Theological Virtues
Imagine if Elon Musk appeared right next to you. We all know that he's interested in getting people to Mars and beyond; well, let's pretend he's been sinking money behind the scenes into wormhole technology, and he's appeared to you to let you know it's ready. With the press of a button and a single step, you could be on Mars.
Would you go?
Imagine it! Beautiful red expanse, lighter-than-Earth gravity...and an incredibly thin and toxic atmosphere. You'd last a couple of minutes, tops-- and they'd be unpleasant minutes, too.
Turns out, if we want to live on Mars, we have three options:
1. We could wear external protection-- pressure suits with oxygen tanks;
2. We change Mars-- we terraform it and make it like Earth; or
3. We change, so we can endure the cold and the noxious, thin atmosphere.
Well, Elon Musk probably hasn't popped in to invite you to Mars, so we don't have to choose between those three options right now. But, Jesus is here, and the Kingdom of God is at hand.
Because, you see, we are all born into the City of Man, under the power of the prince of the air, and we are all invited to live in the City of God, right here, right now.
Like Mars, we're not ready for the City of God. Unlike Mars, it's not because it's so inhospitable; quite the opposite. It's too good for us as we are to stand it.
Some of us think we can get by just by externals-- that we can go through all the right motions of the Christian life and fake it until we make it.
Some of us think that we can make the City of God like the City of Man, that our lives don't have to look different from the lives of atheists, agnostics, and secularists.
But Jesus has only one offer-- He wants to change us, make us capable of a more beautiful, joyful, and loving life.
These changes manifest in what we call the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. These are given by God, but we have to cooperate. His grace perfects and elevates our nature, it doesn't replace it or obliterate it. He doesn't force change on us, either. God isn't some kind of mad scientist, performing weird experiments on us against our wills.
So let's dive into these three virtues, these stable dispositions, these marks of character, these ways of being!
We'll start with faith. Our senses give us access to the world around us, gift that it is. Faith gives us access to the Giver of that gift. It is the healing of our mind, the apprehension of reality, a God's-eye view of our lives and the world around us. A man of faith consistently judges all things in light of the glory of God.
Hope is the foundational conviction that God is working all things to the good of those who love Him. When all looks hopeless, a man of hope endures. A man of hope knows how the story of salvation ends, and is eagerly waiting to see how this current situation will redound to the glory of God.
Charity, or love, is the habit of putting God first, and from there to do all else. This is the 'one thing' that Jesus called the 'better part'-- to have no anxiety other than to be attentive to the working of God. All action in the Christian life is motivated by the love of God. A man of charity loves everyone and everything in their proper order, knowing that God loves him and all other things, and so he and all other things are loveable.
The Christian life of faith, hope, and charity isn't difficult; it's impossible without grace. The teachings of the Catholic Church-- on politics, the economy, sexual love, education, the environment, and more-- these are all more than just hard sayings. Without the life of God within us, they are impossible sayings.
The secret of the Christian life isn't to just "try harder"-- it's to stop treating the Catholic faith as a solo sport. Do all things with God, so you can do all things.
