CHARITY
What is Charity?
Charity is the theological virtue by which
we love God above all things for his own
sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the
love of God.
Matthew 22:36-40
36
‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is
the greatest?’ 37He said to him, ‘ “You shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your
mind.” 38This is the greatest and first
commandment. 39And a second is like it: “You
shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 40On
these two commandments hang all the law
and the prophets.’
Matthew 5:44
The Lord asks us to love as he does, even
our enemies, to make ourselves the neighbor
of those farthest away, and to love children
and the poor as Christ himself.
The fruits of charity are joy, peace, and
mercy; charity demands beneficence and
fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it is
friendship and communion: Love is itself
the fulfillment of all our works. There is the
goal; that is why we run: we run toward it,
and once we reach it, in it we shall find
rest.
St. Augustine
Examination of Conscience
"Conscience may.. . be defined as the
practical judgment of reason upon an
individual act as good and to be performed,
or as evil and to be avoided." This definition
insists upon the intellectual dimension of
conscience. Conscience emerges as the
judgment of reason upon human action to
be performed or shunned."
Ten Commandments
First Commandment
1. Have I been guilty of...disbelief, or willful
doubting of any article of Faith?
2. Have I despaired of salvation, or of the
forgiveness of your sins ? Or have you rashly
presumed upon finding mercy going on in
your sins, without any thoughts of
amendment or depending up on a deathbed
repentance?
3. Have I, after falling into mortal sin,
neglected for a long time to turn to God by
repentance?
4. Have I been negligent in the worship of
God? seldom or never adoring and praising
Him, or giving Him thanks; praying but little,
or with little attention
5. Have I made a sacrilegious Confession or
Communion, by concealing some mortal sin
in Confession, or what you doubted might
be mortal, or for want of a hearty sorrow for
your sins, and a firm purpose of amendment
or by being grossly negligent in the
examination of your conscience?
1Corinthians 11
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or
drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner will be answerable for the body
and blood of the Lord. 28Examine
yourselves, and only then eat of the bread
and drink of the cup. 29For all who eat and
drink* without discerning the body,* eat
and drink judgement against themselves.
6. Have I been guilty of idolatry, or of giving
divine honors to anything created, or used
any witchcraft, or charms, or spells, [etc.]?
7. Have I consulted fortunetellers, or made
use of any superstitious practices, to find
out things to come, recover things lost,
etc. ?
8. Have I given credit to dreams, taken
notice of omens, or made any other
superstitious observations ?
9. Have I blasphemed God or His Saints?
10. Have I abused the Holy Scriptures, or
scoffed at Holy things ?
Second Commandment
1. Have I taken God's Name in vain, or used
it with out respect in common discourse [in
your everyday language]? Have I taken a
false oath, or sworn to what you did not
certainly know whether it was true or false?
Have I taken an oath to do anything that
was wicked or unlawful? or broken your
lawful oaths?
2. Have I had a custom of swearing rashly
and inconsiderately by the Name of God, by
your soul, or by the way of imprecation upon
yourself?
3. Have I cursed myself or others, or
anything else?
4. Have I made a rash vow, without sufficient
knowledge or deliberation? Have you broken
any vow or solemn promise made to God?
Third Commandment
1. Have I neglected to keep Sunday holy?
Have you, when prevented from hearing
Mass on Sundays and Holy days, supplied
the omission by prayers at home, and taken
care that those under your charge did the
same?
2. Have I done any servile work without
necessity upon those days? or been
accessory to others so doing?
3. Have I spent those days in idleness or
in sin? or been accessory to others
spending them so?
Fourth Commandment
For Children
1. Have I been wanting in my duty to
my parents, by not loving them, or not
showing them due respect ; or by
disobeying them?
2. Have I neglected to [assist] my
Parents in their necessities, either
corporal or spiritual?
3. Have I desired [my] parents'
death, or cursed them ? Or given
them injurious language? Or lifted
up my hand against them? Or
threatened them ? Or provoked
them to swear, or otherwise to
offend God ?
For Parents
4. Have I been negligent in procuring
that my children should be speedily
baptized? Or that they should be
timely instructed in their prayers and
the Christian doctrine? Or have I been
wanting in giving them early
impressions of the fear and love of
God? Or in taking care of their
discharging their duty with regard to
5. Have I neglected to remove from them
the occasions of sin, such as wicked
companions, bad books, romances, etc. ; or
suffered them to lie in the same bed with
one another, with danger to their chastity?
6. Have you flattered them in their
passions, or indulged them in their evil
inclinations ?
7. Have you given them bad example ?
Fifth
1. Have I been Commandment
guilty of anger or violent
passion?
2. Have I desired any one's death, through
hatred. or malice ? or for my temporal
interest?
3. Have I revenged yourself on anyone by
word or action, or desired revenge, or
taken pleasure in the thoughts of it?
4. Have I provoked, challenged, or struck
others, or been guilty of quarreling or
fighting with them ?
5. Have I procured, or thought to procure, a
miscarriage [an abortion] ? or given any
counsel, aid, or assistance thereunto?
6. Have I done anything to shorten my own
or any other's life, or to hasten death? or
rashly exposed myself or others to danger?
7. Have I desired my own death, through
passion or impatience? or entertained any
thoughts of making away with myself
[suicide]? or attempted or designed any
such thing ?
8. Have I neglected to give alms
according to my condition and
ability ? Or to reclaim sinners when it
lay in your power ?
