Clothe The Naked - 9/23/12

When visiting Poland the late Blessed John Paul II stated that while giving old and unneeded clothes is good, true charity would be to go out and buy new clothes to give away. Anyone can get rid of something that they do not need while getting for themselves something better. A saint will keep the inferior clothing and give what is better to others.

It is because clothes have so very much to do with our dignity as human beings that Jesus urges us to clothe the naked. But this confronts us with a problem. As with every counsel of Jesus, the command to clothe the naked has both a practical and spiritual dimension, because grace builds on nature. And there's the rub: My encounters with the naked beggar are fairly rare, as are yours. The men we meet in the soup kitchen line are not naked. Nor are the homeless guys you meet in your town. Once again, we discover we live in a society where the bottom of Maslow's Pyramid is pretty well covered. The purely animal need for insulating cloth in which to wrap the human organism is pretty well covered in the First World. Clothing banks swell to bursting with free clothes of every size. Rare indeed is the opportunity for us in the First World to live out Jesus' command: "If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well." (Mt 5:40)

However, if we cast our view further abroad, we discover that this is not the case universally. At this hour, many millions of Lazaruses around the world sit naked or nearly naked for a simple reason: They cannot afford clothes, and the clothes they have are the only shield they have from cold, heat… and shame. Each one of these persons is Jesus Christ. Clothe him and you have clothed the Son of the Living God, and He will not forget it on That Day. That's the basic insistence of the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.

Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.

(Colossians 3:9-14)

In that moment he gave the leper the dignity that he deserved.

Not because he was a leper.

Not because he was a beggar.

Not because he was poor.

Not because he was Francis.

Simply because it was a human being who needed the dignity of knowing that they deserved love as much as any other human being.

The Theological Virtues

Scriptural Basis: [1 Cor 13:13] ¹²At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. ¹³So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Virtue

According to its etymology the word virtue (Latin virtus) signifies manliness or courage. ("The term virtue is from the word that signifies man; a man's chief quality is fortitude"; Cicero, "Tuscul.", I, xi, 18). Taken in its widest sense virtue means the excellence of perfection of a thing, just as vice, its contrary, denotes a defect or absence of perfection due to a thing. In its strictest meaning, however, as used by moral philosophers and theologians, it signifies a habit superadded to a faculty of the soul, disposing it to elicit with readiness acts conformable to our rational nature. "Virtue", says Augustine, "is a good habit consonant with our nature." From Saint Thomas's entire Question on the essence of virtue may be gathered his brief but complete definition of virtue: "habitus operativus bonus", an operative habit essentially good, as distinguished from vice, an operative habit essentially evil. Now a habit is a quality in itself difficult of change, disposing well or ill the subject in which it resides, either directly in itself or in relation to its operation. An operative habit is a quality residing in a power or faculty in itself indifferent to this or that line of action, but determined by the habit to this rather than to that kind of acts. (See HABIT.) Virtue then has this in common with vice, that it disposes a potency to a certain determined activity; but it differs specifically from it in that it disposes it to good acts, i.e. acts in consonance with right reason. Thus, temperance inclines the sensuous appetite to acts of moderation conformably to right reason just as intemperance impels the same appetite to acts of excess contrary to the dictates of our rational nature.

St. Thomas Aquinas - Summa Theologica

Now the object of the theological virtues is God Himself, Who is the last end of all, as surpassing the knowledge of our reason. On the other hand, the object of the intellectual and moral virtues is something comprehensible to human reason. Wherefore the theological virtues are specifically distinct from the moral and intellectual virtues.

Catholic Catechism
ARTICLE 7
THE VIRTUES

 1803 "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." [Phil 4:8]

 A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions.

 The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God.

 II. THE THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES

1812 The human virtues are rooted in the theological virtues, which adapt man's faculties for participation in the divine nature: for the theological virtues relate directly to God. They dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity. They have the One and Triune God for their origin, motive, and object.

1813 The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity.

Faith

1814 Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that the Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself. By faith "man freely commits his entire self to God." For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God's will. "The righteous shall live by faith." Living faith "work[s] through charity."

1815 The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it. But "faith apart from works is dead": when it is deprived of hope and love, faith does not fully unite the believer to Christ and does not make him a living member of his Body.

1816 The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: "All however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks." Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation: "So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."

Hope 

1817 Hope is the theological virtue by which 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. "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." "The Holy Spirit . . . he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life." 

1818 The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men's activities and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity.

