7 Days of Virtue; Day 5 – Faith
Think of virtues like your muscles. You work your muscles out so that they can perform for you when needed. Virtue is the same way. You practice, work on the virtue and then, when the time comes, the virtue is there and ready.
Day 5 of the 7 Day Journey through the Virtues: DAY 5 – FAITH.
Faith, simply put, is a relational trust in God. Trust is an incredible part to faith. Trusting in the unseen is difficult, but an amazing experience when you allow yourself to do so. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that faith is the intellectual assent to God’s revelation (intellect) and a personal adherence to God (entrusting one’s self to God) (will). Therefore, faith is the intellect plus the will. Thinking and doing.
Intellect allows us to think about faith. There are a few vices that can get in our way, however…
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Unbelief – either by ignorance (no knowledge) or by opposition (choice not to believe).
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Heresy – a choice to disagree with what Christ taught.
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Doubt – a lack of understanding.
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Blasphemy – making jokes about God, the Church, etc.
In relation to the will, our actions allow us to believe.
Faith is an incredible thing, and an amazing gift to possess. For some, it’s difficult to really believe, to really let go of the pieces of life that we can control. When you get to the point of being virtuously faithful, it will change your world. All of us, as with all virtues, can gain the virtue of faith, meaning that we have the habit of being faithful (trusting) and that faith comes to us 1. easily 2. joyfully 3. promptly and 4. consistently. Practice and Grace… that’s what gets us to all the virtues.
Man up!
7 Days of Virtue; Day 4 – Temperance
Think of virtues like your muscles. You work your muscles out so that they can perform for you when needed. Virtue is the same way. You practice, work on the virtue and then, when the time comes, the virtue is there and ready.
Day 4 of the 7 Day Journey through the Virtues: DAY 4 – TEMPERANCE.
Temperance moderates our attraction to pleasure. This can be any form of pleasure… physical, emotional, sexual, mental, spiritual, etc. There is an opposing vice that we should stay away from… insensibility (the complete rejection of any pleasure). Pleasure, in and of itself, is not bad, as long as it is ordered and moderated. There are three major vices that go along with temperance that we all deal with, in one way or another; it is NOT manly to indulge in these sins!
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Gluttony – inordinate consumption of food and/or drink. If they need a fork lift to come get you from the booth to your car, you ate too much. We are incredibly guilty of this in America with our portion sizes. A way to fight gluttony is by fasting.
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Drunkenness – hinders our reason. Drinking to excess means that we are willingly depriving ourselves of our reason (St. Thomas Aquinas). A HUGE problem in our culture. Men, drunkenness is not manly. Being able to stop after 1 or 2 drinks is manly and it doesn’t just mean you do this when you are driving. This is at home, at a party, with a DD, where ever. Losing all ability to think, function, act and control yourself is cowardly. Be a man, put the drink down.
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Lust – is destructive and causes harm. Sex, like fire, is a good thing – in context. If a fire gets out of control, it destroys. If it is used how it is intended, it gives off warmth and can be used to cook. Sex is the same way… if we make the choice to be chaste, we are ordering our sexuality in the way that God intended. Don’t be fooled by society, lust is destructive. Everyone’s NOT doing it – there are those of use who strive for it who are living chaste lives, even in our marriages. St. Thomas Aquinas said: “A man who gives into his lust has weaknesses. From this weakness means that he will give into his passions. He is not free to love.” Are you weak? Be virtuous, control your sexuality, don’t let it control you.
Temperance guides us so that we do not fall into these sins. Being temperate means that we know when enough is enough, too much or sinful.
Man up!
7 Days of Virtue; Day 3 – Fortitude
Think of virtues like your muscles. You work your muscles out so that they can perform for you when needed. Virtue is the same way. You practice, work on the virtue and then, when the time comes, the virtue is there and ready.
Day 3 of the 7 Day Journey through the Virtues: DAY 3 – FORTITUDE.
Fortitude is also called COURAGE. This is a great virtue… very manly! Fortitude ensures firmness in difficulty. It is a resolve to resist temptations. The opposite of fortitude is timidity (cowardice) –> don’t be a coward. Courage helps us to persevere in everyday life. Courage moderates our fear and it helps us live for something great in our lives. There are 3 sub-virtues of Fortitude:
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Magnanimity: means “Greatness of Soul”. Being Magnanimous means that we don’t shrink from greatness. Be especially careful not to fall into vanity when thinking about Magnanimity; it is an easy trap to fall into. Being Magnanimous is incredibly manly!
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Patience: Endurance of difficulties through Joy and Peace.
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Perseverance: Determination. Makes us persist firmly to carry through.
Fearlessness and Rash-boldness are counterfeit vices, meaning that they may appear to be courageous, but are actually vicious. When a man is fearless, he doesn’t give death or evil their due respect. When a man acts out of rash-boldness, he takes on something that he shouldn’t. Be careful to protect against these.
