FORTITUDE: One of the four cardinal moral virtues which ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in doing the good. Fortitude (sometimes called strength, courage, or might) is also one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

TEMPERANCE: The cardinal moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasure and pro- vides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the mastery of the will over instinct, and keeps natural desires within proper limits.

Saints

I missed a couple of important saints this week.
July 22 - St. Mary Magdalen
July 23 - St. Brigit of Sweden; what a great name, strong and feminine. If I had a daughter I would name her Brigit.
July 25 - St. James the Apostle - my patron saint. Some day I want to go to Spain and visit his tomb. It is in Santiago de Compestella in northwestern Spain. Pilgrims throughout the middle ages would walk for several weeks to visit the shrine. People still go on pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James.

July 25 is also the 40th anniversary of the encyclical 'Humanae Vitae.' Paul VI promulgated this document restating the ancient and perennial teaching that contraception is a grave moral evil. The Summer of 1968 was time a revolution and dissent in every part of society and around the world. This tumult also took place in the church as many priests publicly rejected the truth of Humanae Vitae. We are still suffering and will continue to suffer as long as we reject the truth and meaning of human sexuality. It is estimated that less than 10% of Catholic couples live in accord with the teaching of Humanae Vitae.

The truth that contraception is morally degrading is not merely a 'Catholic' idea. All Christian churches taught that it was wrong until 1930. Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu, taught that the widespread use of contraception would lead to the corruption of morals and the breakdown of the family.

Have you ever read the document? It is only 16 short pages. Here is a link to it.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html
read paragraphs 8 and 9. When we reject the Church's teaching we lose the beauty of marriage which is described in these two paragraphs.

In John 6 Jesus taught the people about the Eucharist and many left him because it was too hard to bear. He turned to the apostles and asked, "Will you leave me too?" That question is addressed to us today, especially in regard to the truth of human sexuality. Hopefully we will repsond like Peter, "Lord, to whom shall go? You have the words of everlasting life."

JUSTICE: The cardinal moral virtue which consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and to neighbor (1807). Original justice refers to the state of holiness in which God created our first parents (375). Commutative justice, which obliges respect for the rights of the other, is required by the seventh commandment; it is distinguished from legal justice, which concerns what the citizen owes to the community, and distributive justice, which regulates what the community owes its citizens in proportion to their contributions and needs.

PRUDENCE: The virtue which disposes a person to discern the good and choose the correct means to accomplish it. One of the cardinal moral virtues that dispose the Christian to live according to the law of Christ, prudence provides the proximate guidance for the judgment of conscience.

“Life is not just a succession of events or experiences, helpful though many of them are. It is a search for the true, the good and the beautiful. It is to this end that we make our choices; it is for this that we exercise our freedom; it is in this- in truth, in goodness, and in beauty- that we find happiness and joy.” Pope Benedict XVI

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

Go to this link to see a list of all the saints who have been members of the Carmelites.

http://carmelnet.org/html/saints.html

Virtues

Prudence perfects the intellect

Justice perfects the will

Fortitude orders the irascible appetite to the truth

Temperance orders the concupiscible appetite to what is truly good for us.

The body has two appetites.
1. Irascible - the desire to achieve a good. There are five passions for this appetite.
Hope and its opposite despair
Courage and it opposite fear
Anger

2. Concupiscible - passion for pleasure. There are six passions for this appetite.
Love and its opposite hatred
Desire and its opposite aversion
Joy and its opposite sadness

Anthropology

The human person is a composite of body and soul.
The soul has two powers:
1. intellect - to know the truth
2. will - to choose the good

St. Benedict

He is the father of western monasticism and the author of the rule of St. Benedict. His rule has guided monastic life for 1500 years. There are many Benedictine monastaries all over the world. They are famous for their Gregorian Chant and hospitality. The goal of the monastic life is conversion, to turn towards God, to love God more ardently. This is the goal of every Christian. The monk devotes every part of his life to the worship of God.

New Building

Hey everyone!
Our latest plans have been posted on the website.
Take a look at them.

Romans

Hey all.
I hope you are keeping up on your reading of St. Paul. Don't be intimidated or discouraged. Perseverance will lead to understanding.

The world believes that odediance makes you a slave.
The Catholic believes that obediance to the truth will set you free.

Benedict XVI says, "This is the goal of the Pauline Year: to learn from Saint Paul, to learn the faith, to learn about Christ, finally to learn the way of upright life."

Scripture Study

Why do we bother to study the scripture.
St. Paul says to Timothy, "Always be ready to give a reason for your hope." We study in order to draw closer to Jesus and so that we will be ready to draw others to him.
I have begun reading a book of Mother Teresa's letters. I look at her gift of herself to God and I am afraid to give so much. However, it is only in the gift of self to God that we find our true happiness and joy. The more she gave herself the more she was infused with his love and became the light of Christ. That can occur in our own souls if turn ourselves over to God more fully.

Romans Chapter 1

St. Paul is describing the world in a state of sin. The children of Abraham failed to keep the law given by Moses. The Gentiles, all who are not children of Abraham, failed to keep the natural law. Even those who have not received revelation from God are still obligated to do what is good. Whenever we reject the law of God as revealed in scripture or in nature then bad things will happen. Paul describes the results of this failure to acknowledge God in chapter 1.

St. Paul

There are several different websites dedicated to the "Year of St. Paul."
Here is one of them.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/columns.php?sub_id=13

I will attempt to give a few explanations in order to help understand these letters. The New American Bible has introductions before each book in the bible. They are usually of good quality and they will help you to understand some of the context in which Paul was writing.