I was in the Halloween store this week. There are all kinds of costumes to choose, and there are more online. There are the scary ones right in front of the store, so I guess scary costumes are the most popular and eye-catching. A big, masked mannequin with a chainsaw is staring at you as you enter. Scary. Walking through the aisles there are ghouls, witches, and devils and of course, Freddy Krueger, a favorite.
Then you get to the nicer costumes: superheroes, princesses, angels, a priest, a bishop, and even a Jesus costume. And there are some funny costumes. I think the banana costume is hysterical. My sister’s dog was a hot dog one year. Lol.
Seems like there is a built-in good vs. evil theme. So, as we enter October, let us discuss Virtue vs. Wickedness.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church #1266, God fills us with grace at our Baptism which enables us to have faith and hope in God and to love him. Graces makes
us open to the Holy Spirit and allows us to grow in goodness through the virtues.  The goal of the virtuous life is to become more and more like God: all good and all loving
(CCC 1803). The virtuous person is the person who freely does good (CCC 1804).

Now is takes work on our part to develop virtues. A virtue is a habit to do the good. The way we built the habit of virtue, is to continually choose the good. Repeated good actions built a habit of doing more good actions. Repeated wicked actions, built a habit of wicked actions, called vice.  “Good” means that which imitates God’s goodness, follows God’s laws like the Ten Commandments and helps us on the road to heaven. I know people misuse the word “good” and can think they are doing “good” but they are really doing evil – wicked
actions that are not of God, not loving God, or neighbor as he teaches us in Scripture.

Criminals think they were doing good. Just watch mobster movies and they are trying to build a life, support friends and families and be successful.  That all sounds “good.”
However, the methods used - intimidation, violence, hurting and killing people - are 2 clearly against God’s definition of good in the Commandments. Yet they think they are
doing good, but it is actual wickedness.

Do not be fooled. Good is not arbitrary for us Christians. To be Good, means to follow Jesus. It means to love like him. We are called to work hard to grow better at loving. To grow in the virtue to be good.

Some of the Virtues
There are some very important virtues that we are trying to develop.  First the Cardinal Virtues. Cardinal meaning “principal or chief” virtues. There are four:
Prudence, Temperance, Justice, and Fortitude.
Prudence is the virtue that helps us use our brain to know what is good in each situation.  It also helps us know the right way to achieve it. Moral actions must have good purpose, good means to get it and the right intention. Basically, prudence is learning to think like God thinks. It is based in Wisdom.

Temperance is the virtue of moderation of pleasure and gives our life balance. The world needs the virtue of Temperance. We spend a lot of time lusting after comfort and pleasure. We use a lot of our time and money to give us a “better life” and more comfortable day to day experience. Temperance helps us to reject overdoing this desire for pleasure and comfort. So that we might sacrifice our pleasure or comfort for a greater good and the good of others.

There is too much of a good thing. For example, don’t eat ALL of your Halloween candy at once! It’s good, but too much will give you a tummy ache!

Justice is the moral virtue that helps us have the attitude of to give others what they are due. This applies to other people – we should give them minimally: respect, acceptance,
and Christian love. We should help them have their basic needs met. The virtue of temperance helps us work for the common good.

Justice also applies to God. We give God what he is due: love, worship, gratitude, our believe. Like we are doing at mass today.

Lastly, the virtue of Fortitude or courage give us the ability to overcome fear and obstacles to achieve the good. Fortitude helps us resist temptation to do bad and choose to do good. In the extreme, Fortitude will help us to even sacrifice our life for the greater good. See how virtues help us imitate Jesus?

This all seems nice. I want more of these cardinal virtues. But it is not easy. The Catechism # 1811 teaches that it is not easy for man, wounded by sin, to maintain moral balance (and choose the good). Therefore, everyone should pray for the grace of light and strength (to choose good), to frequently receive the Sacraments (Eucharist, Reconciliation) and to call on the Holy Spirit to help us fight evil and choose good.
There are other virtues that God just gives us. We say he “infuses us” with the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love at Baptism. These three theological virtues breath life into all the other virtues.

All the virtues are sustained by the gifts of the Holy Spirit given in Baptism and strengthened at Confirmation.
[Today/Yesterday] at mass we have/had the great privilege of seeing a fellow parishioner receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Many of us have received Confirmation, and
some are preparing for Confirmation in the next few years.

(Today) Karen receives the strengthen of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, originally received at Baptism.  We all are reminded to call on the Holy Spirit in times of difficulty or when we feel lost. We can ask the Spirit to give us the Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, or Fear of the Lord that we need at that moment, so that we may
grow in the virtues and better be able to do good – the true good – the good that God is calling us to do.

And if you are still deciding what your costume should be for Halloween, perhaps do something different and choose a costume with virtue. Something that is witness to
good!