Man up!
Everyday Examples of Manliness
There are a lot of things a man can do on a daily basis that are manly… here are somethings I’ve done this week that were manly.
Loved my wife, loved my kids, played with my kids, read my daughter stories, prayed with my kids, prayed the Rosary daily, washed my vehicles, filled my wife’s gas tank for her, fixed my American flag, took out the trash, was a courteous driver, followed through on job requirements without being micro-managed, explained the faith to someone, spoke with my accountability partner, planned a talk called “Mastering Christian Discipleship”, grilled meat, went to daily Mass, went to Confession, prayed the Stations of the Cross twice, spoke to a fellow man about how to overcome the pitfalls of pornography and masturbation, worked hard at achieving my future goals, disciplined my child, told my wife how special she is to me… what did you do this week?
Man up!
Lenten Devotion – A Prayerful Man
Often times, society tells us that prayer is for women, young children and hermit-type religious folks. Not true. In order for all of us to know God, we must converse with Him. It simply wouldn’t work to not speak to my wife for weeks-on-end and expect things to be okay between us. The same goes for us and God. We MUST stay in constant conversation with God. It’s like any other relationship, it takes bothparties to be in relation with one another. God has proved to remain faithful (He has made many covenants with us, His people), we are the ones that must change our behavior and devote time to Him in prayer.
Men, be careful to not fall into the modern idea that prayer/spirituality is a feminine characteristic. Females have a beautiful spirituality, but that doesn’t usually work for us. (There’s a reason why most of the Mystics of the Church are women.) For me, my prayer life reflects my demeanor, my personality and my outlook; it’s rugged, straightforward and unwaveringly positive. Most of my prayer reflects my need for Christ as a fallen, sinful man working at changing for the better. It also reflects knowledge that our faith is the Truth and the fullness of it. It’s important that your prayer life and spirituality reflect who you are, because like in any relationship, both parties need to honest, open and real. It won’t work if you try to have someone else’s spirituality. The great news here is that there’s at least one Saint who you can emulate, one Saint that was like you. Find that Saint and follow them to Christ.
Man up!
Celebrity Apprentice – Season 2
Are you familiar with Donald Trump? The multi-billionaire business man that created the show “The Apprentice”. Although he’s very good at what he does in business, he’s not the example of TrueManhood. He’s at it again, this time season two of Celebrity Apprentice. This show has been getting some big press and, as in years past, gains traction throughout the season. Season two started last night, although I didn’t watch it, I found this commercial clip for it. Watch…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90zttzBDhZs]
I can’t begin to count the bad examples of manhood throughout the show… I can’t even keep up with them in this short one minute promo. Clint Black is “ready to go the wild side”, Pierce Morgan (altough he proclaims to be a Catholic-family man) is a crude, rude, pompous, arrogant man. Don’t even get me started on Rodman or Andrew Dice Clay. Tom Green is “stabbing people in the back”, and wearing wedding dresses on the street corner. We hear Trump say, as he flies around in his private helicopter, “It’s all about fighting for what you believe in.” I’m not sure what any of these celebrities believe in.
The show isn’t horrible, overall, as most of the money that is raised goes to (mostly) worthy charities. So, there’s at least one good part to it. It’s not at all what TrueManhood is about. If you can stomach it, watch an episode on nbc.com and see what you think. Are any of these men setting an example of TrueManhood or are they fulfilling society’s idea of “cultural manliness”? You decide.
Man up!
Dependability & Follow Through
Lately, I’ve had a few experiences that have been incredibly frustrating. These experiences are based on how dependable other men have been and what sort of follow through these men have shown.
The first experience happened yesterday. I received an email from a young man who had committed to assisting me with a project. His expertise is an area that I am not-at-all proficient in and I was looking forward to actually delegating these certain “expert” tasks on to someone else… especially someone who knew what they were doing. Well, yesterday, 2 days before the project, this guy flaked. He bailed. He decided that something else was more important and he bailed. Since he was referred to me, I didn’t know what sort of dependability he had, but obviously I know now. He agreed (gave his word) that he’d be there and now, he’s not going to be. Thanks a lot bro.
The second experience happened earlier this week. It was a similar situation (someone flaked) and now I have to be resourceful to pick up the slack. That’s okay, I always am. This situation only became a problem because a young man decided to speak out of turn, promise a service that he couldn’t provide and then try to slyly back out. Guess what?… I’m not buying his story. Thanks a lot bro.
The problem here is that I SHOULD have been able to count on these two guys. I SHOULD have been able to take their word and count on them following through. I SHOULD have been able, once they gave me their word, to assume that their piece would be taken care of. Instead, they split on me and now I am left picking up their slack. This is one of the reasons why I’m always so reluctant to delegate my responsibilities onto other folks. Character flaw of mine, I guess. If you give your word, mean it and follow through. A True Man gives his word and follows through.
Man up!
