Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
What do you think of when you hear the word, “passion”? Some may think of the passion of Christ, His suffering on the cross. Others might understand it as a zeal or excitement for something, such as a passion for fine food. Of course, we often think of passion regarding emotional states such as anger or romantic attraction. The second reading today contrasts “wisdom from above” with “passions that make war” within us. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the passions as emotions or feelings that incline us to act or not to act in regard to something felt or imagined to be good or evil (see CCC par. 1763 & 1771).
In themselves passions are neither good nor evil. They are morally qualified only to the extent that they effectively engage reason and will. To attain self-mastery and do good, we must govern our passions by reason.
An upright will orders the passions to the good; an evil will succumbs to disordered passions and exacerbates them. Passions can be taken up in the virtues or perverted by the vices. They are morally good when they contribute to a good action, evil in the opposite case.
There are many passions such as love and hatred, desire and fear, joy, sadness, and anger. The most fundamental passion is love, aroused by the attraction of the good. Love causes a desire for the absent good and the hope of obtaining it; this movement finds completion in the pleasure and joy of the good possessed.
Our Lord called man’s heart the source from which the passions spring. The perfection of the moral good consists in being moved to the good not only by our will but also by our “heart.”
Sincerely yours in Christ Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life,
