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The Light of Virtue: Being Good Helps One Know What Is Good

Associate Pastor's Column
April 29, 2007

            How do I know what is good?

            The answer to this question can be confusing for us, because America runs on several moral codes at the same time, and they often conflict with one another.

            Today’s article therefore will try to describe certain moral codes, so that we can discern should we get confused. If last week we showed how morality must always follow right reason, this week we shall discuss reason’s impostors whom might lead us astray.

            What are those moral codes, then, which govern America? I think they are four. There is the moral code of the “artist,” of the “manager,” of the “therapist,” and of the “saint.” I use the three mentioned professions not to criticize them, for I recognize their importance in our society. But I will use each term in a sort of exaggerated sense; and by naming each moral-code strain by a concrete profession, it may serve the Gentle Reader later on as a tool to remember and to discern.

            The “artist” moral code is all about desires and emotions. It is a code full of leisure and “fun,” full of laws which bring people to simply feel good. It is not always good to feel good, for example, a person in unrepentant mortal sin should feel remorse.

            The “manager” moral code is all about social efficiency. That is, there is a group of people, and the good of the individuals is of no consequence in the light of what the authority regards as the good of the whole. Our corporate and political-executive world, in our day and age, are rife with this type of thinking.

            The “therapist” moral code is all about manipulative social relations. This is the case of someone who manipulates his neighbor, a portion of society, a commercial market, for the sake of whatever “good” the manipulator desires to pursue. This is Oprah-morality, or the morality of an abusive spouse. Again let me re-state that there is a very good and praiseworthy place which different types of therapists play in society; here I use the word “therapist,” like “artist” and “manager,” in an exaggerated way to make the point.

            The “saint” moral code is all about virtue. The virtuous one judges the good not by how he feels about it, but by the laws of right reason enlightened by God’s revelation. The virtuous one considers the good of himself and of others, and will not consider forcing one to suffer some evil for the good of others. The virtuous one has relations in which common interest, and the good of his friend or beloved, eliminate any inclination to manipulate the other. The virtuous one lives by reason, and meditates prayerfully on law (eternal law, divine law, natural law and human law) to discern what is good.

            To know what is good, what is the good thing to do in one moment or another, it is essential for a person to be virtuous. For to do good acts is to become good; and goodness contains light, whereas evil darkens the mind. May God enlighten our minds so we can always do what is good, an live as virtuous saints.

Picture: Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494, Florence), Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints, c. 1483 (Tempera on wood, 191 x 200 cm), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.