185. Actual vs. habitual charity
185. ACTUAL VS. HABITUAL CHARITY
God gives us commandments to be kept. But how can we fallen fools and selfish sinners possibly keep the commandment that includes all the other ones, “the first and greatest commandment”, namely, to love God with our whole heart?
To love God with one’s whole heart has a twofold signification. First, actually, so that a man’s whole heart be always actually directed to God: this is the perfection of Heaven. Secondly, in the sense that a man’s whole heart be habitually directed to God, so that it consent to nothing contrary to the love of God; and this is the perfection of the way. Venial sin is not contrary to this latter perfection, because it does not destroy the habit of charity (II-II,44,4).
The category of “habit”, prominent in Aristotle but absent from most modern moral philosophers, is necessary to answer this question. A habit is a stable disposition to act in a certain way, good or evil. Virtues are good habits; vices are bad habits. Habits are not actions but states of character; they tell us who a person is. Habits are halfway between mere potentialities and actualities. A man has the potentiality to turn somersaults, but not the habit (unless he is a gymnast). But a man has a habit of charity, or of uncharity; and this defines his character, his soul.
Habits, good or bad, are not deterministic. They can be disobeyed. An alcoholic can have a fit of sobriety, and a moral monster can suddenly decide to sacrifice for his friends. Also, a saint can sin, and frequently does, against the habit of charity that defines his soul. Venial sin weakens the habit of charity but does not remove it. Mortal sin removes it. Venial sin is like an argument between spouses, mortal sin is like a divorce.
Charity is the habit that God infuses (spiritually causes) in us when we receive Him, by faith and Baptism. When St. Thomas refers to “charity” (as he does constantly) he does not mean merely “doing good deeds” or “acting unselfishly” or “helping others”. He means agape, which is the very life of God in the soul, the state of grace. By nature we are capable of all human loves, but agape is a participation in divine love, which comes from God alone. So “charity” means “the presence of God in the soul.” One can do good deeds (philanthropy, altruism) without agape. One can have what the world calls “charity” without having what St. Thomas calls “charity”. But one cannot do the reverse; one cannot have charity (agape) without doing good deeds. Charity enters the soul by faith, but it is not confined there: “faith by itself if it has no works is dead” (Jas 2:17). “You will know them by their fruits” (Mt 7:16).