Watch your thoughts; they become words.Watch your words;they become actions.Watch your actions;they become habits.Watch your habits;they become your character.Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

Character

Moral strength; a person’s moral views, qualities, and behavior patterns

Character countsAt schoolAt work For collegeFor relationships

Virtue

Being strong good and brave Force for good Moral goodness, power or effectiveness,

moral righteousness, often expressed in action

Divine Virtues

FaithBelieve in God and the truths God has

revealed

HopeOpen’s our heart to new possibilities

LoveCharity, greatest virtue, unselfishly do what

is best for you and others

How do you acquire admirable virtues? Practice makes perfect Develop virtues by doing what is

right Work on our relationship with

God

Human Virtues 4 main cardinal virtues

1. Prudence: good judgment Guides us to understand

○ Truly good in a situation○ The right way to achieve it

How can you be prudent? Approach moral problems with the appropriate

care, caution and consideration Don’t base decisions mainly on feelings Don’t believe everything you hear

2. Justice Steady desire to give God and others

what is dueHow can you be a just person? Respect everyone’s dignity and rights Be fair with people Work toward everyone’s welfare Keep in mind the common good Practice the Golden Rule

3. Temperance

Moderation and balance regarding the desire for physical goods and pleasures

Desires are meant to uplift not demeanHow should you keep balance in your life? Love wisely, let your head inform you heart Don’t overdo things Control your desires

Self-control is a characteristic of maturity

4. Fortitude Moral courage, determination, and

perseverance; the virtue of being firm of spirit or having a steady will in doing good despite difficulties and temptations

How can you be courageous? Determine to do what is right no matter what Be strong enough to ask for advice and help Make the tough choices Accept the consequences from

mistakes….learn

She Stood Alone

Write an essay about the virtues that Prudence displays in the movie. Make sure to include specific examples from the movie of all of the virtues you see displayed.

Seven Gifts of the Spirit

Wisdom Understanding Counsel Fortitude Knowledge Piety Reverence for God

12 Fruits of the Spirit Charity Joy Peace Patience Kindness Goodness Generosity Gentleness Faithfulness Modesty Self-control Chastity

Forgiveness

God offered us a chance for forgiveness for mistakes if we admit we were wrong and are sorry and promise not to repeat it again

Beautiful gift

Is there anything we can do that won’t be forgiven by God?

Only refusing God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness

Us not God

Why can it be so hard to forgive? Someone has wronged us What can make it easier?

Remember that we make mistakes tooWe believe we are entitled to forgiveness

What does it mean to forgive others? Sometimes we have to distance

ourselves because of danger Letting them know that their behavior is

unacceptable- won’t be tolerated True forgiveness tries to help the person

understand wrongs and change More than forgetting– holding

accountable

Who is one of the most difficult people to forgive? Ourselves Difficult to accept that we have done

something wrong or could have done better

Steps to Forgiveness

Recognize the action is wrong Admit that we did wrong and ask for

forgiveness from the one we wronged Forgive ourselves Get on with our lives. Remember we are

good and can still do good works

How do we know if we are in need of forgiveness?

Guilt: the act is wrong, you know it and you do it

Regret: the action is good, but something out of your control causes it to go wrong

Sorrow: Something happens to someone else you recognize it as a tragedy

Compassion: Something happens to someone else and it also happened to you so you feel as they do

Why Forgive?

Jesus told us: God forgave us and we should forgive others

Most human thing that we can do-because we all make mistakes

Feel another’s pain and need for forgiveness

The more we practice virtue and do what’s right, the more all these gifts from God become part of who we are.

Handling Hardships

It is easy be strong when everything is going our way.

Our challenge of character is how we get through it

Forgiveness Reflection

Write about a time when you needed to offer forgiveness to someone. How did you feel? What was holding you back from forgiving? Were you able to forgive? If yes, how did you feel?