The Catholic Sun :: Phoenix Diocesan Newspaper

“Get real” is a phrase heard frequently today. It is also what the virtue of prudence makes it possible to do. Prudent persons build their life on reality, not on illusion. They are able more accurately to discern a good to be pursued and the right means to achieve that good. They are neither rash in their decision making, nor do they put off an action that needs to be performed.

Since God is the source and foundation of reality, prudence helps us to heed the words of Jesus (Mt 7:24-27), “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

Virtuous living is widely misunderstood in an age of relativism that wants a “quick-fix” to complicated problems and has little patience for the tough work of discovering the truth and acting upon it. It is more important than ever, then, to build our lives on the solid rock of clear thinking, good judgment and courageous action. In other words, our age needs the virtue of prudence.

A clear grasp of reality

Good intentions are not enough. They provide a helpful beginning and are certainly better than their opposite. But lives of integrity require knowing how to think and how to decide, how to come to an adequate understanding of reality and then respond with decisive action. The first step is to get a clear grasp of reality. That is no small feat.

First, we need to recognize what is false, counterfeit, unreal or a charade. As Jesus tells us (Mt 7:15), “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.”

Then, we need to know what is true, i.e. what are solid moral principles on which to base decisions and what are the objective facts of particular problems at hand.

Two extremes must be avoided: a thoughtless rush to judgment on the one hand and a fearful or lazy avoidance of deciding on the other. The focus should be on two questions: what is the reality here and what needs to be done.

An inner stillness of person is required for successful discernment. Such stillness allows us to recollect ourselves, to draw upon our memory and experience, and to turn to God in prayer. The wisdom literature of the Bible often exhorts us to seek counsel from the Lord. For example, Solomon says in the Book of Wisdom (8:21), “…knowing that I could not otherwise possess her [i.e. wisdom] except God gave it — and this, too, was prudence, to know whose is the gift — I went to the Lord and besought Him.”

Two obstacles to achieving the truth are closed-mindedness and pride, which block our ability to receive good advice and hinder our need to let go of false assumptions. But once we have a solid grasp on reality, we are ready to take the next necessary step of prudence, namely deciding about what must be done.

Making tough decisions

Since every choice entails some uncertainty and risk, it is easy to see why procrastination is so popular and why some decisions are avoided altogether. Even thoughtful and prayerful discernment by people with many years of virtuous living does not remove a certain level of anxiety in decision making. For we can never be absolutely sure, here on earth, that our decisions are right, that our actions conform entirely to the truth.

This is why the Old Testament Book of Proverbs astutely teaches (13:1), “A wise son loves correction, but the senseless one heeds no rebuke.” It also explains Jesus’ insistence on our obligation to practice fraternal correction (Cf. Mt 18:15ff).

With keen insight into human nature, St. Thomas Aquinas warns that a great enemy of prudence is covetousness. By this, he means a disordered desire for money and possessions. Disordered desires keep the heart from inner quiet, making prayerful discernment nearly impossible. When one’s heart is set upon the things of this world then it lacks the freedom to put persons above things, and to decide on the basis of charity and truth; it wants only what will benefit itself.

On the other hand, the prudent person, while humbly aware of the ever-present possibility of selfishness, grows ever more capable of receiving good advice, of remembering solid moral principles and of applying those principles in concrete situations of daily life. Far from being fearful and prudish, as false popular opinion contends, prudence makes it possible to be persons of strong character and self-discipline, persons with an informed conscience, capable of living the truth in love.

A question of conscience

Our dignity as human persons is linked to freedom of conscience, to being able prudently to judge for oneself what is right or wrong and not coerced to act contrary to one’s convictions. In this regard, the Church teaches in Vatican II’s Gaudium et Spes (#16), “Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment…His conscience is man’s most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths.”

Our conscience is so closely linked to our dignity as persons that we are obliged to follow it, even if it is erroneous. In other words, our integrity requires that we do what we think is right, even if in reality our thinking is wrong.

Let us be clear, however, that when we act on an erroneous conscience, even though we do so in good faith and thus do not sin, harm is still done to us or to others. Objectively evil acts always cause harm, even when there is no subjective guilt. This is why we have the grave obligation to form our conscience in accord with the truth. Our knowledge of what is true helps us to realize those good things which ought to be pursued and those evil things which ought to be rejected. Thus, conscience is closely connected to prudence by which we can know what is good and also the right means of pursuing it.