Fortitude calls us to demonstrate Joseph’s silent strength

 

Deacon Kevin Gingras

Dec 21, 2025

4th Sunday of Advent

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122125.cfm

Isaiah 7:10-14   Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Romans 1:1-7    Matthew 1:18-24

So far in our Cardinal Virtue homily series, we have heard about Temperance - the regulating of our desires and appetites for created goods.  Next was Prudence - The ability to discern the true good and the right means to achieve it.  Last week was Justice - giving each person their due and fulfilling duties to God, others, and society. This week, we will discuss the Cardinal Virtue of Fortitude. 

Let’s start right off with what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says in paragraph 1808:

Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause. "The Lord is my strength and my song."  "In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." 

The Catechism never says it will allow you to not have fear, but when you do have fear, fortitude helps you overcome it.

Of course, the first thing that popped into my head was in Star Wars, when Luke tried to lift his spaceship out of the swamp using the force and failed, claiming it’s too big. Yoda scolds Luke, saying,

Size matters not. Look at me; judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? And well you should not.

Well, Yoda is right, the virtue of Fortitude is not made stronger by going to Planet Fitness and pumping iron.  This virtue is strengthened by prayer and reaching out to the Holy Spirit for guidance and help.  This virtue grows most with true love of Jesus, and we can see that in our Scripture readings today.  We see three main men today: Ahaz, Paul, and Joseph.  Two illustrated extreme, but different types of Fortitude, and one failed miserably.  

Ahaz looked to his own power and not to God, so if you guessed Ahaz as our failure today, then you guessed right! In our reading from Isaiah, Ahaz was told to trust in God, and if he did, the oncoming army would not destroy the city.  God said he would give Ahaz a sign, but Ahaz didn’t want the sign; he wanted to trust in himself and perhaps try to ally with another nation.

Let’s look at some of Ahaz’s deeds:

• He allied with the pagan king of Assyria 
• Created a pagan altar just like the king of Assyria had
• Because of the pagan altar, Ahaz desecrated the true temple with sacrifices to the gods of Damascus on this new altar 
• He moved the altar of the Lord to the side to make way for this pagan altar
• Ahaz removed the royal entryway of the temple and the Sabbath canopy as well.  He also destroyed the temple furnishings
• Ahaz also sacrificed some of his VERY OWN children to these pagan gods.

I won’t go into too much detail about Paul. I think we are familiar with his writings and the fact that, after his sinful persecution of Christians, he had a change of life and turned to God, demonstrating his great Fortitude.

Lastly, Joseph, who quietly followed the will of God and is never quoted in scripture.  Joseph trusted and followed God’s will even when it was hard.

Let’s look at some of Joseph’s accomplishments:

• Scripture tells us he was a righteous man
• He sought to divorce Mary quietly so as not to subject her to a trial and the death penalty.
• He listened to the Angel of God and took Mary, the Mother of God, as his wife.
• He named the child Jesus as the angel instructed.
• He became the foster father of the Son of God!
• Joseph protected Jesus and Mary and again listened to an angel and went to Egypt when he found out Herod was looking to kill the Christ child.

What about us? Fortitude, for us, doesn’t have to be on such a grand scale as helping to raise the Son of God or martyrdom.  For us, it is simply facing life's difficulties with steadfastness, not just in great deeds, but in daily perseverance.  It can be choosing what is difficult but right; over what is easy yet wrong.  It’s our daily struggle in resisting temptations.  Our Fortitude calls us to the foot of the cross when we are suffering, staying by God’s side when enduring hardship.  Fortitude calls us to stand up for and respect life in all its stages, even as our society preaches a culture of death. Fortitude calls us to stand up for the marginalized, the poor and the destitute. 

Sometimes, especially for me, Fortitude calls us to demonstrate Joseph’s silent strength as a spouse and parent, always following the will of God.

Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance towards Fortitude this week to help us live out the words of Pope Leo:

Here is the secret of the movement of the human heart: returning to the source of its being, delighting in the joy that never fails, that never disappoints. No one can live without a meaning that goes beyond the contingent, beyond what passes away

Pray for the souls in Purgatory

 Deacon Kevin Gingras

Oct 26th, 2025

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111625.cfm

Malachi 3:19-20a  Psalm 98:5-6, 7-8, 9

2 Thessalonians 3:7-12    Luke 21:5-19

Today, I wanted to walk up and down the sidewalk outside the church, carrying a sandwich board that read: “Repent for the end is near!” but I thought better of that.  Today’s homily does have that fire and brimstone feel to it:

See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and 'The time has come.' Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for such things must happen first… Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place… they will seize and persecute you,

Scary stuff, right?  This teaching is what probably got the Thessalonians to think Jesus was coming back and really soon.  So soon, some of them had just stopped working to wait.  St. Paul had to set them straight in his letter.  We don’t know the time or the hour; we just know some day the time will come, and we will get to our particular judgment.  This occurs at the moment of death, where each individual is judged based on the life they led according to God’s rules.  Our death is merely an end to our life here on Earth.

Gandalf the wizard from Tolkien’s book The Return of the King said about death:

End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take.

Jesus, in today’s Gospel, gives us hope when he tells us:

Not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance, you will secure your lives.

And that is certainly good news, isn’t it! I recently started setting up for a baptism by placing the Easter candle front and center before the altar, and then the baptismal font just in front of that.  This is how our life in the church begins, by our baptism.  When our journey on earth has ended, the candle is in the same spot, and it is our casket that is in front.  The casket is sprinkled with holy water to remind us of our beginning.

Ok, back to our particular judgment that happens right at our death.  Three destinations await - Heaven for those who die fully in God’s grace, Purgatory for those who die in God’s love, but we still need some purification before we can be with God for eternity, and third is Hell for those who have died with mortal sin still on their souls and have rejected God’s love.

CCC 1030:

“All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.”

Why bring all this up now?  Because November is the month to remember all the souls in Purgatory.  We begin with All Saints’ Day (those who have died and are now in Heaven) and then have All Souls’ Day (those who have died and are in Purgatory).  The Church encourages us to pray for the dead, visit cemeteries, and attend Masses to pray for the dead.

A while back, there was a woman I knew very well who knew she was dying.  I asked her how she was doing, and she replied that she was fine.  I told her not to lie, I asked how she is really doing, and what I can do to help her.  Her response surprised me.  She said that when she dies, she wants me to make sure that people don’t saintify her - in other words, correct people who say she is in Heaven now.  She made me promise that I would tell those people to instead pray for her soul and not make that assumption.  Our prayers can help those who have gone before us attain Heaven.  In Purgatory, souls cannot pray for themselves.  When you lose a family member or somebody close to you, you now have a job to do!  That job is to pray for them, to help their souls get to Heaven from Purgatory!  Especially in November, but also in all other months.  Your prayer for a loved one today could be exactly what they need to attain entry into Heaven!

St. Gertrude’s had a great prayer for this:

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.

This week I’ll end with two saint quotes, it’s that important!

Saint Padre Pio says

"We must empty Purgatory with our prayers."

And Saint John Paul II

“Praying for the souls in purgatory is the highest act of supernatural charity”

Stay humbly focused on the goal: Eternity in Heaven

Deacon Kevin Gingras

Oct 26th, 2025

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102625.cfm

Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18 Psalm 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 Luke 18:9-14

When I pray, I always thank God for making me the most humble person that I know. The top dog, number one when it comes to being humble, more humble than everyone else!

Now, of course, we know that kind of prayer contradicts itself; if you think you are the most humble, then you are very far from humility and are more prideful than humble. Pride is one of the seven deadly sins, and humility is one of the 7 virtues. Yes, there are sins that are deadly and sins that are not so, mortal and venial sins. This is in scripture and can be found in 1 John 5:16-17

If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. … All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

A deadly sin, or mortal sin, requires the sacrament of confession to get back to the graces of God. The reason for this is explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1855:

Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God's law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him. Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it.

Further on in Paragraph 1861, the Catechism tells us:

It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by repentance and God's forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ's kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices forever, with no turning back.

