Fortitude
October 01, 2021
Hey y’all!
Tonight, I’m talking about the virtue of fortitude (also known as courage or bravery) and how it relates to self-care at our ABIDE Eucharistic Holy Hour. I wanted to share some excerpts from my talk with you guys.
“So, how does fortitude relate to self-care? It takes fortitude to truly take care of yourself. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. God made us beautiful and good. He loves us more than we can comprehend. Despite knowing this, it is so easy to get thrown off by others or even our own brains. We hear messages, both external and internal ones, that tell us that we aren’t good enough, aren’t lovable, aren’t worthy. It takes fortitude to renounce these lies and trust the truth of God. St. Thomas Aquinas says that “to love is to will the good of another”. This can and should be applied to ourselves, too.
In order to truly love yourself, you have to both will your own good and work towards your own good. The way we do this is self-care, but not the kind of self-care that is talked about in secular culture. True self-care is not always about bubble baths, comfort foods, and favorite movies. It’s really about exercising the other three cardinal virtues: temperance, prudence, and justice...If fortitude helps us pursue the good on a consistent basis, prudence tells us what the good is, temperance keeps us from exploiting lesser goods, and justice reminds us that all good things are gifts that should be given back to God and others...
...Examples of authentic self-care, consisting of these virtues, are eating, exercising, resting, praying, avoiding procrastination, sleeping, and having appropriate boundaries in relationships. In all of these examples, balance is key. Exercising too much is just as bad as exercising too little. Sleeping too much is just as bad as sleeping too little. This takes fortitude because it’s not always easy. Honestly, most of the time it’s really difficult to take care of yourself. The reason why it’s so important to do so is that when you fail to truly take care of yourself, you’ll get into situations that hurt you. Our bodies and our lives are gifts from God, and He calls us to be good stewards of these gifts.
That’s all for now. Know of my prayers for you and your families, and please keep me and this ministry in your prayers.
Peace of Christ,
Miss Jessica
A.M.D.G.