Jordan Paul

A virtue is a stable or permanent disposition, informing a faculty of the soul—whether intellect, will, sense cognition, sense appetite—which empowers the person to choose the good easily, promptly, and joyfully.
—Fr Gregory Pine, OP

Friends,

In the course of writing these, I don’t often find myself writing about the Old Testament. I think a lot of people have a tendency to hear from someone, at some point, that the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament are not binding on Christians and proceed to check out from everything else, too.

In the vows that deacons, priests, and bishops make at their ordinations, they agree that they “believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation.” So, there must be something in there.

A lot of the Book of Proverbs is contextual. That’s not to say it endorses moral relativism but that it offers advice for specific situations.

Today’s reading from Proverbs is an exception. It comes from the section labelled in some Bibles as “A Father’s Advice” and it’s very much not contextual:

Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of evil men.
Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

Earlier, Proverbs contrasts this way of wickedness with the way of wisdom. Drawing on other parts of scripture, especially St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians, the Church teaches that this refers to Jesus, who is the embodiment of wisdom.

As we reflect on the readings—ideally every day!—let us, in the words of Thomas Cranmer, inwardly digest them. As we do so, let us build the virtuous habits that will allow us to follow Christ’s commandments in the world—and to do so easily, promptly, and joyfully.

In Christ,

—Jordan