Resolution Time: Epiphany of Virtues

All right people.  It’s Resolution Time.  Yes, I know it’s a little late, but around this household, we do it with Epiphany.

And our resolutions are going to be different than most peoples’.  So in other words, instead of trying a hundred different ways to lose weight, we’re going to try a virtue.

For example, if weight really was a problem, then I’d want to take a deeper look at it.  What is the deep, down issue?  Where are things going wrongly?  Instead of determining to lose ten pounds this year, maybe take a look the virtues that you’re soft on.  In this case, maybe it’s an issue of Moderation or Temperance.  So then, make a concerted effort to read and learn about the virtue of Temperance.  And get on your knees and beg Jesus for the grace of this virtue.  And then make a concrete plan to live it.

But maybe this isn’t your issue.  Maybe it’s the Noonday Devil, otherwise known as Acedia or Sloth.  I’ll tell you what, 3:30pm rolls around, and I’m wiped.  I don’t want to think about feeding my family of nine.  Just the thought of chopping vegetables, boiling noodles, and frying up 3 pounds of hamburger for supper is enough to paralyze me into inactivity.  Or, worse, it makes me want to load the van up and go for a coffee instead – thinking that caffeine will give me the boost I need.  Or maybe I just need to check my email one more time before picking up that frying pan…  Ugh, I had better pray for Diligence instead.

The point is, maybe this year it would be a good idea to take a look at the 7 Deadly Sins with the 7 Lively Virtues when it comes to Resolution Time.  Maybe pick one that you struggle with and make a commitment to learn about it, pray with it, and then form a concrete plan to live it out.

I’ll repeat that.

Living Epiphany and the Year 2019 with the Virtues:

1. Determine which vice you struggle with, or which virtue you lack.  (Maybe your spouse could pick it for you?  That’s what we’re doing.)
2. Look that virtue up.  Read about it.  Buy a book about it.
3. Spend 2019 praying with that virtue.
4. Form an action plan to live that virtue.  (Hopefully this will come about through prayer.)

And in case you’ve forgotten…

List of 7 Deadly Sins with the 7 Lively Virtues

1. Greed and Generosity
2. Sloth and Diligence
3. Gluttony and Temperance
4. Lust and Chastity
5. Envy and Kindness
6. Anger and Meekness
7. Pride and Humility

Or, if you’d rather pick one of these….

3 Theological Virtues

1. Faith
2. Hope
3. Charity

4 Cardinal Virtues

1. Prudence
2. Justice
3. Fortitude
4. Temperance

And finally, I’ll leave you with a quotation from the Catechism, paragraph 1804:

“The moral virtues are acquired by human effort.  They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts; they dispose all the powers of the human being for communion with divine love.”