1819 Christian hope takes up and fulfills the hope of the chosen people which has its origin and model in the hope of Abraham, who was blessed abundantly by the promises of God fulfilled in Isaac, and who was purified by the test of the sacrifice. "Hoping against hope, he believed, and thus became the father of many nations."

1820 Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus' preaching in the proclamation of the beatitudes. The beatitudes raise our hope toward heaven as the new Promised Land; they trace the path that leads through the trials that await the disciples of Jesus. But through the merits of Jesus Christ and of his Passion, God keeps us in the "hope that does not disappoint." Hope is the "sure and steadfast anchor of the soul . . . that enters . . . where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf." Hope is also a weapon that protects us in the struggle of salvation: "Let us . . . put on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” It affords us joy even under trial: "Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation." Hope is expressed and nourished in prayer, especially in the Our Father, the summary of everything that hope leads us to desire.

1821 We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love him and do his will. In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to persevere "to the end" and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ. In hope, the Church prays for "all men to be saved." She longs to be united with Christ, her Bridegroom, in the glory of heaven:

    Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time into a long one. Dream that the more you struggle, the more you prove the love that you bear your God, and the more you will rejoice one day with your Beloved, in a happiness and rapture that can never end.

Charity

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. [Col 3:12-15]

1822 Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.

1823 Jesus makes charity the new commandment. By loving his own "to the end," he makes manifest the Father's love which he receives. By loving one another, the disciples imitate the love of Jesus which they themselves receive. Whence Jesus says: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love." And again: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

1824 Fruit of the Spirit and fullness of the Law, charity keeps the commandments of God and his Christ: "Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love."

1825 Christ died out of love for us, while we were still "enemies." The Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the neighbor of those farthest away, and to love children and the poor as Christ himself.

    The Apostle Paul has given an incomparable depiction of charity: "charity is patient and kind, charity is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Charity does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Charity bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." [1 Cor 13:4-7]

1826 "If I . . . have not charity," says the Apostle, "I am nothing." Whatever my privilege, service, or even virtue, "if I . . . have not charity, I gain nothing." Charity is superior to all the virtues. It is the first of the theological virtues: "So faith, hope, charity abide, these three. But the greatest of these is charity." [1 Cor 13:13]

1827 The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which "binds everything together in perfect harmony"; it is the form of the virtues; it articulates and orders them among themselves; it is the source and the goal of their Christian practice. Charity upholds and purifies our human ability to love, and raises it to the supernatural perfection of divine love.

1828 The practice of the moral life animated by charity gives to the Christian the spiritual freedom of the children of God. He no longer stands before God as a slave, in servile fear, or as a mercenary looking for wages, but as a son responding to the love of him who "first loved us":

    If we turn away from evil out of fear of punishment, we are in the position of slaves. If we pursue the enticement of wages, . . . we resemble mercenaries. Finally if we obey for the sake of the good itself and out of love for him who commands . . . we are in the position of children.

1829 The fruits of charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands beneficence and fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it fosters reciprocity and remains disinterested and generous; it is friendship and communion: Love is itself the fulfillment of all our works. There is the goal; that is why we run: we run toward it, and once we reach it, in it we shall find rest.

Does the common person speak of virtue these days? And if he does, what does he often mean by “virtue”?

What is the difference between the virtue of religion and the virtue of faith? How is this connected to the theological virtues?

If faith is truly a gift from God, how can anyone be held accountable for their lack of faith?

Love is the greatest virtue; however, “we never get to love unless the door is opened by faith.”

What does this mean? Why does ”the virtuous person live by faith” rather than some “generalized kindliness”?

“No one is more dangerous than those who set out to make a perfect world.” Why is this true?

What are examples of this? What did they put their hope in to seek this goal?

“Out of evil freely committed by men God brings good, but this will never be understood unless we look beyond this world and see a heavenly hope.” How do we find hope in the midst of evil and suffering?

Why do many mistake “feelings of benevolence and kindliness” for people in general as charity?

Reading Links Regarding the Gifts of the Holy Spirit

I have every confidence that if you read through the following articles you will be well prepared for this coming Sunday's discussion on "The Gifts". Knock yourself out.

 An interesting article at American Catholic about the relationship between the Rite of Confirmation and The Gifts of the Holy Spirit can be viewed at: http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/MM/ap0898.asp

Another article is at The Catholic Education Resource Center here:  http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0451.html

And lastly, a number of articles on EWTN's site re: the Holy Spirit and gifts there from:  http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/spirmenu.htm

The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

From The Catechism of the Catholic Church

1830 The moral life of Christians is sustained by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are permanent dispositions which make man docile in following the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

1831 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David.

