Those who regularly work out recognize that the gym is full in January, but less so as February and March follow. Leading a virtuous life is not easy, and many of us need a stronger commitment.
For example, when the holiday season ends each year, we turn to January resolutions around weight loss plans, gym memberships, maybe even a "Dry January." We may be willing to rid ourselves of a bad habit, or better yet, replace it with a better one. Within the course of an entire year, there are moments in the secular and liturgical calendars when we pause to think about the habits we practice. Virtues steer our actions toward basic human goods, while vices are destructive of those same human goods. The formal names of the habits we choose are virtues and vices. In the extraordinary circumstances of a pandemic, our virtues and vices are put to the test.Īlthough times of crisis may force difficult moral choices upon us, in the "ordinary" days of our lives we make moral choices through the habits we choose. While the virus may have been the catalyst, the fear was ultimately about being powerless. Courtesy and kindness flourished in grocery stores and special consideration given to the elderly.įear seems as contagious as the virus. Most others remained committed to charity in the midst of chaos. Faced with extraordinary circumstances, some failed the test of their virtues. It was just a matter of days before when things had been normal. Nationally, there were some particularly egregious cases of hoarding and price gouging over basic resources. Louis reported witnessing fights over basic household items.
Shelves were empty, and some customers were grabbing large quantities of whatever they could find. I didn't understand the message until I saw checkout lines of overloaded carts stretching to the back of the store. At my family's home in Pennsylvania last month, I stopped at my local grocery store to pick up a few things and was simply wished "good luck" by someone leaving the store.