MOTHER & DAUGHTER TEA CLUB - Term 3
Time & Location
About the Event
Talk/Discussion: Temperance and Self-mastery
"Have the courage to teach children austerity. If not, you won’t accomplish anything," St Josemaria
When parents, in raising their children, deny them something they would like to do, it is not uncommon for the children to ask why they cannot follow the latest trend, or spend hours surfing the internet or playing computer games. The first answer can often be simply “because we can’t afford it,” or “because you need to finish your homework,” or what may be a better answer, “because you will end up a slave to your whims.”
Up to a point these are all valid replies, at least for getting out of a momentary predicament. But they could also have the unintended result of clouding the beauty of the virtue of temperance, making it appear in the children’s eyes as a simple negation of what attracts them.
In contrast, temperance, like any other virtue, is fundamentally affirmative. It permits a person to become a master of oneself and puts order into one’s emotions and affections, likes and desires, and the most intimate tendencies of the ‘I.’ In short, it ensures equilibrium in the use of material goods and helps one to aspire to a higher good. Temperance channels the forces of the human heart to put into practice all the virtues.