That took a dark turn, didn’t it, but I try to preach what the Holy Spirit tells me to, and the Holy Spirit is reminding us that we must remain aware that we have lost some sense of sin of late in modern society, and we need to get it back. Influences such as secularism, the decline of religious influence, and our wrongdoing are sometimes shrugged off as I’m not hurting anybody or the harm is to others and there is not much thought of offending God. We need to be aware of how we offend other humans, but we also need to be aware that our sins offend God. We need to remember that our sins are our sins, and they don’t become less severe because we aren’t murderers or adulterers. I may have done this, but at least I didn’t do what THAT person did! We are inclined to judge ourselves based on people we think are less than we are, but who are those who are above us and judging us in the same manner? Are we the Pharisee or the tax collector? Our disposition must be one of humility, like the tax collector. Our prayer must be made in humility! The Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 2559:

When we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or "out of the depths" of a humble and contrite heart? He who humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we ought," are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. "Man is a beggar before God."

Well… terribly uplifting homily, isn’t it? There is hope, there is the rest of the story! Jesus died for us to open the gates of Heaven when we enter our eternity, and within his church and through the priesthood, Jesus gave us the sacrament of Confession. Confession cleans the slate, gives us a fresh start, and opens up the graces of God to be received by us again. St. Paul knew his journey into eternity was coming up when he wrote:

I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on, the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.

Do we long for the Lord’s appearance? Do we realize we are fighting a battle against evil, against Satan? It is indeed a competition, not against our fellow humans but against all evil, especially pride. We must race to win. We must race humbly! If we have strayed off the course and are in danger of losing, then head to confession to get back on track - it’s a sacrament that we must take advantage of as often as necessary, especially when we fear we are in the state of mortal sin! We must stay focused on the goal: eternity in Heaven. Saint Vincent de Paul tells us:

The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it.

Where and What is my Excessive Treasure

 Deacon Kevin Gingras

Sept 25th, 2025

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092125.cfm

Amos 8:4-7    Psalm 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8

1 Timothy 2:1-8    Luke 16:1-13

This week, as Jesus continues on his journey towards Jerusalem and his ultimate sacrifice, He gives us yet another interesting story.

In today’s parable, the master gets wind of the steward's dishonest practices and calls him out on the carpet; the steward is to be audited.  Even then, they didn’t like audits!  The steward is afraid of losing his situation, so he goes to all the master’s debtors and tells them to write notes that are significantly less than what they used to owe.  This is because the steward has removed HIS portion of the debt, his commission. The master will still get his full cut, so the master commends the dishonest steward.  Now, if the master decides to fire the steward, he has just made some new friends who might be inclined to hire him, and he can keep his life of leisure. Jesus challenges us today to choose our goal in life: God or treasures. Today’s steward liked treasures. The first reading from the prophet Amos also reminds us that wealth was a seductive trap for the people of God throughout salvation history.  Is our wealth a trap for us, too?  What do we do about it?

All the treasures we carry add unnecessary weight to us, to our souls.  We must be good stewards like in today’s Gospel:

No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.

What do we serve?  Our treasure here on earth?  I hope not. A few years ago, my daughter Faith and I were walking down the beach.  She kept picking up what she deemed to be “treasures” and handing them to me.  I considered it all to be debris, but my opinion didn’t matter.  Anyway, I was putting these treasures into my pants pockets.  We were walking around Boardwalk Beach in Sandwich on Cape Cod.  She kept finding more and more “treasures”, rocks, shell parts, and the like.  I kept putting them in my pockets for her.  At first, it was no big deal, but as we rounded the bend, I realized I had to start hiking my pants up after a few steps; these “treasures” were getting heavy and were weighing my pants down!  Our treasures on earth can do this to us; we slowly stockpile them, accumulating more and more.  We just get more and more treasure, so we need more places to store our treasure.  I’ve noticed a huge amount of storage facilities going up all over the place.  Our stuff doesn’t fit in our houses anymore!  Our treasures are weighing us down.

J.R.R. Tolkien, in his book The Hobbit, wrote:

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

 The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes the chapter on the Tenth Commandment - Thou shalt not Covet thy Neighbor’s goods with the following:

2551 "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Mt 6:21). 

