Driven By Virtue – Weekly Message for August 25, 2015

Dear Friends in Christ,

This summer I resolved to live by a simple discipline of driving at the recommended speed limit. It might sound funny, but eliminating the option to push that extra 5 miles per hour (as if arriving a few minutes earlier at my destination would make a difference!) has contributed to a greater sense of interior peace as I go about my daily schedule.

With the relaxed pace of summer coming to an end, we find ourselves returning to a more demanding pace. How we navigate life’s challenges, embrace responsibilities, and deal with the ups and downs of reality play a great part in whether we become the saints God calls us to be.

So what is driving and motivating us as we start this new academic year?

Aspiring to lead a more intentional and virtuous life can be a clear road map for the year ahead. Familiarity with the virtues allows us to see how small efforts can have big returns. Did you ever consider good humor as a virtue? Imagination and curiosity can also be virtues. Leading a virtuous life can make ‘ordinary life’ so much more adventurous! Who doesn’t want to be creative, cheerful, courageous, trustworthy, or focused?

Leading a virtuous life is the real task at hand if we want to be true to who God calls us to be. A focus on virtue gives order and harmony to our lives. We become more aware of the needs of people around us and how we can help them. We are moved to care for the beauty of nature as a precious gift from our Creator. We become more in tune with God and discover His will for us.

So how much are we truly ‘driven by virtue’? You can learn more about the virtues through our latest Study Circle Guide designed to accompany the book The Virtue Driven Life, by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR.

This book is Fr. Groeschel’s mature treatment of the intersection of sound psychology and traditional Christian teaching on virtue. The core idea of this book touches on acquiring and applying a robust idea of the concept of virtue, understood as the full-flowering of the human person. It provides solid doctrinal explanations of the cardinal virtues (prudence, fortitude, justice, temperance) and the theological virtues (faith, hope, charity), and it also points out some of their applications in the spiritual life and in daily living.  The emphasis is on correcting certain misconceptions about virtue and personal growth/human maturity that have become embedded in popular culture, even among faithful Catholics.

Gather your friends for a study circle, and together embark on the great adventure of a virtue-driven life.

With the assurance of my prayers,
God Bless,

Lucy Honner
Director, RCSpirituality.org
lucy@rcspirituality.org

P.S. I want to extend a sincere thank you for your prayers and response to our recent donation appeal. Our mission depends on your continued support. Thank you!