Week 4 Prudence

Week 4 Prudence

The Basics 

Catechism of the Catholic Church- paragraph 1806   

"Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it; “the prudent man looks where he is going.” “Keep sane and sober for your prayers.” Prudence is “right reason in action,” writes St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle. It is not to be confused with timidity or fear, nor with duplicity or dissimulation. It is called auriga virtutum (the charioteer of the virtues); it guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience. The prudent man determines and directs his conduct in accordance with this judgment. With the help of this virtue we apply moral principles to particular cases without error and overcome doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid."

Helpful Definitions

Duplicity-contradictory doubleness of thought, speech, or action; especially:  the belying of one's true intentions by deceptive words or action

Dissimulation- to hide under a false appearance

Questions for reflection

Am I live a consistent and responsible life?

Am I honest and do I speak honestly?

Do I tend to say what others want to hear?

Do I have a well formed sense of right and wrong and is it consistent with the church?

Looking Deeper 

Prudent is he who can keep silent that part of truth which may be untimely, and by not speaking it, does not spoil the truth of what he said.

Pope John XXIII (1881 - 1963)

Speech from Saint John Paul II –Oct 25 1978

Well, today I wish to continue this plan, which the late Pope had prepared, and to speak briefly of the virtue of prudence. The ancients spoke a great deal of this virtue. We owe them, for this reason, deep gratitude and thanks. In a certain dimension, they taught us that the value of man must be measured with the yardstick of the moral good which he accomplishes in his life. It is just this that ensures the virtue of prudence first place. The prudent man, who strives for everything that is really good, endeavors to measure every thing, every situation and his whole activity according to the yardstick of moral good. So a prudent man is not one who — as is often meant — is able to wangle things in life and draw the greatest profit from it; but one who is able to construct his whole life according to the voice of upright conscience and according to the requirements of sound morality.

So prudence is the key for the accomplishment of the fundamental task that each of us has received from God. This task is the perfection of man himself. God has given our humanity to each of us. We must meet this task by planning it accordingly.