Courage Is Not Just for Martyrs

Do you live in fear? There is so much to fear in life, but Christ wants us to be free from fear and live in courage. Dr. Sri explains the different ways to act in courage and how living courageously is living for others.

Snippet from the Show
We need patience and perseverance in courage so that we can give the best of ourselves to others.

Announcements

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More Dr. Sri Events:

• Feb 19: Live 4 More Men's conference - Holy Name Catholic Community, Indialantic FL
• Feb 24: St. Francis of Assisi Family Ministry, Castle Rock CO
• Feb 26: Faith & Love Conference - St. Catherine of Siena, Kennesaw GA
• Mar 11-12: Green Bay Women's Conference, Green Bay WI
• Mar 15-16: St. Martha's Church Parish Mission - Depew NY
• Mar 16: St. Mary's Swormville, East Amherst NY
• Mar 23-25: St. Michael the Archangel Parish Lenten Mission, St. Michael MN

Living in Fear

In today’s world, there are a lot of people who live in fear. In fact, most of us live with some sort of fear in our hearts. Perhaps, you have a fear of failure or rejection. Maybe you are fearful of how your children will turn out. There is fear of the future, fear of losing control. It seems as though there is so much to fear in life! So, what do you do about this fear?

Take Courage!

We need courage. Jesus wants to set us free from our fear and the virtue of courage is what we need to achieve this. Courage is not just for the big things like persecution or severe illness. Courage is also essential in ordinary, everyday life.

What is courage?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines courage (or fortitude) as “the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good” (CCC, 1808). St. Thomas Aquinas helps us to understand courage even more by defining two acts of courage. The first act is “Attacking.” When we face an obstacle in our pursuit of something good, we push through that difficulty and don’t give up. The opposite of this would be to complain and allow ourselves to become discouraged or overwhelmed. The second act of courage is “Endurance.” This is when you are faced with an obstacle and attempt to overcome it, but eventually recognize that nothing can be done, so you endure that sorrow. If we cannot endure our sorrow and instead become overwhelmed by it, we are not able to be present to those around us or to our responsibilities.

An Example of Courage

Dr. Sri shares the story of his friend who was diagnosed with brain cancer. This friend initially responded by attacking the obstacle, by going through treatment. He showed courage by trying to fight the cancer and receive treatment. However, his health eventually took a downward turn. The last time Dr. Sri was able to speak with his friend, this friend showed so much interest in Dr. Sri. Although he was dying, he wanted to know how Dr. Sri was and how his different pursuits were turning out. When Dr. Sri finally had a moment to inquire after his friend, he responded by saying that he knew his end was coming. However, he also expressed how incredibly blessed he had been in this life. He told Dr. Sri he would be praying for him. Dr. Sri's friend admitted that he was in a lot of pain but he still chose to be grateful for his life. This man showed great courage as he endured his suffering.

Why We Need Courage

We need courage in order to give ourselves to others. We need patience and perseverance in courage so that we can give the best of ourselves to others. When we lack courage, it is a problem not just for us, but for anyone in our lives. If we aren’t able to persevere in our problems, we lose our peace and this affects others. When we become overwhelmed by our sorrow, we are turned inward instead of outward towards those we love. We need courage to love God and love those around us.

Want to learn more about courage and other virtues? Check out Dr. Sri's book The Art of Living: The Cardinal Virtues and the Freedom to Love.

Resources

• Visit Dr. Sri’s website at www.edwardsri.com and to book online events with Dr. Sri email events.edwardsri@gmail.com
• Find more of Dr. Sri’s episodes at www.ascensionpress.com/allthingscatholic
• Ascension is pleased to offer our new and improved online bible study programs and sacramental preparation programs digitally to help you minister with flexibility. Go to www.ascensionpress.com to view all our offerings