Living the Theological Virtues: Vocation and Charity
Living the theological virtues – faith, hope and charity – would be impossible without grace. But even with grace the theological virtues are difficult.
- Hope fully lived is complete trust in God. Do you trust God completely?
- Faith fully lived is deep intimacy with God. How well do you know God’s mind and heart?
- Charity fully lived is complete self-sacrificing love. When was the last time you gave God and neighbor everything you are and everything you have? Never? Me neither.
While Jesus calls us to be “perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect,” he knows that this road to perfection is a process. That’s why he gave us the sacrament of Reconciliation. That’s why the font of grace in the Sacraments is never turned off. That’s why he gave us our vocation.
Wait – what? That’s why he gave us our vocation? What does my marriage have to do with living the theological virtues?
Well, especially when it comes to living the fulness of charity, you could say your vocation has everything to do with it.
What is a vocation?
The word vocation means a calling. Most Catholics have a sense of some people being called to the vocation of the priesthood or religious life. In fact, for too long there has been an exclusive use of the word vocation to mean these two specific vocations. “Do you think (s)he has a vocation”? The Sacred Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) from the Second Vatican Council reminded us of what has always been true – that every baptized Christian has a vocation (and every unbaptized person is called by God’s love toward baptism). Our general and shared vocation is to holiness, which means it is to love. We are each called to that vocation within a specific vocation – to the priesthood, religious or consecrated life, or marriage and family life (and some would also argue to the unconsecrated single life).
God knows that we struggle to trust him enough to pour ourselves out in love to everyone. So he gives us particular relationships as a deep lesson of love. That’s what our vocation is all about. By embracing our vocation more completely we are really practicing the theological virtues, and especially the theological virtue of charity.
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[…] God calls each of us to our vocation to help us grow in the theological virtues. We are called within our specific vocation to grow in our general vocation. Pope John Paul II called the family the “school of love.” He referred mainly to the fact that children learn what it means to love from their parents. However, any parent who is honest with himself or herself acknowledges that having children is also a school of love for parents. […]