Charity is The Greatest Virtue and The Key To Life
What is charity? What is love? What does Saint Thomas Aquinas teach on such? How can we love others? How has God helped me grow in charity? I have so far a ways to grow in holiness! Prayers, please!
Hearing the phrase, “To love is to [actively] the good of another,” from Saint Thomas Aquinas a few months ago changed my life forever. Love is the act that proceeds from the theological virtue of charity.
It’s beyond time to take the charity-pill. Charity is the greatest of all virtues and the most essential. If we obtain the virtue of charity- loving God and others (willing the good of everyone) for God’s sake, we will be able to grow in every other spiritual area. We will be more kind to others, we will be more pious in our faith, we will be more disgusted and avoidant of sin, we will be more willing to give alms to the poor or lend a shoulder to those in need, more willing to speak up for what is right, and more courageous in the fight for salvation. The Sacred Heart of the Lord Jesus Christ is burning with love for you and for all sinners whom He wants to save; we must cooperate with His grace not out of fear of punishment by out of CHARITY!
According to Paragraph 1822 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.” It also teaches the following:
Paragraph 1826: “If I . . . have not charity,” says the Apostle, “I am nothing.” Whatever my privilege, service, or even virtue, “if I . . . have not charity, I gain nothing.” Charity is superior to all the virtues. It is the first of the theological virtues: “So faith, hope, charity abide, these three. But the greatest of these is charity.”
1827: The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which “binds everything together in perfect harmony”; it is the form of the virtues; it articulates and orders them among themselves; it is the source and the goal of their Christian practice. Charity upholds and purifies our human ability to love, and raises it to the supernatural perfection of divine love.
1828: The practice of the moral life animated by charity gives to the Christian the spiritual freedom of the children of God…
St. Thomas Aquinas esteemed charity as “the most excellent of the virtues.” Charity in its purest sense means love and encompasses both our love for God and our love for our fellow human persons for God’s sake. St. Thomas Aquinas said, “The habit of charity extends not only to the love of God, but also the love of our neighbor.” These two kinds of love are closely tied to one another. Should this surprise us? The Lord Jesus Christ taught us: “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). Saint Thomas Aquinas in Article II, Question 27 of Summa Theologiae on how charity differs from goodwill, explained:
Goodwill properly speaking is that act of the will whereby we wish well to another. Now this act of the will differs from actual love, considered not only as being in the sensitive appetite but also as being in the intellective appetite or will. For the love which is in the sensitive appetite is a passion. Now every passion seeks its object with a certain eagerness. And the passion of love is not aroused suddenly, but is born of an earnest consideration of the object loved; wherefore the Philosopher, showing the difference between goodwill and the love which is a passion, says (Ethic. ix, 5) that goodwill does not imply impetuosity or desire, that is to say, has not an eager inclination, because it is by the sole judgment of his reason that one man wishes another well. Again such like love arises from previous acquaintance, whereas goodwill sometimes arises suddenly, as happens to us if we look on at a boxing-match, and we wish one of the boxers to win.
But the love, which is in the intellective appetite, also differs from goodwill, because it denotes a certain union of affections between the lover and the beloved, in as much as the lover deems the beloved as somewhat united to him, or belonging to him, and so tends towards him. On the other hand, goodwill is a simple act of the will, whereby we wish a person well, even without presupposing the aforesaid union of the affections with him. Accordingly, to love, considered as an act of charity, includes goodwill, but such dilection or love adds union of affections, wherefore the Philosopher says (Ethic. ix, 5) that "goodwill is a beginning of friendship."1
As orthodox believers of the faith, we also recognize that: “Catholic doctrine tells us that the primary duty of charity does not lie in the toleration of false ideas, however sincere they may be, nor in the theoretical or practical indifference towards the errors and vices in which we see our brethren plunged, but in the zeal for their intellectual and moral improvement as well as for their material well-being. Catholic doctrine further tells us that love for our neighbor flows from our love for God, Who is Father to all, and goal of the whole human family; and in Jesus Christ whose members we are, to the point that in doing good to others we are doing good to Jesus Christ Himself. Any other kind of love is sheer illusion, sterile and fleeting.” These are the words of Pope Saint Pius X in “Our Apostolic Mandate” from 1910.
Liberalism and other errors like atheism, Islam, Talmudic Judaism, Freemasonry Mormonism, Protestantism, and other errors have been condemned by the Church repeatedly throughout her 2,000 year period- from the very inception of each of these respective falsehoods, perversions, and evils. Jesus told us that the devil is the “father of lies” and a “murder” in the Gospel of John (8:44), and it’s no surprise that he has tried to come up with many deceptions to lead souls astray over the course of the Church’s 2,000 year history. In case you’ve ever wondered what components of truth these movements, organizations, and outlets such previously mentioned have, the Church has thorough explanations and guidelines for us on. Of course, this is meaningful and objective because the Catholic Church was founded by the Lord Jesus Christ with a visible hierarchy through the succession of the apostles at the very beginning at Pentecost. And what do we know about this Bride of Christ? Despite flaws of the human members of the institution, She can never err on teachings:
“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven,” (Matthew 16:18-19).
