Our seventh and final virtue is charity, or love.  Now, you might think it strange that we would consider the two as one and the same virtue—after all, we can love anything, while charity seems less about love than about helping others.

But Saint Augustine was clear when he wrote: “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”

Well, why is that?  The world today will tell you that loving yourself is the first and highest love.  Don’t believe it for a second. 

You see, what Augustine understood—and what almost all people throughout human history until now have acknowledged in some form—is that true virtue is not just about having love for something or someone, but about having love for the right things in the right order. 

Narcissus, in Greek mythology, loved himself so much that he became enamored with his own reflection until he died pining for his reflection to love him back.  The Bible tells us the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and also that we are to love our enemies, not hate them.  And of course, Jesus himself taught that the first and greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself.  That kind of love—not self-love—is what transforms into charity.

You may not realize it, but a big part of what we do here at school is not just learning to know but also to love the right things in the right order—not least of all, Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.  I wonder, have you noticed any change in yourself from when the year started?  Do you love a little bit differently and with different priorities than when you started the year?  It may be hardly noticeable to you…but your teachers and I see it.  And we love it.

Have a wonderful day.