspect and negation: a novel argument for two untils.' In Brendan Jackson (ed.), Semantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 12, CLC Publications, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. 84-103.
The dogma of Mary’s perpetual virginity is taught with the certainty of faith and the magisterium of the Church. It is to be believed with an ascent of the mind and with the ascent of faith. This does not mean that people do not search, inquire, and reflect on the teaching. Human beings are not robots and we ask questions. God invites the questions so that we may learn who He is, so that we can learn who the saints are, as well as learn who we are. If you have a problem with this dogma or have questions with it you can find a plethora of information on line by a simple search. Remember though if you are Catholic your first inclination is a bias towards faith not doubt, we live in a time where some Catholics have become so progressive that they actually have a bias towards doubt or at least a bias against the Magisterium.
The Immaculate Conception is another dogma about the Blessed Mother. The dogma declares she was free from original and all actual sin from the moment of her conception and throughout her entire life. The teaching finds its roots in Scripture when the angel Gabriel says to Mary, “Hail, full of grace.” No one besides Jesus is ever referred to as full of grace. There is one exception with Jesus, in the Gospel of John it says of Him, “Full of grace and Truth.” Mary does not receive the second part, full of Truth, since she is not divine. Nevertheless the angel declares who she is in essence. The difficulty arises when St. Paul says in Romans, “all have sinned and all are deprived of the glory of God.” This led some to believe that Mary was exceptionally holy and may have been delivered from original sin and actual sin before her birth but not from conception (Thomas Aquinas and Bernard of Clarveux did not believe in the Immaculate Conception, but more in a Immaculate birth) since they could not reconcile Romans 3:22-23. If Paul was being super literal than does that mean Jesus as well in the “all have sinned”? Obviously not and when he wrote the letter to the Romans he may not have been aware of all the truth’s concerning Mary as all doctrine develops through sacred Tradition, not all the answers came immediately.
And for this week we celebrate the Assumption. There is a quick little side joke that when Mary passed away she went missing and no one could find her so we just ASSUMED she went to heaven. Actually the Church does not define or declare if Mary actually died or was taken to heaven while still alive, that is up to the believer, but what must be believed is that she was rewarded with the resurrection for her co-work with Christ her son in His passion and resurrection. No one gave up more than Mary besides her Son, the love and sacrifice she offered as a mother knows no equal, therefore the gift of Jesus taking His own Mother to Himself makes perfect sense.
Why some Christians argue against all the gifts that the Catholic Church showers upon Mary is hard to understand. When we shower all the titles on her, devotion to her, and believe in dogmatic truths about her life we are actually sharing in them, because what mother would not share her gifts with her children? The more you take away from Mary the more you take away from yourself.
The assumption is waiting for us now, we too will be resurrected and experience what Mary has already done, and she will be there waiting guiding us towards the light – her Son, so that she can share with us what she has, eternal life and happiness, i.e. Made immaculate.
By Fr. John
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Reflection for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
In today’s Gospel Jesus speaks about the faithful, diligent, prudent, and wise servant. A servant who has made him or herself ready for the Lord’s return or call home. St. Peter the man who is usually not afraid to speak up at this point is thinking, “Who is the Lord talking about, me or everyone?” He asks this question for the simple reason of finding out, “Am I a faithful servant, or do I still need to become one?” Peter in essence asked this question for all of us as well, because deep down inside we also want to know, “Are we the good and faithful servants that Jesus is talking about?”
The answer to the question needs to be answered by the individual. We are asked to look deep down inside of ourselves and examine our lives and ask, “Are we the good and faithful servant, who is ready to welcome the master and to welcome Him at any time, day or night?” No one is perfect and all of us strive to become the best persons that we can become, but all of us as Christians should at least with a good morale assurance be able to say that we are good Christians and that we are living in God’s grace. There is the old school Catholic mentality of “woes me, a sinner, God have mercy on my soul.” That kind of thinking is fine when we are convicted of sin, but our general disposition should be one of confidence and happiness, “We are redeemed!” Redeemed people do not walk around with sunken faces and dispositions.