The Church, in a unique way, has been given the Holy Spirit: ”I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you,” (John 14:16-17). That is why we see both at the Council of Jerusalem in Scripture and for centuries throughout the early Church before the canonization and distribution of the Bible as we know it- the Apostolic Church teaching authoritatively and infallibly on matters of faith and morals. No matter the false religions or worldview or sinful actions of others, we must pray for them and actively try to pursue their ultimate good (especially spiritually with respect to the eternal fate of their soul which God desires to save if they cooperate with Him through their free will) to the extent possible and prudently. Paragraph 1806 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains prudence as the virtue that “disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it;” we must use common sense, prayerful reflection, guidance from others, and ultimately wisdom through the Holy Spirit to exercise this virtue!
In moral discussions, we have every right- in fact, a responsibility to condemn certain behaviors and worldviews, but we shouldn’t condemn individual persons or even members of a group. A lot of people remember that I was engaged in a bit of controversy in the year or two prior because of discussions about LGBT ideology and behaviors in my school district and the country more broadly. I am a sinner, I’ve said things that I regret, and I’ve handled certain encounters poorly- but I was not wrong- and you, faithful Christians, are not wrong to speak our against the widespread errors of this movement that are leading souls - including our youth- gravely astray to a life of disorder, ignorance, and even quite possibly: Hell. But it’s never too late to have recourse to Jesus & Mary; Our Lady of Fatima in 1917 states this precisely and this is the story of salvation history as noted in Holy Scripture itself!
But let me be clear: be it a member of the LGBT community or any other group, in each encounter we have with people- especially on the individual level- let’s show them that we do care; that we do want to listen to their story and their struggles and their hopes and their dreams; that we do hope they will come to know the love of Christ and the fullness of truth in His holy Catholic Church if they do not already; that will be able to form meaningful relationships with others around them to uplift them. What does living out charity look like as a member of the Christian faith? Let’s read a few examples of such from Scripture?
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.” - Colossians 3:12-14
“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” - Matthew 6:14-15
“‘Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?’ ‘No, not seven times,’ Jesus says, ‘but seventy times seven!’” - Matthew 18:21-22
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” - Ephesians 4:2
“If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.” - Luke 17:3-4
“When you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.” - Mark 11:25
“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” - Luke 6:27-28)
“For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” - Romans 12:4-21
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” - Matthew 6:1-4
“If you want to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” - Matthew 19:21
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, a French Catholic Bishop who lived from 1627 to 1704, in his Meditations for Lent taught: “Here then are the three degrees of charity toward our enemies: to love them, to do good to them, and to pray for them. The first is the source of the second: if we love, we give. The last is the one that we think is the easiest to do, but is in fact the most difficult, because it is the one that we must do in relation to God.”
My confirmation saint, Saint Paul- the patron of converts, writers, and authors, taught that charity was truly the key to the Christian life and our salvation: “If I were to speak in the language of men, or of Angels, yet not have charity, I would be like a clanging bell or a crashing cymbal. And if I have prophecy, and learn every mystery, and obtain all knowledge, and possess all faith, so that I could move mountains, yet not have charity, then I am nothing. And if I distribute all my goods in order to feed the poor, and if I hand over my body to be burned, yet not have charity, it offers me nothing. Charity is patient, is kind. Charity does not envy, does not act wrongly, is not inflated. Charity is not ambitious, does not seek for itself, is not provoked to anger, devises no evil. Charity does not rejoice over iniquity, but rejoices in truth. Charity suffers all, believes all, hopes all, endures all. Charity is never torn away, even if prophecies pass away, or languages cease, or knowledge is destroyed. But when the perfect arrives, the imperfect passes away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I understood like a child, I thought like a child. But when I became a man, I put aside the things of a child. Now we see through a glass darkly. But then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know, even as I am known. But for now, these three continue: faith, hope, and charity. And the greatest of these is charity” (1 Corinthians 13:1-8, 10-13).
Through the past several months, God has given me more graces than I thought possible. He’s surrounded me with good company that Has made me happier and guided me closer to what the Church, the saints, and all of Scripture teaches we must do to obtain Heaven; He’s given opportunities to me for new and strengthened old friendships; He’s help blossom a new community of Catholic fellowship in my life; and helped me grow and mature as a man and as the member of the faith increasingly free from lust, anger, being vengeful, and attachment. Though I still have many flaws; I have so much to learn and have such a long way to grow in holiness, and I have so much progress to make with respect to my life journey, vocation, and overall venture to draw closer to the living God: God’s grace is truly changing my life. Whereas before I was merely trusting in His grace to not despair- I am now trusting in His grace to build a better future and grow on the path to (hopefully) sainthood- because that’s all what we have to strive for. It’s easier said than done, and I still need to truly work on applying these graces in actuality, but to give a few examples, I feel that I have learned to detach from the future and components of my vocation like finding a partner for matrimony better than ever before- and it’s resulting in a lot of good opportunities that I can now sit back and act on with greater purity, mindfulness, detachment and charity; perhaps one of them might even work out for the better- I’ll need your prayers for that and so much more.
