Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Archives

Virtues

We are Empowered by God

by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.

The theme of this issue of The Catholic Faith is on the theological virtues. They are the good habits of mind and will, supernaturally infused into the soul. Their immediate object is God. They are faith, hope, and charity.

At baptism, we receive the uncreated grace of the indwelling Holy Trinity. This indwelling produces the created gift of our supernatural life, which is sanctifying grace, also called the soul of the soul. No less than the soul gives natural life to the body, so sanctifying grace is the principle of the supernatural life of the soul.

Our soul has faculties through which it is enabled to act, namely the intellect and will. So sanctifying grace has faculties through which it performs supernatural actions. These faculties are faith, which empowers us to believe with our minds whatever God has revealed; hope, which enables us to trust in God’s promises; and charity, to love Him with our wills.

The modern world of secularism desperately needs to believe in a God, without whom nothing else would exist. It needs to trust in a God who alone gives meaning to our lives. It especially needs to love God, by surrendering its stubborn, human will to the Almighty, who became man to die on the Cross out of love for us.

Catholic Faith
Vo. 4 - #1, Jan/Feb 1998, Editorial

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