At this point we could ask another question about ourselves, “How do we become the good and faithful servant or how do I become a better one?” The simple answer is to live the virtues. An important prerequisite to the virtues obviously is grace, without God’s favor and free gift of salvation no one can please God or if we fell back into grave sin, “All our good deeds (would be) . . . like polluted rags” (Is. 64:5; emphasis mine). Once this gift, which we have received in baptism, is realized in our own lives and our disposition is one of faith we must strive to attain holiness or the virtuous life, it is the only way to achieve in becoming “That good and faithful servant.”
Attending mass is great, saying a prayer once in a while is nice, going to confession once a year is better than nothing, but it can’t just be that. The mass, the sacraments, our prayer life must take such root that all those celebrations and moments of grace permeate our whole lives. How can this be done?
The church helps us to achieve the virtuous life by giving us the cardinal and theological virtues as guides to become and to live holy and saintly lives.
So, today we will have a CCD review for all of us on the cardinal virtues and next time I am here we will discuss the theological virtues. Today will be part one, next week or next time will be part two. Otherwise I would have you here for hours building up your virtue of patience.
First we must understand what virtue means. Aristotle defined virtue as living within the mean. What he meant by this is that we are living in the middle between what is excessive and what is deficient, for example, the excess of courage would be recklessness and the deficiency of courage would be cowardice. Sometimes people mistake what Aristotle meant by living in the middle or the mean by understanding it to mean a little bit of vice mixed with a little bit of virtue, therefore being in the middle, that was not his understanding nor the proper understanding of virtue.
As Christians we are asked to embrace and live the cardinal virtues, cardinal since they are like the hinges of life or simply very important. The four cardinal virtues are courage, temperance, fortitude, and prudence.
Courage is the virtue that gives one the ability to face fear and uncertainty, to be able to persevere, and not be afraid. Courage for Christians would consist in many things, but most importantly in being courageous to live out the Gospel even in the face of not being accepted. For instance, at work someone makes a derogatory remark about Christianity, if I blow up at that person I have become excessive, i.e. reckless, if I back away and say nothing I am deficient, i.e. cowardly, but if I speak up for Christ reasonably, intelligibly, and with compassion than I am courageous.
Temperance is the virtue of self control and moderation. For Christians this would mean that we never allow anything to control us, i.e. money, food, drink, material things, etc. For instance, when we go to a party if we are a sour-puss and don’t get involved and just sulk in the corner then we are miserable persons, if we are overwhelming, hog attention, become too loud, then we are show offs, but if we strike a moderate level then we are simply nice and happy people.
Prudence is the virtue that helps us to know what to say, when to say something, and how to say something, or not say anything at all. For instance, I do not agree with my boss or superior and I go in and tell him or her that they are a terrible boss and that they do not know what they are doing then I am foolish - if not fired. If I never say anything than I am cowardly, but if I approach my superior with respect, in private, and temper my objections with a positive attitude then I am as Jesus would say, “Crafty as a serpent, but gentle as a dove”, hence hitting the mean - being prudent.
Justice is the virtue that demands we give to each and every person their proper due, which is none other than the respect of their person, i.e. the rights and needs of others. For instance if I take the law into my own hands and become a vigilante and hunt down criminals I have taken away their right to defend themselves in the court of law, again I have become a vigilante. If I witness a crime and do nothing about it then I have become passive to the point of becoming self centered and detached from society. What justice demands is that I always look to protect the needs and rights of others, but to do so within the moral law and obviously within civil law.
If you notice the extremes are considered vice and the middle is considered as virtue. The cardinal virtues for Christians are very important, since God gives us the grace to live them we must examine ourselves each and every day to make sure that we are shining examples of these virtues. It cannot be just at mass, the mass must be alive in us when we leave these doors. Holiness and the virtuous life can be achieved, God helps us in every moment, the question which remains is, “How much do we want it?”
The answer to the question needs to be answered by the individual. We are asked to look deep down inside of ourselves and examine our lives and ask, “Are we the good and faithful servant, who is ready to welcome the master and to welcome Him at any time, day or night?” No one is perfect and all of us strive to become the best persons that we can become, but all of us as Christians should at least with a good morale assurance be able to say that we are good Christians and that we are living in God’s grace. There is the old school Catholic mentality of “woes me, a sinner, God have mercy on my soul.” That kind of thinking is fine when we are convicted of sin, but our general disposition should be one of confidence and happiness, “We are redeemed!” Redeemed people do not walk around with sunken faces and dispositions.