Instead of trying to over-analyze situations, I am beginning to learn to let things flow naturally and without attachment or anxiety. Instead of forgiving in name only, I’m beginning to actually forgive people and do more than just pray for them- but actually let go, seek reconciliation, or move forward as needed. Instead of feeling as if I need to partake in a theological discussion every single time a moment of controversy on a question of faith and morals arises, I’m beginning to- by God’s grace- use prudence and fortitude to know when to speak up, when to simply listen, and when to do both while praying for others and recognizing my own weaknesses out of (hopefully) genuine humility. Thus, for any progress I have made: thanks be to God, for all the wrongdoings of my past- may God have mercy on me, and for any progress I hope to make going forward: may God be with me and Our Lady protect me!
I’m still very much active in writing about and sharing my thoughts- as you can see from my various social media activities- but I’m beginning to really appreciate listening to people more, and that’s beginning to help me grow in wisdom, in charity, and simply valuing the human component of every one of us- which means- in actuality: that we all desire dignity, love, care, friendship, and appreciation for our gifts and positive traits- not just our flaws.
Of course, we need to assert the fullness of truth in Catholicism in light of many false religions, worldviews, and sinful behaviors increasingly normalized in our society, and we must “always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you… do with gentleness and respect,” (1 Peter 3:15), but if people do not see the joy we have in our Catholic faith- why would they ever come to the faith? It’s sort of like the saying: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Take the time to listen to people- especially in individual encounters, and realize that it takes time for God’s grace to work through people; we must be patient with others. Sadly, there are many who will reject the Church that Jesus founded- the Catholic Church- because they wrongly believe that any denomination or sect is valid, or because they like the social community of their current church, or they think the Bible alone is authority sufficient to help us understand and live out the Christian life- even though the Catholic Church put together the Bible, Jesus instructed the clergy of His Church to help us properly receive, preserve, and defend the faith He established which was documented in the Christian Scriptures.
There are even many souls who reject Jesus as Lord; this is a grave mistake. For them, we must always be prepared to give an answer on why we believe that He is the Son of God and Savior of the Universe and that God is real; but if we don’t give the other person a chance to share their encounter with faith, their background, their struggles, their questions, their viewpoints, and their humanity- than we will fail. If we don’t pray for them out of genuine charity- “Lord, please give me the grace to help others come to the faith, and please help these souls come to Catholicism, and please work through me to share the faith with them and to be a better example of Christian charity,” rather than try to, as Pope Francis said: “proclaim the Gospel standing still, locked in an office, at one's desk or at one's computer, arguing like 'keyboard warriors' and replacing the creativity of proclamation with copy-and-paste ideas taken from here and there.”2 And we’ve got to remove the pride from ourselves that we alone can change others; we can guide, we can be good examples, we can answer questions and offer help, but we have care for others and love them out of charity.
Through reflection and much of God’s grace, I’m beginning to see that- just like how God assigns certain saints to us to look upon, learn from, study, emulate, and ask the intercession of, He does the same for certain virtues. He allows us to go through struggles in different areas of the spiritual life so that we will come out stronger and grow in the virtue He wants us to master with time and cooperation with His grace. For me, right now, and after a reflection on the last two years or so in my life, I’ve realized that the virtue of charity is the key to growing in holiness in every other aspect of our faith. I truly believe that the Lord and Our Lady of Sorrows is trying to tell me to work on charity above all right now: to love other people and be patient with them for His sake- not because I want a relationship with them- romantic or otherwise- not because I want to increase my own success financially or career-wise, or out of pride to show others (or even myself) that I can work hard, or to achieve some political victory, but just to love others for His sake and to surrender to Him that way in all things. We need to give everything to the loving and merciful God out of charity.
Surrender everything to His Most Sacred Heart, avoid sin, and you will win! Develop a mindset as follows: realize that you truly have nothing to lose in life because: anything that you may lose- we need to be willing to give it up for God’s sake if He Wills such. When you look at life like that, everything really becomes much simpler and easier! And we want to have the serenity to have as much happiness in this life as possible- and, of course, eternal life with God in the next! Through charity, that’s more than possible; it will happen! May God Bless you, and please check out the links below to keep up to date with my important writing projects and other related content to defend the Catholic faith and the effort to Save America and Make America Great Again! We can do it! Once again: God Bless you, Christ is King!
FOR MORE:
Father Chad Ripperger Spiritual Talk On Charity:
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/grantthecatholic
Telegram Chat: t.me/Grantthecatholic
Full Essay on Divine Mercy: https://grantthecatholic.substack.com/p/the-divine-mercy-devotion-gods-merciful
The Earliest Christians Endorse The Catholic Church & Its Authority: https://open.substack.com/pub/grantthecatholic/p/the-earliest-christians-endorse-the?r=1gja5z&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
A Defense of The Sacrament of Confession: https://open.substack.com/pub/grantthecatholic/p/a-defense-of-the-sacrament-of-confession?r=1gja5z&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Full Essay on the Catholic Response to Islam: https://t.me/Granthecatholic/8227
https://www.usccb.org/news/2023/keyboard-warriors-dont-evangelize-pope-says-they-just-argue