2552 The tenth commandment forbids avarice arising from a passion for riches and their attendant power. 

2553 Envy is sadness at the sight of another's goods and the immoderate desire to have them for oneself. It is a capital sin. (YIKES!)

2554 The baptized person combats envy through goodwill, humility, and abandonment to the providence of God.

2555 Christ's faithful "have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal 5:24); they are led by the Spirit and follow his desires.

2556 Detachment from riches is necessary for entering the Kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are the poor in spirit."

This week, I’m giving myself homework.  To thank God for all that I have and make an account of all my treasure! Reminding myself that not all stuff is bad; some stuff is necessary to survive, but where and what is my excessive stuff? What of our treasure is weighing us down and keeping our eyes away from God? Where can we cut back, and where can we give to those who have so much less than we do?

St. Anthony of Padua really cuts to the heart with this quote:

“Earthly riches are like the reed. Its roots are sunk in the swamp, and its exterior is fair to behold, but inside, it is hollow. If a man leans on such a reed, it will snap off and pierce his soul.”

Continue Christ's Mission of Setting the World on Fire!

 

Deacon Kevin Gingras August 17th, 2025 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081725.cfm

Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10    Psalm 40:2, 3, 4, 18
Hebrews 12:1-4    Luke 12:49-53

Look around you at all that God has given us.   The beauty of nature,  the beautiful lakes and ponds, the big fish we can catch in those lakes and ponds,  our jobs,  families, and our faith.  If you read Genesis, it doesn't look like all of creation was too difficult for God. All of this creation and everything that we have is a gift from God, all but one thing.   Do you know what that one thing is?  Our sin.  It is in our sin that the greatest gift from God becomes necessary. This greatest gift was difficult, and that is the gift of our salvation.  God gave us the gift of His only Son, Jesus Christ, and Jesus was suffering even while waiting to give this gift of salvation to us.  He states that in today’s Gospel from Luke:

How great is my anguish until it is accomplished

Today’s Gospel also tells how Jesus desired to “set the earth on fire” as his cousin, John the Baptist, foretold:

One mightier than I is coming … He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. (Luke 3:16)

We receive the Holy Spirit with our baptism, and that is further strengthened at our confirmation. It is in our confirmation that we are called to speak the truth, to witness that Jesus came to earth to die for our sins.  The Catechism of the Catholic church tells us:

Confirmation gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross.

Today, we see that Jeremiah spoke the truth. He prophesied of impending divine judgment because of the nation's idolatry, social injustices, and moral decay. Jeremiah also prophesied that the siege of Jerusalem, currently going on by the Babylonians, would be successful and that they would fall under Babylonian captivity as a consequence for their disobedience.

He was trying to get the people to turn back to God.  During a break in the siege of Jerusalem, he went to go visit the property of his ancestors and was accused of desertion.  For that, he was thrown into a cistern to die.  If not for Edeb-melech, the court official, Jeremiah would have died.  

We, too, are called to witness to the truth; we probably won’t suffer such a fate today, however, as I do believe tossing folks into a cistern to die is thankfully illegal.

But hearing the truth is still hard for many people today!  So many of us know people who have attached themselves to this world instead of Heaven.  We have friends, family members, parents, and children, and sometimes we even get dazzled by what this world has to offer, to the point where the thought of Heaven or Hell leaves our minds. We only consider this life here on earth and fail to consider our eternity.  C.S. Lewis warns:

Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth 'thrown in': aim at Earth and you will get neither.

 

Sometimes, when we speak this Godly truth to others, it causes division for us.  Division with family, division with friends. How could it not?  I hope it also causes us to pray, pray hard and mighty prayers to the Holy Spirit for our friends, family, and for ourselves, too!

It is the Holy Spirit who provides the power and strength to live as Christ did.  To resist temptation and be a good example to others.  It is the Holy Spirit that empowers us to share the Gospel with others. Pray to the Holy Spirit this week to attain whatever of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit you might need more of.  Perhaps it’s multiple gifts.  Ask for an increase in wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and/or fear of the Lord so that we can boldly proclaim Christ to others as we are meant to, so we can continue Christ's mission of setting the world on fire!

St. Catherine of Siena tells us: 

Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire.