Growing in Virtue

JOE O’SULLIVAN is the Writer and Content Developer for the Communications Office of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. He moved from Minnesota to South Louisiana in December 2023 to be closer to family. He is originally from Denver, Colorado.
 
One of my favorite examples of a person with immense courage (or fortitude) is Major Dick Winters from World War II.
 
Major Winters, the Commander of Easy Company of the 101^st Airborne Division, and star of the HBO series “Band of Brothers,” was heralded as a quiet but strong man from Pennsylvania. He became an American hero for his numerous demonstrations of incredible courage and sound judgment under dire circumstances that saved the lives of countless men.
 
It’s fun to read about figures like Major Dick Winters (at least, it is for me) and draw inspiration in our own lives about how to live with fortitude. However, it’s not always clear what evils are threatening us and our loved ones when we aren’t tasked with marching forward under Nazi machine guns. There was a clear enemy then, but there’s not always a clear enemy now. That’s why it’s important to dig deeper to discover what can befall us when we live in “peacetime” (as military folk would say), and how we can use fortitude to overcome any difficulties we might be facing.
 
The Church teaches us that “fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good.” It enables us “to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions” (CCC 1808).
 
Based on that definition, discovering the “good” in every situation is one of the keys to developing fortitude. If we don’t do that first, it’s easy to lose our direction, so let’s get into that a little more.
 
Oftentimes, the different “evils” we face today have to do with how we treat people and even how we treat ourselves. This can happen in regular conversation, in family discussions, or even in outings at bars and restaurants.
 
There might be a situation where the group of people you’re with, or a friend you’re getting coffee with, suddenly starts gossiping about someone or sharing things about them that are very private, casting them in a negative light. It’s important to stick up for people in those situations and signal that you won’t participate in those kinds of conversations. While you might not be facing “enemy fire” as a result, like Major Dick Winters in WWII, it can still make you vulnerable to whatever happens next. What if the person attacks you, gets defensive, and the situation becomes, well, really awkward?
 
Sometimes situations like these can change our friendships with people and that can genuinely be a very uncomfortable thing to go through. That’s why hard conversations often require a lot of fortitude – whether it’s gossip or something else you might be facing – because you’re taking a risk that might alter your relationship with that person. If it’s a somewhat random acquaintance, it’s not all that significant. But if it’s your boss? Now you’re really risking something. Who knows if that boss will place you on his “don’t promote” list, negatively affecting your career and income trajectory.
 
That’s why Josef Pieper, a Catholic German Philosopher who was well known for his writings on virtues, wrote that “fortitude presupposes vulnerability; without vulnerability, there is no possibility of fortitude. When there is nothing to fear, there is no need for courage (1)."

Without vulnerability, there can’t be any fortitude. We often like things to be clear-cut, knowing exactly what will happen next if we behave a certain way or say a certain thing. As we all know well, life doesn’t work that way. There are risks we have to take to ensure we keep our eyes fixed on the good, even when we know we might be attacked or face a negative consequence because we spoke up.
 
That’s what fortitude is all about. That being said, God knows we can be weak and give in to temptations, like going along with the group when we know we shouldn’t have – I’ve certainly been there. But that’s where the beauty of confession comes in, where we’re relieved of guilt, our strength is restored, and we can resolve to be stronger the next go-round.
 
That’s also why it’s great that the virtue of fortitude is a Gift of the Holy Spirit. God knows we need the help, so how wonderful that God turned this all-important virtue into a Gift of the Holy Spirit – something we can ask for quietly in our minds whenever we need it, or under our breath, so that we can receive strength to do the right thing and give the Glory to God, while we also honor our fellow neighbor in love.
 
Let’s remember to exercise fortitude whenever the situation requires it. It always feels good to do the right thing, which, while uncomfortable at first, allows the Holy Spirit to arrive with peace and joy

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(1) Pieper, J. (1966). The Four Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance. University of Notre Dame Press.