Lesson 3: I Am God's Beloved, PDF

LESSON 3: I AM GOD’S BELOVED, ENDOWED WITH GODLY VIRTUES  Virtue It is a Spirit-empowered good habit or the capacity for doing good with ease, pleasure, and consistency. It is the concrete manifestation of our sharing in God’s divine life: created in God’s image...

LESSON 3: I AM GOD’S BELOVED, ENDOWED WITH GODLY VIRTUES  Virtue It is a Spirit-empowered good habit or the capacity for doing good with ease, pleasure, and consistency. It is the concrete manifestation of our sharing in God’s divine life: created in God’s image and likeness, redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ and indwelt and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.  Theological Virtues These are virtues that are “infused” into us by God’s grace at the moment of our baptism. They can only be deepened, increased, or heightened in us through humble prayer and grateful celebration of the sacraments by which we receive the grace of God.  FAITH We believe in God and believe all that He has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself. MAIN SOURCE OF GRACE: BAPTISM  HOPE We desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. MAIN SOURCE OF GRACE: ANOINTING OF THE SICK  LOVE / CHARITY We love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves. MAIN SOURCE OF GRACE: EUCHARIST  Cardinal Virtues They are acquired through habitual disposition and repeated acts. It comes from the Latin term cardo, meaning hinge because all other virtues “hinge” upon or fall under these. They are also called natural, human, or moral virtues because these are building blocks for us to live a Christian moral life.  PRUDENCE It disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it. MAIN SOURCE OF GRACE: HOLY ORDERS  JUSTICE It consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor; disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good. MAIN SOURCE OF GRACE: PENANCE AND RECONCILIATION  FORTITUDE It ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good, and enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. MAIN SOURCE OF GRACE: CONFIRMATION  TEMPERANCE It moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. MAIN SOURCE OF GRACE: MATRIMONY  Vices Consistent living of a virtuous life spares us from acquiring the vices, and immoral and wicked behavior and characteristics, that destroy life and make us detached from God, the source of all goodness and Who is Goodness Himself.  Virtues vs. Vices LOVE / CHARITY indifference FAITH apostasy HOPE despair PRUDENCE folly JUSTICE injustice FORTITUDE cowardice TEMPERANCE intemperance  Vices Vigilance or mindfulness to the Spirit’s movements within us and obedience to His leading with discernment, accompanied by active sacramental life and acts of mercy, must be our constant plea and response to God who loves us so much as to share His very self with us.  Jesus Christ: Model of a Virtuous Life Jesus Christ is the embodiment of all virtues. He is fully human and fully divine. He came to save us and show us what it means to be human and how we can live fully our humanity to experience God’s sharing of His divine life in us.  Jesus Christ: Model of a Virtuous Life “The Passion of Christ completely suffices to fashion our lives, and His death on the cross exemplifies every virtue.” - St. Thomas Aquinas