{"id":1760,"date":"2015-01-27T13:34:13","date_gmt":"2015-01-27T18:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/tomzampino\/?p=1760"},"modified":"2015-01-27T14:51:21","modified_gmt":"2015-01-27T19:51:21","slug":"do-you-see-your-own-gifts-do-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tomzampino\/2015\/01\/do-you-see-your-own-gifts-do-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You See Your Own Gifts? Do Others?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

In my last post, Of Virtues and Gifts and Peace<\/em><\/a>, I explored the four main, or cardinal<\/em>, virtues of humanity as\u00a0set forth in, and defined\u00a0by, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, those of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.<\/p>\n

These revealed virtues\u00a0probably come as close to\u00a0an owner\u2019s operating manual<\/em>\u00a0for humanity as we will ever likely\u00a0discover on our own.<\/p>\n

They enlighten our hearts, instruct our heads, guide our actions, and inform our relationships.<\/p>\n

Also briefly discussed\u00a0were the three theological<\/em> virtues upon which the four cardinal virtues\u00a0are based, those of faith, hope, and charity.<\/p>\n

The sincere and loving pursuit of all of these virtues, the Church teaches, will result in certain gifts to us \u2013 among them joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, self-control, and gentleness.<\/p>\n

Now, the practicing of the cardinal virtues, and the diligent pursuit of the theological ones,\u00a0will never be\u00a0easy.<\/p>\n

No one ever said that they would be.<\/p>\n

The Church and Christ never promised anything but troubles in this world.\u00a0John 16:33<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And neither the disciples nor the early saints were ever granted anything more. If anything, the early saints were\u00a0put\u00a0through 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.<\/p>\n

So as\u00a0we open ourselves up, as we seek to integrate these virtues into our lives, we\u00a0expose ourselves to\u00a0some\u00a0major risks.<\/p>\n

The risk that we may fail.<\/p>\n

The risk that we\u00a0may\u00a0lose the chance to better our temporal and earthly existence \u2013 whether in the physical, financial, or social realm.<\/p>\n

The risk that\u00a0this very pursuit may provoke or even enrage those around us, causing them to curse us, condemn us, and take unfair advantage of us.<\/p>\n

All of that is true.<\/p>\n

I can think of few things more frustrating and maddening than to react with self-restraint instead of with immediacy, power,\u00a0and force \u2013 or even, in some extraordinary circumstances, physical violence \u2013 to a threat against our lives, our families, or even our livelihoods.<\/p>\n

We want so much to react in kind.<\/p>\n

We want to show them<\/em> not to mess with us. We need to take our revenge against those who have wronged us.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s especially difficult when we\u2019ve acted, or at least have tried to act<\/em>, with generosity, kindness, and charity first.<\/p>\n

Yet, we are called for more.<\/p>\n

We are, in many ways, called to turn the other cheek.<\/em><\/p>\n

No, not because to be a Christian means to be a wimp.<\/p>\n

Or because we must be must always be passive in the face of unfair aggression.<\/p>\n

Or that we must always\u00a0expose ourselves\u00a0to being unfairly taken advantage of.<\/p>\n

But because our eyes, our minds, our very\u00a0hearts can only be lifted up when our attention is drawn upwards. When we seek those things from above before all else.<\/p>\n

The diligent practicing of these virtues even in the face of aggression \u2013 no, especially in the face of aggression \u2013 is perhaps the only way that we can bring about change, the only way that we can ultimately and finally rise above this world.<\/p>\n

St. Augustine, it has been said<\/a>, observed that the command to\u00a0turn the other cheek <\/em>is an expression of\u00a0the 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.<\/p>\n

Our reacting with restraint to the wrongs committed against us elevates us, while simultaneously lifting up humanity.<\/p>\n

It does not weaken us.<\/p>\n

It empowers us.<\/p>\n

And it brings forth the promised gifts in the here and now.<\/p>\n

So do you see your own gifts?<\/p>\n

Do others?<\/p>\n

As for me, I recognize that I am still very much in need of all the practice that I can get.<\/p>\n

I have yet to fully encounter the power of these promised gifts.<\/p>\n

Maybe that\u2019s why I\u2019ve been feeling so particularly tested as of late, and why I need to keep at it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve, no doubt, got a long way to go.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019d be grateful if you\u2019d keep me in your prayers as I continue my journey.<\/p>\n

And my promise to you is the same.<\/p>\n

Peace<\/p>\n

Photo Credit Here<\/a>\u00a0via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In my last post, Of Virtues and Gifts and Peace, I explored the four main, or cardinal, virtues of humanity as\u00a0set forth in, and defined\u00a0by, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, those of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. These revealed virtues\u00a0probably come as close to\u00a0an owner\u2019s operating manual\u00a0for humanity as we will ever likely\u00a0discover on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1976,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDo You See Your Own Gifts? 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