Our Christian teaching supplements the four cardinal virtues with the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity (or love). These theological virtues elevate and perfect our habits, thus directing us toward the supernatural happiness that can only be achieved by our union with God. Theological virtues are infused in our souls through God’s gift of sanctifying grace.
The season of Advent gives us an opportunity to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of Christ at the end of time, on the anniversary of his birth, and every day in between. “The Lord is coming, always coming,” notes the Reverend Henri Nouwen. “When you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you will recognize him at any moment of your life. Life is Advent; life is recognizing the coming of the Lord.”
Just as we are limiting our potential if we neglect to rely on God, we are also limiting our potential if we neglect to cooperate with Him. “God helps those who help themselves,” and the best way we can help ourselves is by placing God first and following His commandments.
We are greatly limiting our potential if we believe we can lead our happiest, most joyful lives without the benefit of God. If we want to be our best selves, we need to become the people God created us to be.
Christian joy is a deep, abiding state of the soul that comes from living in communion with God. It provides the serene and steadfast assurance that every instance is a celebration of the beauty of life and the unfailing love of the Lord. Joy lifts the veil of circumstance to reveal the eternal and unchanging promise of God’s presence, illuminating the sacred influence in our daily lives. It comforts us along our darkest paths and turns our challenges into blessed journeys.
Reciting the Rosary is like presenting an exquisite crown of roses to Our Lady. She lovingly responds by showering us with a multitude of supernatural gifts. Pope Blessed Pius IX notes that “Among all the devotions approved by the Church none has been so favored by so many miracles as the devotion of the Most Holy Rosary.”
“The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next. The power of the rosary is beyond description.”
~Venerable Fulton Sheen
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that “According to Scripture, it is the heart that prays. If our heart is far from God, the words of prayer are in vain” (CCC 2562). Even our richest traditional prayers, when delivered without meaning, become merely words.
