Riding on a train into Chicago during World War II, I fell into conversation with a soldier. Among other things, he expressed himself very strongly about drinking to excess. His experience was the reason for his stand. This is what he told me:
On his way home for a furlough, he indulged too freely with several companions on the train. He had wired his fiancee to meet him at the Union Station in Chicago. By the time he reached his home town, he was definitely drunk. As the train pulled in, he hoped and prayed that something, anything might keep her from being at the station. He did not want her to see him in that condition. But there she was, waiting at the gate as he came staggering along the platform. When she saw his condition, she called a cab, pushed him into it, told the driver his address, slammed the door, and stalked off.
Every day of his furlough the young man tried to get in touch with his intended. But it was in vain. Finally she relented to the extent of writing him a letter, and also giving him another chance. In that letter she wrote: "Bill, I would much rather receive one of those terrible telegrams from the War Department saying: 'Missing in action,' or even 'Killed in action,' than ever to see you again in the state you were in at the station."
The soldier managed a grim smile as he told me: "Father, you can bet I have never drunk to excess since that. She is too precious to lose for just a couple of drinks."
Intemperance will cause the loss of many other precious things, too, including the loss of sanctifying grace, the life of the soul. That is why temperance is so important.
Temperance is that cardinal and key virtue which enables us to control the things that are agreeable to the senses, in line with right reason and the laws of God. Right at the start let me emphasize that temperance means much more than moderation in the use of intoxicating drink. It means moderation in everything. We want to think about it this week.
1. Temperance gives us a firm grip on our natural appetites:
A. If we do not master our desires and appetites, they will master us. The spiritual part of man must always be in control of the mere animal in us. Body and soul should work together, but if there is a conflict, if the demands of the body threaten to get out of control, that is, if they threaten to offend the laws of reason and the laws of God, then the soul must assert itself and take the reins firmly in hand.2. Temperance has many close relatives among the virtues, many powers which help temperance, and some that result from it:
B. All our natural appetites are good in themselves. God planted them in us. They are important and necessary in maintaining life and health. But, let those inborn desires run wild, and they ruin not only the soul, but even the body itself.
There is, for example, the natural desire for drink, even for intoxicating drink, which can have a useful purpose in promoting health and social life. But when that desire for drink gets out of control, it brings the drinker to the sad state of the young soldier of my story, who almost lost his beloved because of intemperance.
A. Clemency is the ability to keep punishment within reason. It is intemperate to inflict a punishment all out of proportion to the fault committed.3. But we must always be moderate in our moderation, temperate in our temperance. It is wrong to reject all bodily pleasure, especially the pleasure necessary for life, like eating and exercise. So, too, excessive and unadvised penance is not virtue; it can be sinful. Always consult your confessor about extreme penances.
B. Sobriety moderates the natural appetites like eating and drinking. It also moderates the acquired appetites, like smoking and chewing gum. Once in a while one notices a thoughtless Catholic chewing her cud in church. That is intemperate as well as disrespectful.
C. Abstinence or self-denial is the practice of denying partially or entirely certain appetites for the sake of the soul. Total abstinence from intoxicating liquor is one of the means, and for many the only means, of avoiding drunkenness.
D. Chastity denies or regulates the sexual instinct, according as one leads a virginal, married or widowed life. Excess in the use of sex is a particularly sinful and harmful form of intemperance.
E. Modesty means the regulating and checking of all the external things that might awaken a desire for unchaste or unlawful pleasure in ourselves or others. It means avoiding any style of dress, manner of speech or conduct, that might arouse impure desires.
F. There is even a temperance in learning, with regard to an over-eager desire for the knowledge that puffeth up.
G. Humility regulates and controls a man's estimation of himself. He bases his value on actual fact.
H. Mortification helps temperance by performing acts that are painful to help keep our appetites within the bounds of reason. Denying yourself something lawful is a big help towards avoiding the unlawful.
4. Intemperance undermines character and robs man of his human dignity. It steals his self-respect, and the respect of others. It makes him like a mere animal, rather than a human being. Yes, and it loses many of the most precious things in life, just as the young soldier almost lost the girl of his choice, because he was intemperate in drinking.
Temperance and everything it entails is not easy. But Christ promises us that the sorrow we experience in doing His will, some day shall be turned into joy.
Be temperate, be moderate, control the demands of the senses, and "your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one shall take from you." Amen.
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Adapted from Prayers, Precepts and Virtues
by Fr. Arthur Tonne, OFM (©1949)
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