They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.

Let your good spirit lead me on a level path^.  [Ps 143:10] For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God . . . If children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. [Rom 8:14,17]

1832 The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: "charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity." [Gal 5:22-23 (Vulg.)]

The Seven Virtues

(Also called the Seven Contrary Virtues or Seven Heavenly Virtues)

The concept of the seven capital virtues has been an aspect of Catholic Faith for several centuries, having gained recognition and popularity in the middle ages. This list of seven virtues is a set of virtues which are to counter the temptation to succumb to the seven capital sins. For this reason, they are sometimes also called the seven contrary virtues; they represent the opposite of the seven sins.

The list of seven capital virtues stems from the subject matter of an epic poem written by an early Christian poet, Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, at the end of the 4th century. The poem, Psychomachia (meaning Battle of Souls), is an allegory which describes seven virtues defeating seven vices.

The seven contrary or capital virtues are as follows:

Humility – Humility is the virtue that counters pride. As pride leads to other sin, true humility clears a path for holiness. Pride is a sin based on undue and inappropriate appreciation of one’s self worth. Conversely, the virtue of humility is about modest behavior, selflessness and the giving of respect.

Liberality – Liberality, or generosity, is the virtue that is counter to greed – the sin of immoderate desire for earthly things. The virtue of liberality is focused not merely on the appropriate concern regarding one’s earthly things, but furthermore on generosity and a willingness to give, freely and without request for commendation.

Chastity – Chastity is the counter-virtue to the sin of lust. Chastity embraces moral wholesomeness and purity, and in both thought and action treats God’s gift of sexuality with due reverence and respect.

Meekness – Meekness, or patience, is the virtue that counters the sin of unjust anger, also called wrath or rage. Where the sin of wrath is about quick temper and unnecessary vengeance, the virtue of meekness focuses on patiently seeking appropriate resolution to conflicts, and on the ability to forgive and show mercy.

Temperance – The virtue of temperance or abstinence counters the sin of gluttony. To be gluttonous is to over-indulge. On the opposite hand, the virtue of temperance is centered on self-control and moderation.

Kindness – Kindness, or brotherly love or love for one’s neighbor, is the virtue which counters the sin of envy. Envy, in contradiction to God’s law of love, is manifest in a person’s sorrow and distress over the good fortune of another person. Conversely, kindness and brotherly love is manifest in the unprejudiced, compassionate and charitable concern for others.

Diligence – Diligence, or persistence, is the virtue which acts as a counter to the sin of sloth. Sloth, as a capital sin, refers to laziness in matters of Faith. Diligence in matters of the spiritual combat laziness and this virtue is manifest in appropriately zealous attitudes toward living and sharing the Faith.

The Fruits of the Holy Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23
In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Catechism of the Catholic Church
1832 The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. 

 The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: "charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity."
 

Various Bible translations translate the Greek version of Galatians 5:22-23, and list nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. Some versions of St. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate Bible include three additional words: “patientia”, “modestia”, and “castitas”. As one can see by comparing the Bible versions of the fruits with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the three “extra” words become in English: “goodness”, ”modesty”, and “chastity” – and so the Catholic Church recognizes this tradition of including these in the list of twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit.

"Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of heaven, and adopted as children, given confidence to call God "Father" and to share in Christ's grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory." St. Basil, De Spiritu Sancto 

Fruits # 5 & 6: Kindness & Goodness: Are these synonyms? Why or why not?

Goodness - (Latin: bonitas)

    The state or quality of being good -     Moral excellence; virtue; - Kindly feeling, kindness, generosity -     The best part of anything; Essence; Strength; -  General character recognized in quality or conduct.

Popular English Bibles (e.g. NIV, NASB, NLT) translate the single Greek word chrestotes into two English words: kindness and goodness. "Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power".[2 Thes 1:11] "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth".[Eph 5:9]

Fruit # 7: Generosity - Catechism of the Catholic Church - paragraph 

2407 In economic matters, respect for human dignity requires the practice of the virtue of temperance, so as to moderate attachment to this world's goods; the practice of the virtue of justice, to preserve our neighbor's rights and render him what is his due; and the practice of solidarity, in accordance with the golden rule and in keeping with the generosity of the Lord, who "though he was rich, yet for your sake . . . became poor so that by his poverty, you might become rich." [2 Cor 8:9]

Fruit # 8: Gentleness - (Latin: mansuetudo) (Greek: praotes)

Gentleness is the music that soothes the wild beast in us, the face into which we look that calms us, the hand that we hold that lets us walk without fear, that calls us not to flee, but to dance. 

