Let’s turn our attention to the Cardinal virtues, which together with the Theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity complete what we might choose to call the Catholic virtues. The first of these Cardinal virtues is Prudence. Prudence is an essential ingredient for all the other virtues to grow. I like best the definition in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. “Prudence … discerns our true good in every circumstance and strives to choose the right means of achieving it; … it is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience.” So it is not enough to want to do good but we must also discern and know the means we must choose to achieve that good. When a decision needs to be made, we must deliberate, judge and command into action with courage and without much delay no matter what difficulties we encounter. However, it does not mean to be impulsive, especially when there is time. The larger the decision or item we want to purchase, usually the more time we take in making a prudent decision. So, my friends, prudence is just as likely to lead us to take a big risk as to avoid taking one.

True Christian prudence is always at odds with the wisdom of the world. It’s not satisfaction, pleasure or material gain in themselves that it judges, but seeing these things in the light of faith and our eternal goal.

So prudence is the wisdom to discern right from wrong. It has a major role to play when it comes to important moral and ethical issues. It rightly asks, what is the best way for me in this situation? Most things in life, even other virtues, taken to an extreme are probably due to a lack of prudence. For example, “Discrimination” in some circumstances can be prudent as is the case with the Boy Scouts not allowing certain people as leaders who might hurt the young Scouts. But “Discrimination” because of color or creed, etc is surely against wisdom and so not prudent. Prudence would tell us to not pay excessive attention to temporal goods or future events because that would demonstrate a lack of confidence in God and His promises.

It is the Holy Spirit who guides us in our many life decisions in the same way that our church is guided by God’s Spirit. In order to have a conscience that is vibrant, the virtue of prudence needs to be strong and active, Spirit filled. Prudence must always guard against rationalization and seeking ones self-interest. So, in the same measure that our heart is overly attached to the world, the flesh, or the ego, we, and also our prudent judgments are obscured and slanted and impeded from proper function because there is no room for The Spirit to work. But let’s face it. Most of the time we can easily recognize inappropriate responses in our discernment process.

An important point to remember is that we must not stop a person from following their conscience unless there is the potential of serious harm to that person, others, or a wider society. However, we must always seek out the truth. Conscience which is directed by a prudence that has not sought moral direction and guidance from those who know is liable to fall prey to the current culture of self indulgence and lead to false or harmful decisions. The discernment of spirits, guided by the virtue of prudence, examines all the information at our disposal and tries to see what step is the best to take, but this information can sometimes be “information of the heart.” This area of prudence and conscience needs much more space for proper discussion and so I will leave it for a future time.

Oh, one last caution for us to consider. Sometimes, with a kind of naïve good will, we use our faith as an excuse to act without prudence. Any type of religious fundamentalism is an example of this.

So prudence tells us not to have blind obedience. It may lead to either obedience or dissent. But it must never be a “knee-jerk” or mindless. Prudence does guard our freedom. And, it leads us to accept and exercise that freedom by making responsible choices.