Word of the Week

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fortitude: Fortisimo (L.): meaning “strong and brave”

Fortitude is one of the four cardinal or moral virtues that is also one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is a cardinal virtue in the pivotal role that it plays to “ensures a firmness in the pursuit of good and strengthens resolve to overcome obstacles in the moral life” (CCC 1808). It is a gift of the Holy Spirit in how it disposes one to renounce all things for the sake of the kingdom of God and the cause of justice (CCC 1808). Essentially, fortitude is the heroic love that enables might and courage in face of trial, persecution, and even death (CCC 712, 1299, 1808).

The term fortitude is unseen in Sacred Scripture, yet the Bible is replete with references to fear not and to possess courage in the storm of trail and anxiety. There are 40 references to courage in the Old Testament and 9 references in the New Testament (this excludes the phrase do not fear which would increase the volume to this entry). The OT passages of courage, often found within the phrase “be strong and of good courage”, are reminders not to fear when doing God’s work (Deut.31:6-7, 23; Josh.1:6-7, 9, 18, 10:25; 2 Sam.10:12; 1 Chr.28:20; 2 Chr.32.7; Ps.27:14, 31:24, 107:26; is.41:6).  This summons not to fear because you walk with God is the centerpiece to the NT vision of courage and fortitude (2 Cor.5:6-8; Phil.1:20; Heb.12:5). The one difference being that now we have received the gift of the Spirit to help us overcome trial and error so that we might mature in Christ. Moreover, Christ calls us not to fear in the ways of the world, but to fear he who has final judgment (Mt.10:28).  As the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, the Gospel of Matthew puts it, “Human agents of persecution are not to be feared. Men can impose suffering and death on the body but cannot force spiritual death on the soul. Jesus uses this distinction between body and soul to contrast the relative value of our earthly life with the absolute good of eternal life in heaven” (Hahn, and Minch, 34).

In my closing reflection, I draw in principle from the great philosopher of virtue Joseph Pieper.  We are constantly called to die to self in the wake of being made vulnerable for the sake of Christ. Being made low in the Christian journey is where we ascend the heights of bravery in the Christian journey. “Because man by nature is vulnerable, he can be made brave” (Pieper, 117).  Fortitude is measured by readiness to serve and willingness to die for other. Here, it is important to note that fortitude is closely linked to perseverance, where patience, meaning “to suffer or to endure”, perfects all things (James 1:4). So often the very thing we do not want to do, the cardinal virtue of fortitude demands we do it!  Put simply, no virtue is realized unless there is a struggle and it is fought for. Many have said that fortitude is the virtue that it is lacking in a culture that is measured by how convenient we can make everything (technology). We must be willing to experience a daily martyrdom that Christ may possess us entirely. Martyrdom is the peak of fortitude observed (Pieper, 117-141).

“What hope actually is, no one can know more profoundly than he who must prove himself in the ultimate test of fortitude. And to no other will it be a gift more convincingly revelaed that hope for eternal life is properly a gift, and to that without this gift there can be no such thing as truly Christian fortitude.”
--Joseph Pieper

Primary Texts Consulted

•  Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
•  Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.
• Hahn, Scott and Minch, Curtis. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, RSV, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000.

Pieper, Joseph. The Four Cardinal Virtues : Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1966.

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