Fruit # 9: Faithfulness - (Latin: fides)

Faithfulness is committing oneself to something or someone, for instance, to God, to one's spouse. Being faithful requires personal resolve not to wander away from commitments or promises. It's not always easy to be faithful. It takes trust in God. "O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth".[Isaiah 25:1] "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith".[Eph 3:16-17]

Fruit #10: Modesty - Catechism of the Catholic Church - paragraph(s)

2521 Purity requires modesty, an integral part of temperance. Modesty protects the intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness. It guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons and their solidarity.

2522 Modesty protects the mystery of persons and their love. It encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships; it requires that the conditions for the definitive giving and commitment of man and woman to one another be fulfilled. Modesty is decency. It inspires one's choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet.

2523 There is a modesty of the feelings as well as of the body. It protests, for example, against the voyeuristic explorations of the human body in certain advertisements, or against the solicitations of certain media that go too far in the exhibition of intimate things. Modesty inspires a way of life which makes it possible to resist the allurements of fashion and the pressures of prevailing ideologies.

2524 The forms taken by modesty vary from one culture to another. Everywhere, however, modesty exists as an intuition of the spiritual dignity proper to man. It is born with the awakening consciousness of being a subject. Teaching modesty to children and adolescents means awakening in them respect for the human person.

Fruit #11: Self Control - (Latin: continentia)  The Greek word used in Galatians 5:23 is "egkrateia", which means having command or "mastery over" (krat- as in "autocrat"), or possession of, "one's own behavior."

 "...make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love."[2 Pet 1:5-7]

Fruit #12: Chastity - Catechism of the Catholic Church - paragraph(s)

2337 Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man's belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman.

The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift. 

2341 The virtue of chastity comes under the cardinal virtue of temperance, which seeks to permeate the passions and appetites of the senses with reason.

2345 Chastity is a moral virtue. It is also a gift from God, a grace, a fruit of spiritual effort.¹³² The Holy Spirit enables one whom the water of Baptism has regenerated to imitate the purity of Christ.

Questions for Reflection

1) Why do you think that it is significant that Jesus uses the action verb Agapao to describe the kind of love that the Holy Spirit wants to develop inside of you?

2) Why do you think God tells you that His joy is what acts as your strength during trying times? Can you think of a time when His joy kept you strong?

3) Why do you think so many Christians today struggle with receiving and maintaining God's peace?  Do you feel that you have a problem maintaining your peace?

4) Have you ever had to wait on a promise from God's Word to manifest itself in your life?  What did you learn from the experience?

5) Does it shock you to know that God believes developing patient endurance will make you "fully developed" spiritually?  Why or why not?

6) Do you feel that many Christians take kindness and mercy for granted?  Have you ever done this yourself?

7) What do you think qualifies a person as being "good" in God's eyes?

8) Have you ever thought that you did not have enough faith for something?  How does it feel to know that developing faith is something the Holy Spirit has been sent to help you with?

9) Have you ever fallen into the world's trap of feeling like you have to take care of number one?  How can you safeguard yourself from feeling this way, even when you are wronged by those around you?

10) Are there any of the 9 Fruits of the Spirit that you thought would be difficult to develop?  What role do you think developing self-control can play in helping you to develop the others you had been lacking?

11) What do you think are the best ways to develop the 9 Fruits of the Spirit in your own life?

Chages in the Sacred Liturgy

For the next (3) Sundays (11/6, 11/13, 11/20) we will be learning about & discussing the liturgical changes that begin with Advent on 11/27/11.

Following are several links to various websites & publications which may be of some use to you in preparing for this.

Embracing Change in the Liturgy - http://old.usccb.org/romanmissal/Embracing_Change_in_the_Liturgy.pdf

Guide to Unfamiliar Words in the Mass -  http://old.usccb.org/romanmissal/Words_in_the_Roman_Missal.pdf

Ten Questions on the Roman Missal - http://old.usccb.org/romanmissal/Ten_Questions_on_the_Roman_Missal.pdf

The Order of Mass - http://old.usccb.org/romanmissal/order-of-mass.pdf

Reminders: 

Daylight Savings Time - 11/6

Thanksgiving - 11/24

Start of Advent - 11/27