Virtues are gifts from God. When you practice them in your daily life you create a close relationship with Him. Virtues are like habits. They need to be practiced constantly in our daily life and in every given situation; they can be lost if they are neglected and not practiced. Start practicing today, begin by one virtue and you will feel so many other virtues accompanying it. The three most important virtues that need to be practiced are called theological virtues (Faith, Hope, and Charity) because they come from God and lead to God, like we come from God and we need to lead and direct ourselves and others to God, and that is our calling and that is our mission. The cardinal virtues are human virtues (Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance), acquired by education and good actions. Cardinal comes from cardo, the Latin word for hinge, meaning “that on which other things depend.” Therefore we need both virtues theological and cardinal, to have a Holy life and to fight against the evils of this world. At any point if we are losing our vision to the Holiness, godliness, and virtuous life keep in mind that we are not practicing the virtues. So make sure that you don’t get lost in this busy world not finding the right direction towards Heaven. God has placed many virtues and saintly people around you to look into for your references. Start practicing from today the virtues because you are the CEO of your life and you decide your company’s (your LIFE’s) ups and downs, advantages and disadvantages. It is not too late dear CEOs as the saying goes “it is better late than never”. Last Sunday the Holy Catholic Church was blessed again with five Saints who are interceding for the whole world before the Heavenly throne constantly, who kept the virtues so close to their heart. Let me share with you what I read from the Vatican News:
“On 13th October in a sun-drenched St. Peter’s Square, and before thousands of pilgrims coming from all over the world, Pope Francis proclaimed five new Saints for the Church, namely St. John Henry Newman (England), St. Marguerite Bays (Switzerland), St. Giuseppina Vannini (Italy), St. Mariam Thresia (India), St. Dulce Lopes Pontes (Brazil), and praised their outstanding and virtuous life and their commitment to the kingdom of God. Pope Francis said “to be Saints is not a privilege for the few, but vocation for everyone and today we give thanks to the Lord for our new Saints. They walked by faith and now we invoke their intercession.”
Pope Francis also said “Noting that three of the new Saints canonized this Sunday were religious women, they show us that the consecrated life is a journey of love to the existential peripheries”. Laywoman, Marguerite Bays, on the other hand, “speaks to us of the power of simple prayer, enduring patience and silent self-giving”. Pope Francis concluded his homily by quoting Saint John Henry Newman, who described the holiness of daily life in these words: “The Christian has a deep, silent, hidden peace, which the world sees not… The Christian is cheerful, easy, kind, gentle, courteous, candid, unassuming; has no pretense… with so little that is unusual or striking in his bearing, that he may easily be taken at first sight for an ordinary man”. Let us ask God to be like that, said Pope Francis: “kind lights” amid the encircling gloom.
My friends in Christ, let us practice the virtues and leave a good legacy behind for the future generations.