9. Have I been guilty of any spiritual
murder, by drawing others into mortal
sin? Or have I been accessory to the
sin of others, by counsel, or
command, or provocation, or any
other way ?
10. Have I given scandal or occasion of sin to others, by lewd or
irreligious discourse; by drunkenness or swearing, by immodesty of
dress or behavior, etc. ?
Sixth
Commandment
1. Have I been guilty of any acts of
impurity? (Under this head, all sins against
purity must be carefully examined, as well
as whatsoever leads to their indulgence or
commission.) Have I been guilty of filthy
talking? of reading immodest books? of
indecency of dress? of looking at unchaste
objects? of taking any dangerous or
improper liberties ?
"Do you not know that the unrighteous will
not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be
deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor sexual perverts, nor
thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom
of God. “
1Cor 6:9-10
"Lust is disordered desire for or inordinate
enjoyment of sexual pleasure. Sexual
pleasure is morally disordered when sought
for itself, isolated from its procreative and
unitive purposes. “ [The "unitive purpose"
would be the love and commitment of the
couple.]
"The deliberate use of the sexual faculty,
for whatever reason, outside of marriage is
essentially contrary to its purpose."
Seventh Commandment
1. Have I been guilty of stealing, or
cheating, or in any way wronging my
neighbor in buying or selling, or in any
other bargains or contracts? Or, have I
been accessory to another's committing
any such injustice?
2. Have I unjustly retained what belonged
to another?
3. Have I contracted debts without
design of paying them; or without any
prospect of being able to pay them? Or
have I delayed or refused to pay my just
debts when I was able? Or have I, by
prodigal expenses rendered myself
unable; and so wronged my creditors or
my own family.
4. Have I been guilty of usury in the
loan of money?
Eighth Commandment
1. Have I been guilty of telling lies?
And whether in any matter of
consequence, or to the injury of any
one?
2. Have I been guilty of hypocrisy or
dissimulation?
3. Have I been guilty of backbiting, or
uncharitable conversation, by
speaking of the known faults of my
absent neighbor?
4. Have I been guilty of the sin of
detraction, which consists in taking
away or lessening your neighbor's
reputation by publishing his secret
faults or defects?
4. Have I been guilty of calumny, which
consists in saying of my neighbor what is
false or uncertain?
5. Have I willingly given ear to detraction
or calumny? Have I taken pleasure in it?
Or in any way encouraged it? Or not
hindered it when I might?
6. Have I injured my neighbor's honor by
reproaches and affronts, or robbed him of
his peace of mind by scoffs and derision?
7. Have I, by carrying stories backwards
and forwards, or in any other way, caused
misunderstanding or quarrels betwixt
others?
Ninth Commandment
Have I taken pleasure in any unchaste
thoughts or imaginations ? Have I
entertained any impure desires or feelings?
"But I say to you, everyone who looks at a
woman with lust has already committed
adultery with her in his heart.“
Matthew 5:28
Tenth Commandment
1. Have I desired your neighbor's goods...?
Or been in a disposition of stealing, or
otherwise wronging him if it lay in my
power?
2. Have I desired my neighbor's loss or
misfortune, or any public calamity, that I
might be the gainer by it?
Enemies of Charity
Envy and Jealousy
The law of love requires that we rejoice
rather than be sad or distressed at the
good fortune of another. As St. Paul
stressed speaking of fraternal charity,
“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with
those who weep” (Rom. 12:15). Yet the
envious person tends to do just the
opposite, to be sad at another’s good
fortune, and to rejoice at his failure. Such
an attitude is a direct contradiction of the
In both envy and jealousy love of
neighbor is displaced by love of
possessions, whether the possessions
be tangible (e.g. wealth), or intangible
(e.g. fame, talent, virtue, etc.)
When one is jealous of the friendship of
another (wants it to be exclusive), the
happiness of the friend counts for little or
nothing unless such happiness comes
through the jealous one. Such is not true
love, it is pure selfishness. When a friend is
happy we ought to rejoice in his happiness,
no matter from what source it springs, as
It is clear, then, that jealousy is a
sadness that springs from inordinate
love of self rather than from true love
of another, and it deprives one of
happiness instead of giving it.
Friendships, unlike the relationship of
spouses, do not confer the exclusive
right of possession.
Bitternes
s
Bitterness is a frozen form of latent
anger and resentment. Bitterness
grows out of our refusal, to let go
when someone or something is
taken from us. Bitterness is being
constantly hurt by a memory and is
holding onto a hurt until it has a hold
on you.
Bitterness is the unhealthiest
emotion you can have. When
you are offended or disappointed
by others and allow the hurt to
germinate in your heart, bitterness
and resentment will take root.
Bitterness is characterized by an
unforgiving spirit and generally
negative, critical attitudes.
Bitterness and resentment makes us
foolish. Bitterness provokes people to
do stupid things and to say stupid
things. Bitterness hurts us. Bitterness
is an emotional suicide. It is a very
slow form of destroying one's peace of
mind. It prolongs the hurt and it makes
us miserable. Bitterness makes
everyday life miserable.
Normally bitter people have an amazing
memory for the tiniest detail, and they
wallow in self-pity and resentment. They
record every offense in their and are
always ready to show others how much
they have been hurt. Bitter people
defend their grudges constantly: they
feel that they have been hurt too deeply
and too often, and that this exempts
them from the need to forgive. Their
hearts are sometimes so full of
resentment that they no longer have the