The Virtue of Prudence: The Example of St.

Joseph

INTRODUCTION

Yesterday, to celebrate the Feast Day of St. Joseph, the students and some who were here, watched the film Joseph of
Nazareth. I was not able to watch the film, but over dinner, they were so excited talking about it and if you combine all
their stories, it is as if you have watched it yourself. One comment I remember is that, in the movie, you can see that St.
Joseph was really a dependable man.

As you all know, yesterday was the feast day of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. St Joseph has two feast
days, March 19 and May 1 (St. Joseph the Worker). It has been a devotion of many, especially those who know that God
has called them to the vocation of Marriage, to ask the intercession of St. Joseph to find a good husband or wife.

The entrance antiphon of the mass for March 19 says, “Behold a faithful and prudent servant whom the Lord set over
his household.” The Church considers St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, as the second greatest saint, next to the
Blessed Virgin Mary. He is also the Patron Saint of the Universal Church.

In this talk, we will examine the virtue of prudence, and how it was lived by St. Joseph.

A SHORT REVIEW ON VIRTUE

 If we want to swim against the tide of our culture, there is one thing we need that is absolutely critical. If we
want deep trust and intimacy in our marriages, if we want to build a strong family life for our children, if we
want to have true Christian friendship with others – in sum, if we desire to live our Catholic faith deeply and
not be swayed by the way the world tries to get us to live – there is one thing we need that is virtually
indispensable. And that's virtue.

 The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines virtue as "an habitual and firm disposition to do the good" (no.
1803). Think of virtue as a skill that enables one to do the right thing easily and to love God and neighbor as
if it were second nature. Just as various trades and crafts require certain skills, so the art of living requires
virtue.

 Virtue should be understood relationally...If I lack virtue in certain areas, that doesn't just harm me; it
affects the people closest to me. They will suffer the consequences of my lack of virtue.

Aiming High: How to Grow in Virtue

 If we are aiming to live virtuously in our marriages, families, and friendships, we need much more than
sporadic good deeds or occasional acts of kindness when we happen to be in a good mood.

How to Grow in Virtue

1. Self-knowledge: First, we must examine our lives and discern the main weaknesses keeping us from living our
relationships with excellence. These weaknesses are called vices – the bad habits formed through repeated sin.

2. PERSEVERANCE: Practice Makes Perfect

Strengthening our moral muscles – the virtues – takes time and effort. We might experience tremendous
difficulty and failure when we first start battling against our vices. The man who suddenly decides to start
 praying every day most likely is not going to find it easy to do. But if he practices daily prayer for many weeks
and months, prayer will gradually become more natural for him.

The key here is perseverance. If the beginning jogger quits after two weeks because it is too difficult, he will
never be able to make a three-mile run easily. Similarly, if we give up the battle for virtue because it is too hard,
we will only remain enslaved in our vices and never be able to give the best of ourselves to our God, family, and
friends.

3. Amazing Grace

Nevertheless, no matter how much we pursue virtue, we will still run up against our own limitations. Most of us
have weaknesses that have plagued us for many years, no matter how hard we have tried to overcome them.
Given our fallen human nature, we will always struggle with an inclination toward sin. This is why we need to
reach out to a power outside of us that can enable us to live the virtues in a way we could never do on our own.
That power is found in Jesus Christ. As the Catechism explains, "Christ's gift of salvation offers us the grace
necessary to persevere in the pursuit of the virtues"(no. 1811).

When grace starts to transform our lives, we can begin to say with St. Paul that "it is no longer I who live, but
Christ who lives in me"(Gal. 2:20).

Now to our main topic… PRUDENCE

 Do you agonize over big decisions or get anxious about the future? Are you afraid of commitments? Do you
change your mind a lot?

Prudence is the virtue that most immediately helps us live our lives on target.

 Called "the charioteer of the virtues"(Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1806), prudence directs all
the other virtues, pointing them to their proper end. Without prudence, one's life might look like a
horse and chariot running away without a driver-a lot of energy, speed, and commotion, but not going in
the right direction.
 Prudence entails practical wisdom. It enables us "to discern our true good in every circumstance and to
choose the right means of achieving it" (Catechism, no. 1806).
 Prudence is well-ordered reason applied to action, so that we not only know the right thing to do, but
also how and when to do it.

