Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 300 – Part III.

YOUCAT Question n. 300 - Part III. Why do we have to work to form our character?

(Youcat answer - repeated) We must work at forming our character so that we can freely, joyfully, and easily accomplish what is good. A firm faith in God, in the first place, helps us to do this, but also the practice of the virtues, which means developing within ourselves, with God’s help, firm dispositions, not giving ourselves over to disorderly passions, and directing our faculties of intellect and will more and more consistently toward the good.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1834) The human virtues are stable dispositions of the intellect and the will that govern our acts, order our passions, and guide our conduct in accordance with reason and faith. They can be grouped around the four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. 

  Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) The most important virtues are: prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance. These are also called the “cardinal virtues” (from Latin cardo = hinge, or from cardinalis = principal).

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1839) The moral virtues grow through education, deliberate acts, and perseverance in struggle. Divine grace purifies and elevates them.

(The next question is: How does a person become prudent?)