Supernatural prudence is guided by the Holy Spirit. Decisions are made which are morally correct and which give us grace in the eyes of God. A good question to ask while we are trying to make a decision is "What would Jesus do in this situation?"
From the definition of Prudence from the catechism, I picked the statement that it is prudence that immediately guides the judgement of conscience. In that regard, I was able to relate to the author's experience with segregation and the wrongful treatment of the black population. When I went on vacation to Florida when I was a child, I will never forget my discomfort at seeing signs at ice cream stands directing blacks to one window and whites to the other, and the separation of blacks and whites on buses. I was merely a child, but I knew this was morally wrong in the eyes of God.
I also experienced prejudice against other religions. We weren't supposed to mingle with kids from other religions, let alone date them. Jews were despised because "They killed Christ!". Such laws, decisions, and feelings were not of God and were definitely imprudent.
Our Lord exercised the virtue of Prudence by thinking things through with the help of the Holy Spirit to do the right thing in the face of great adversity.
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing your experience of segregation. I remember that I had an uncle who was very prejudice but I never said anything...wrongfully, in hindsight. I did not like the statements he made and know, now as an adult Christian, that I should have said something even if no one else did.
You mentioned prejudice against other Christians and that is also sad. We should not condemn other but pray that the unity the Lord prayed for would come to be, in His time and in His way. We don't want to fall into indifferentism but we do want to be in a position to showing Christ's love and friendship to all. I have some wonderful non-Catholic friends.
So much is covered when we think of the virtues....things that I had definitely no known we would cover. Thanks for your post.
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