110. How to become virtuous
110. HOW TO BECOME VIRTUOUS
If we are not born virtuous or vicious, but have to become virtuous or vicious, how do we do it?
Vicious habits are caused by evil acts. Much more, therefore, can virtuous habits be caused by good acts (I-II,63,2).
. . . [E]verything that is . . . moved by another is disposed by the action of the agent . . . if the acts be multiplied, a certain quality is formed in the power which is . . . moved, which quality is called a habit . . . the habits of moral virtue are caused in the appetitive powers according as they are moved by the reason (I-II,51,2).
. . . [W]e see that because fire cannot at once overcome the combustible, it does not enkindle at once, but . . . gradually. . . . Now it is clear that . . . reason cannot entirely overcome the appetitive power in one act. . . . Therefore a habit of virtue cannot be caused by one act, but only by many (I-II,51,3).
We become virtuous in the same way we become rich: we invest in the right company and then have patience.
A lost—looking pedestrian with a violin case asked a New York City policeman: “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” the answer was: “Practice, man, practice.”
There’s no easier way. You learn to do it by doing it. Repetition creates habits. So begin, already!
It begins in the mind and will, with thinking and deciding. “Sow a thought, reap an act. Sow an act, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny.”
It has to be gradual. Every good choice makes the next one easier and more delightful. Every bad one also makes the next bad one easier and more delightful.
Reason can instantly see a truth, but it cannot instantly convince the will to form a habit of choosing the good, and it cannot instantly tame the appetites. The appetites are like dogs or horses; training takes a long time.
We’re lucky it does, for that means there’s always hope, always a chance for reform. The angels have no passions, and therefore no hope for change, for reform if they chose evil. They chose good or evil simply and absolutely, once for all, as soon as God gave them a choice, at the moment of their creation. There is no chance that an evil angel (a demon) can ever become good, or that a good angel can ever become bad.
We are not angels. We can’t become a saint in one act. And we must become saints. That’s the meaning of life, and the demand of our Creator (Mt 5:48). That’s why there’s a Purgatory. He will not give up on us, He will not stop sculpting us, until we are perfect. And He will not do it against our will, only with it. We can’t do it without Him and He won’t do it without us.