Human beings can learn to be virtuous on a natural level through their own effort and practice of good actions. The ancient philosophers identified four virtues that all the other virtues stem from. These are called the Cardinal Virtues. They are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Prudence helps us decide how to act in particular situations. Justice helps us give to God and our neighbor what is due to them. Fortitude is courage in the face of opposition to goodness. Temperance keeps us from overindulging our appetites. (CCC 1805-1809) But it is not easy for us to maintain virtue by our own effort. Faith, hope, and charity are called the theological virtues because they come from God. Without God’s grace, we cannot possess them. Faith is a gift from God that we cannot acquire on our own. Hope springs from faith, because without belief in God, we cannot hope in the promise of eternal life. Charity is love for God and our neighbor for the sake of God.
Faith is the strong belief in God, giving Him complete trust and confidence. When spouses share a strong Christian faith, Jesus Christ is the center of their personal lives, and the center of their marriage. They practice this faith by attending Church services together and praying together. They witness their faith in the way they live their lives. This faith is not shaken by tragedy or hardship. Like the early Christians, persecution only makes their faith stronger.
The virtue of faith helps us to put God first in our lives even if it means going against our friends and family members; even to giving our lives rather than to go along with wrongdoing. Many in our culture want us to embrace sin and abandon the truth. Not satisfied with having abortion and gay marriage legalized, they want Christians to be forced to perform and celebrate these acts. Our faith helps us to look to Scripture and the teachings of the Church for guidance on issues such as these, and to stand firm in our moral principles against all who oppose us.
St. Thomas More was a very intelligent man, a lawyer and politician who was close to King Henry VIII. He married twice and had four children. Both marriages were happy, and he was a good father. When King Henry VIII divorced his wife, Catherine of Aragon, More refused to compromise his moral principles and the teachings of the Catholic Church on marriage. He was executed for refusing to acknowledge the king as the head of the Church of England. (https://www.goodcatholic.com/
Dear Holy Spirit, through the intercession of St. Thomas More, please grant to (names) an increase in the virtue of faith. Help them to follow the example of St. Thomas More in their daily lives, refusing to compromise their moral principles. Help them to grow in virtue until their love is as close as humanly possible to Your love for them. Let this love for each other expand to include all those around them, especially those in their care. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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