Charity

Charity should be a principle good deed in life. If you have money and time that is. It's more important to your spirit to give than to build up your personal empire. It's good to give of yourself and your time. The greatest gift anyone can ever give is charity.

By chaity I'm not referring just to money. I'm referring to anything that you give: time, money, an ear, encouraging words, etc. Any act of humility in a sense is a charitable contribution. It's anything that makes someone else better.

You can make a difference in another person's life. Don't let bad events change you either. Don't stop giving just because bad things happen, because bad things happen to everyone. Don't close off your heart.

It's important that you care about the entire human condition, not jut about this and not just about that and not just about yourself and not just about your family. You have to give of yourself in a way that you make the entire human condition better.

And it doesn't have to be something big either. For instance, I'm writing this blog and I have kids and I'm a respiratory therapist and I help people. In that way I have made the world better in just a small way, or so I'm lead to believe. You have your own way of contributing.

Are you an RT or a nurse or an EMT or a doctor? Then you are contributing. You are giving a charity to each person you touch in a positive way. Every time you smile to your boss instead of getting angry at him you are, in a sense, giving charity.

You are one person in a material world. No matter how much you have, no matter what gifts God has given you (or the peanut butter ferry if you don't believe in God), share it. Because you can make a huge difference. Give to charity. Give of yourself in some way.

Theological Virtues

There are three theological virtues.  Unlike the Cardinal Virtues which can be practiced by anyone, theological virtues can only be practiced by those who receive them, and they are gifts of grace from God.

They are habits that become stronger as we practice them. Their immediate and proper object is God, and so they are infused in our soul. Like all virtues, they become a habit.  The include the following.

1.  Faith: It is showing our love for God through our action, such as practicing the cardinal virtues. It's a gift that allows us to reason that God exists, and that all knowledge extends from Him.  It is knowing that knowledge extends far beyond our intellect. So faith helps us grasp the truth of divine revelation. Faith is also knowing that man cannot fully grasp the true nature of the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), which is why it's referred to as a mystery. Since humans have free will, we can reject the gift of faith.  When we revolt against God through sin, God may withdraw the gift of faith.

2.  Hope: It can only be practiced by those who believe in God, and has as it's ultimate object union with God in Heaven.  It is trusting that God will grant eternal life if we practice what He has taught us. It is knowing that we cannot achieve eternal life on our own, it's belief or confidence that God will show us how to obtain eternal life, and belief or confidence that He will actually grant it to us when the time comes.

3.  Charity:  It's loving God above all else, and loving others for God's sake.  The exercise of it increase our love for God and our fellow man. It depends on faith, because without faith in God we cannot love, nor can we love our fellow man for God's sake. It is considered by many to be the greatest of all the virtues.