At this point we could ask another question about ourselves, “How do we become the good and faithful servant or how do I become a better one?” The simple answer is to live the virtues. An important prerequisite to the virtues obviously is grace, without God’s favor and free gift of salvation no one can please God or if we fell back into grave sin, “All our good deeds (would be) . . . like polluted rags” (Is. 64:5; emphasis mine). Once this gift, which we have received in baptism, is realized in our own lives and our disposition is one of faith we must strive to attain holiness or the virtuous life, it is the only way to achieve in becoming “That good and faithful servant.”
Attending mass is great, saying a prayer once in a while is nice, going to confession once a year is better than nothing, but it can’t just be that. The mass, the sacraments, our prayer life must take such root that all those celebrations and moments of grace permeate our whole lives. How can this be done?
The church helps us to achieve the virtuous life by giving us the cardinal and theological virtues as guides to become and to live holy and saintly lives.
So, today we will have a CCD review for all of us on the cardinal virtues and next time I am here we will discuss the theological virtues. Today will be part one, next week or next time will be part two. Otherwise I would have you here for hours building up your virtue of patience.
First we must understand what virtue means. Aristotle defined virtue as living within the mean. What he meant by this is that we are living in the middle between what is excessive and what is deficient, for example, the excess of courage would be recklessness and the deficiency of courage would be cowardice. Sometimes people mistake what Aristotle meant by living in the middle or the mean by understanding it to mean a little bit of vice mixed with a little bit of virtue, therefore being in the middle, that was not his understanding nor the proper understanding of virtue.
As Christians we are asked to embrace and live the cardinal virtues, cardinal since they are like the hinges of life or simply very important. The four cardinal virtues are courage, temperance, fortitude, and prudence.
Courage is the virtue that gives one the ability to face fear and uncertainty, to be able to persevere, and not be afraid. Courage for Christians would consist in many things, but most importantly in being courageous to live out the Gospel even in the face of not being accepted. For instance, at work someone makes a derogatory remark about Christianity, if I blow up at that person I have become excessive, i.e. reckless, if I back away and say nothing I am deficient, i.e. cowardly, but if I speak up for Christ reasonably, intelligibly, and with compassion than I am courageous.
Temperance is the virtue of self control and moderation. For Christians this would mean that we never allow anything to control us, i.e. money, food, drink, material things, etc. For instance, when we go to a party if we are a sour-puss and don’t get involved and just sulk in the corner then we are miserable persons, if we are overwhelming, hog attention, become too loud, then we are show offs, but if we strike a moderate level then we are simply nice and happy people.
Prudence is the virtue that helps us to know what to say, when to say something, and how to say something, or not say anything at all. For instance, I do not agree with my boss or superior and I go in and tell him or her that they are a terrible boss and that they do not know what they are doing then I am foolish - if not fired. If I never say anything than I am cowardly, but if I approach my superior with respect, in private, and temper my objections with a positive attitude then I am as Jesus would say, “Crafty as a serpent, but gentle as a dove”, hence hitting the mean - being prudent.
Justice is the virtue that demands we give to each and every person their proper due, which is none other than the respect of their person, i.e. the rights and needs of others. For instance if I take the law into my own hands and become a vigilante and hunt down criminals I have taken away their right to defend themselves in the court of law, again I have become a vigilante. If I witness a crime and do nothing about it then I have become passive to the point of becoming self centered and detached from society. What justice demands is that I always look to protect the needs and rights of others, but to do so within the moral law and obviously within civil law.
If you notice the extremes are considered vice and the middle is considered as virtue. The cardinal virtues for Christians are very important, since God gives us the grace to live them we must examine ourselves each and every day to make sure that we are shining examples of these virtues. It cannot be just at mass, the mass must be alive in us when we leave these doors. Holiness and the virtuous life can be achieved, God helps us in every moment, the question which remains is, “How much do we want it?”
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