Fr. Thomas M. Pastorius November 9, 2014 Spiritual Ponderings Virtue Development Trustworthiness
Three more virtues and our November Spiritual Pondering journey in regards to the twenty teachable virtues will be finished. For the last five years we have been exploring the idea of virtue development each November with the help of
Barbara C. Unell and Jerry L. Wyckoff’s book:
20 Teachable Virtues: Practical Ways to Pass on Lessons of Virtue and Character to Your Children.
Trustworthy Trust n. a. assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or on something. B. One in which confidence is placed. 2. Dependence on something future or contingent 3. A charge or duty imposed in faith or confidence or as a condition of some relationship.
“Your loving kindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness (trustworthiness) reaches to the skies.” – Psalm 36:5.
If there is one virtue that God has proven that He has and that we continue to fail to believe that God possesses it would be trustworthiness. Despite all that Adam and Eve had received from God they doubted that God was worthy of their trust and disobeyed Him. From that moment God has been providing for us in order that we may come to recognize that He is worthy of our trust. We see God keep His promise to Adam and Eve by sending a savior to restore God’s relationship with us. God was faithful to Moses and helped Moses lead the people out of slavery and through the desert for 40 years despite the fact that Scripture tells us God grew tired of their complaining. God was faithful to Jesus by raising Him from the dead - still though we do not always trust that God will be there for us.
Trust is in many ways the foundation of all relationships. We learn to trust that the other person will behave in a way that will prove that he is trustworthy even if he or she has proven that he may not. In fact friends who are not trustworthy prove to cause more harm by their lies and deceit.
Cardinal Dolan in his book: Called to be Holy has this to say about being a disciple and the power of the truth:
A pursuit of religious studies will enhance our faith.
Fides quaerens intellectum (“Faith seeking understanding”), as St. Anselm defined it. We dread a stale, insipid, childish, defensive faith; we crave a strong, lively, confident, childlike faith. Thus we are not afraid to probe, wonder, question, think critically. As Pope Leo XIII said, “The Church is not afraid of the truth.”
The above quote makes me realize the power of truth for when faced with the truth people are forced to change or to live in denial. Trustworthiness is so important to Catholics because Jesus referred to Himself as the Truth. There can be nothing truer than Christ. If we bear his name we to should live lives that witness to Jesus by being people worthy of truth.
10 Steps to Develop Trustworthiness 1. Model by example by completing tasks
2. Model by example by keeping appropriate confidences
3. Model by having sufficient self-respect that the opinions of others count.
4. Model by trusting others
5. Help others keep secrets
6. Discourage gossip
7. Establish chores and other ways that children can prove that they are trustworthy
8. Help them to see the need to serve others.
9. What does Jesus expect us to do? How can we be trustworthy to our Baptismal vows?
10. Talk about God’s Faithfulness.