Member Log InTemperance, a cardinal virtue along with prudence, fortitude, and justice, is perhaps most commonly understood as “the virtue which moderates in us the inordinate desire for sensible pleasure, keeping it within the limits assigned by reason and faith.” (Divine Intimacy). Temperance was initially defined by the Greek philosopher, Aristotle (384 – 322 B.C.) using the Greek word “enkráteia,” which literally means “power over oneself”.
In an April 2024 General Audience, Pope Francis spoke of temperance and said, “temperance, as the Italian word says, is the virtue of the right measure. In every situation, one behaves wisely, because people who act always moved by impulse or exuberance are ultimately unreliable. People without temperance are always unreliable. In a world where many people boast about saying what they think, the temperate person instead prefers to think about what he says.” Among other things, temperance helps us keep our emotions in check. We humans have an emotional response to nearly everything, such that even a glass of cold water on a hot day creates an emotional response.
Temperance is ultimately necessary for at least two reasons: 1) temperance helps me hear God’s voice in my life; and 2) temperance assists me in following wherever it is that God directs me. To hear God’s voice requires quiet focus. I cannot hear His voice in the cacophony of the world, no matter how wonderful or how awful that cacophony is, no matter how much I may try to convince myself that I have heard God therein. It is not possible. I must get away, if even for a few moments, to a quiet space, settle my mind, and actively listen. If I am not doing this and doing it on a regular basis, I am fooling myself in believing that I can hear God’s voice.
Temperance in the practice of following God’s direction in my life is even harder. Significantly more rewarding, certainly, but harder than listening for His voice. Temperance directs that I must quell my emotions and bend my will.
Skoch is Czech by heritage. The Czech spelling is Škoch, and my kinsfolk exist in the Czech Republic even to this day. I have stepped into my great-grandfather’s boyhood home in the small Czech village of Kovářov and currently owned by my half-third cousin. Our great-grandfathers were born to different mothers. While outwardly I may appear stoic and emotionless (I have been described as having the personality of a fence post), inwardly I have all kinds of emotional reactions. I know that “stubborn” is the middle name of every person of Czech heritage ever to grace the face of the earth. It is not easy for me to keep my emotions in check or bend my will. I want to fix things that I see in need of fixing. To the extent that I’m able to practice temperance, I am more apt to come to the realization that what I thought needed fixing did not, in fact, need anything except my decision to stop reacting. I need fixing.
And so I need temperance.
My son, who is a Catholic priest, recently related to me one of his favorite lessons from his philosophy studies in seminary. One of his professors, in speaking about the dignity of human life, related that a human remains a human, regardless their station and lot in life. Drawing upon the family experience of a grandparent suffering from dementia, the instructor identified that grandma is still grandma, even if she’s unable to communicate. She deserves the same love, respect, and consideration in her aged frailty, replete with memory loss, as she did when she could manage a conversation from start to finish without missing a beat. In my personal experience as my mother approached her final earthly moments, I found myself needing to curtail my emotional response (which wasn’t always one of sympathy, I must confess) and recognize this very reality: she was still my mother. She deserved my love and respect no less than when she fed me, cared for me, and loved me as a child.
We must work to effectively manage our emotional responses – practice the virtue of temperance – and we can best do this by making time to hear God’s voice and listen to it. I must pray for temperance necessary to avoid rejecting those very souls who God calls me to serve. My rejection of others happens when I allow my emotional reactions to prevail in circumstances where emotions are better checked at the door. To follow where God leads requires temperance.
Pray for the temperance to know His purpose for you every day. Curb those unruly emotional responses to situations with God’s help. Develop the virtue of temperance. Make time to be quiet in His presence, and listen for His voice. You will be a more effective team player for the effort.
