Seven Lively Virtues

Gather

 

 
On the wind I hear you calling, “Follow me, follow me.” On the wind, “Follow me.”
A voices cries out from the wilderness, “Repent, God is near.”

Calling © 2021, Jane Mitchell. Published by Butterfly Music.
All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Call

Let us begin, now, here in this place with a moment of silence to reflect, to focus, to be attentive to ourselves, to one another, and to the presence of Christ, who calls us to repentance and renewal. May the Lord come and increase our faith.

Scripture

Let us now welcome God’s Word into our hearts. Come now, O Word of God.

“If you puff yourself up, you’ll just get the wind knocked out of you. If you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.” – Matthew 23: 12

Ponder

Many of us can recite the seven deadly sins by heart: Pride, Greed, Wrath, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth. But perhaps we ought to stop to consider the opposite directions we might take. Shall we call them the seven lively virtues? I guess they would be: Humility, Generosity, Tranquillity, Satisfaction, Respect, Satiety, and Service. If the deadly sins take us down a dismal and ultimately fatal path, these virtues guide us upward in a cheerful and life-giving direction.

Humility, the opposite of pridefulness, is among the primary virtues in both the Old and New Testaments. It also features visibly in the examples and writings of the saints. This single virtue can lead us in the cultivation of every other virtue, just as pride and egoism will inevitably open the door to the rest of the deadly paths. “Pride goes before the fall,” as the biblical proverb says and the daily news often confirms. Humility, by contrast, comes before sanctity every time.

Pray

Incarnate Lord, you chose to assume our lowliness to lift us to your glory. (pause) Amen.

Do

Take the smaller piece. The less comfortable seat. The more forbidding task.

Go

 

 
To whom shall we go if not to you, O God. You alone have the words of everlasting life.
We believe in You.

To Whom Shall We Go © 1992, Monica Brown. Published by Emmaus Productions.
All rights reserved. Used with permission.