3 Key Aspects

1. Counsel

(Friends of God) To be prudent the first step is to acknowledge our own limitations. This is the virtue of humility.
Through it, we admit that in certain matters we cannot cover everything, that in so many cases we cannot take
in all the circumstances that have to be borne in mind in order to make a fair judgement. Therefore, we look for
advice; but not from just anyone. We go to a person with the right qualities, to someone who wants to love God
as sincerely as we do and who tries to follow him faithfully. It is not enough to ask just anyone for his or her
opinion. We must go to a person who can give us sound and disinterested advice.

i. Impulse --This is when a person gives little thought to a decision and runs with his initial reaction.
 ii. Passion -- being carried away by our emotions. Anger, human respect, etc.
iii. Stubbornness -- The stubborn person deliberately refuses to gather information or take time to weigh a
decision.

…rather than humbly seeking help, they plow ahead and give the appearance they have
everything in control.

 Counsel is the crucial first aspect of prudence. However, no matter how much one gathers information and
thinks through a decision, unless he makes a good judgment and acts on it, he does not have the virtue of
prudence.

Some people, when making a big, life changing decision or facing a certain moral dilemma, are afraid to seek
God's will in the matter. They might say some prayers about it, but they are not truly open to all the options and
to whatever God might want them to do, say, or give up. In these moments of discernment, we might even avoid
certain people's counsel because we are afraid of what that person may say. So instead of talking to a particular
friend or priest, we seek advice only from the people we think will agree with the direction we want to go.

2. Judgment: Judgment is the second aspect of prudence. After collecting the data to make a good decision
(counsel), one then needs to weigh the evidence carefully, like a judge. Good judgment leads a person to do the
right thing in the right way and at the right time.

You may not be the king of a great nation, but you probably have other people who will be deeply affected by
how you live your life, for the choices you make will impact family, friends, and coworkers. Thus, a lot is at stake
in your ability to make good judgments.

 The person with wise judgment follows the principle "begin with the end in mind."
 What kind of life do I want to live? What do I want to achieve? Above all, what kind of person do I want
to be?
 It can help keep us on the right course in life as we weigh our smaller, daily decisions in light of
our ultimate goals.

3. The third act of prudence involves decisiveness, putting our decision into action. No matter how much we seek
counsel, weigh a decision, and make a judgment in our minds, if we fail to execute our decision, we do not have
prudence. This is especially true when the good of others is at stake.

 There are many reasons we do not carry out a decision well. Sometimes, after making a judgment about
what to do, we hesitate, have second thoughts, and delay in execution. Maybe we fear failure or change. Or
perhaps we become overwhelmed by the risk involved. In all these cases, our emotions take over and keep
us from staying on the right path of a good decision.
 Sometimes we are simply indecisive. We are afraid to plant the flag with our lives, so we put off making
decisions. In order to keep our options open, we avoid commitment in case something better comes along.
 Some Christians might even spiritualize their indecisiveness, saying, "I just need more time to pray about it.
God has not yet shown me what to do." Although taking time to prayerfully think through a decision is
important, in some cases, a person's never-ending "discernment" process really is covering up a hidden
weakness: a lack of decisiveness and a fear of commitment.

Don't Be Anxious
 First, our worries over temporal things are sinful if we seek them as an end-as our main goal in life, our
reason for existence. Many people, for example, make their careers, financial security, or possessions-not
God-the number one thing in their lives.

 Second, our worries over things of this world can be sinful if they distract us from pursuing spiritual things,
which ought to be our chief concern in life.

 Third, our concern for temporal things is sinful if we have much fear that we will lack what we need.

 We also can be inordinately worried about the future. Having good foresight, of course, is a part of
prudence. But we do not know for sure what may come in the future. And when we are needlessly anxious
now about things that are only a possibility in the future, it can distract us from present responsibilities.

(Friends of God)

A person is prudent not because he never makes a mistake, but because he corrects his errors. He shows his
prudence in preferring to miss the mark twenty times rather than give in to an easygoing 'do nothing'
attitude. He won't rush into things foolishly or behave with absurd rashness. He will run the risk of his
decisions. Fear of failure will not make him give up in his effort to do good. As we go through life we find
ourselves coming across people who are objective and know how to weigh things up, who don't get heated
or try to tip the balance towards that which favours them. Almost instinctively, we find ourselves trusting
such people, because, unassumingly and quietly, they always act in a good and upright manner.

This open-hearted virtue is indispensable for Christian living. But the highest goal of prudence is not social
harmony or the peace which results from not creating friction. The fundamental motive behind prudence is
to fulfill the will of God who wants us to be straightforward without being childish, friends of truth but never
bewildered or superficial. 'The prudent heart shall possess knowledge', the knowledge given by God's Love,
that ultimate knowledge which can save us and bring to all creation the reward of peace and understanding
and, to each soul, eternal life.