Do You See Your Own Gifts? Do Others?

In my last post, Of Virtues and Gifts and Peace, I explored the four main, or cardinal, virtues of humanity as set forth in, and defined by, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, those of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.

These revealed virtues probably come as close to an owner’s operating manual for humanity as we will ever likely discover on our own.

They enlighten our hearts, instruct our heads, guide our actions, and inform our relationships.

Also briefly discussed were the three theological virtues upon which the four cardinal virtues are based, those of faith, hope, and charity.

The sincere and loving pursuit of all of these virtues, the Church teaches, will result in certain gifts to us – among them joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, self-control, and gentleness.

Now, the practicing of the cardinal virtues, and the diligent pursuit of the theological ones, will never be easy.

No one ever said that they would be.

The Church and Christ never promised anything but troubles in this world. John 16:33.

And neither the disciples nor the early saints were ever granted anything more. If anything, the early saints were put through trials, tribulations, persecutions, and horrors beyond anything that we, in the relative safety and security of our first world, 21st century lives, might ever be able to imagine.

So as we open ourselves up, as we seek to integrate these virtues into our lives, we expose ourselves to some major risks.

The risk that we may fail.

The risk that we may lose the chance to better our temporal and earthly existence – whether in the physical, financial, or social realm.

The risk that this very pursuit may provoke or even enrage those around us, causing them to curse us, condemn us, and take unfair advantage of us.

All of that is true.

I can think of few things more frustrating and maddening than to react with self-restraint instead of with immediacy, power, and force – or even, in some extraordinary circumstances, physical violence – to a threat against our lives, our families, or even our livelihoods.

We want so much to react in kind.

We want to show them not to mess with us. We need to take our revenge against those who have wronged us.

And it’s especially difficult when we’ve acted, or at least have tried to act, with generosity, kindness, and charity first.

Yet, we are called for more.

We are, in many ways, called to turn the other cheek.

No, not because to be a Christian means to be a wimp.

Or because we must be must always be passive in the face of unfair aggression.

Or that we must always expose ourselves to being unfairly taken advantage of.

But because our eyes, our minds, our very hearts can only be lifted up when our attention is drawn upwards. When we seek those things from above before all else.

The diligent practicing of these virtues even in the face of aggression – no, especially in the face of aggression – is perhaps the only way that we can bring about change, the only way that we can ultimately and finally rise above this world.

St. Augustine, it has been said, observed that the command to turn the other cheek is an expression of the theological virtue of charity in action. And that charity is the virtue that empowers us to love with the love with which God loves. It empowers us to translate the Holy Spirit into human terms.

Our reacting with restraint to the wrongs committed against us elevates us, while simultaneously lifting up humanity.

It does not weaken us.

It empowers us.

And it brings forth the promised gifts in the here and now.

So do you see your own gifts?

Do others?

As for me, I recognize that I am still very much in need of all the practice that I can get.

I have yet to fully encounter the power of these promised gifts.

Maybe that’s why I’ve been feeling so particularly tested as of late, and why I need to keep at it.

I’ve, no doubt, got a long way to go.

So I’d be grateful if you’d keep me in your prayers as I continue my journey.

And my promise to you is the same.