Faith, hope, charity

These are called theological virtues. As the Catechism describes them, they “adapt man’s faculties for participation in the divine nature.” (1812) Yes, we are meant for this purpose, we have been designed and wired for this end.

Even in the depths of our heart, as long as it is not hijacked and hamstrung by some worldly value, we can detect a longing, a yearning for an eternal bliss that can only signify we are naturally drawn to God. “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you,” St. Augustine exclaims.

It’s truly good and necessary that we understand the nature, character and purpose of these virtues, for our Christian life depends on how we live them. The human virtues, the ones that we cultivate ourselves and that we need to be able to live as persons, get their sustenance from these theological virtues.

Again, the Catechism gives us more information about them. They are called theological virtues because they relate directly to God. “They dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity. They have the One and Triune God for their origin, motive, and object.” (1812)

In other words, these virtues come from God to direct us to him in whose image and likeness we have been created. We have to understand then that our life is not simply our life. That would be an anomaly. Our life also has to be a life with God and in God.

But we also need to realize that these theological virtues have God also as the motive and object, the reason and energy to motivate and push us to go to God, to let us participate in his divine life.

We cannot attain that life with God just by our own power. God has to enable us to have that life with him, sending us first of all these theological virtues. These virtues are God’s way of allowing us to share his life.

As to the part we play in this system, we only have to be receptive and cooperative, as actively as possible. Thus, Christ, the God with us, the Son of God who became man to redeem us, tells us that he is the vine, we are the branches. We need to be attached to him, for without him, we cannot live.

We have to learn to translate this basic truth about the theological virtues in our life from the world of ideas, doctrine and intentions to that of action and concrete reality that should involve our thoughts and desires, our feelings and passions, our work and the myriad tasks, projects and endeavors we have in life.

This is a very crucial task, because we always tend to get distracted, to get intoxicated with our own power. In the Bible, there are many references of how the Israelites, the chosen people of God, the prototype of how we ought to be, became unfaithful in spite of the abundant goodness of God.

One image used to illustrate this situation is that of how they reportedly made use of the milk and wool of the sheep but neglecting to take care of the sheep. Other images are used like that of King Saul not completely destroying the Amelekites, but saving some of their ‘useful’ things that later on would tempt them away from God, etc.

In our earthly life, these theological virtues always go together. Not one of them could function well if another is missing. Their dynamic mutual relation cannot be broken. It’s either all or nothing. Only when we reach our final destination in heaven will charity alone reign, doing away with faith and hope.

So while these theological virtues are freely given to us by God, we have to realize that we have the grave duty and task to receive them, to keep and develop them to their fullness.

But, alas, how many people really know about this responsibility? How many realize that their life has to be a life of faith, hope and charity? These theological virtues, in a manner of speaking, are the ultimate parameters with which we have to develop our life here on earth.

What we see nowadays are a great majority of people living mainly under worldly criteria—identifying success and victory with wealth, power, fame, etc. God is really not in the picture, though some formalistic references are made just to fulfill certain social conventions.

There’s a crying need to resurrect a massive doctrinal campaign for this purpose, plus the pertinent ascetical plan to effect the desired change of attitude and lifestyle.