Wind Beneath the Wings:

Vir tues F or a H ero’ s

Jo urn ey
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 A survey conducted by
Mc-Cann-Erickson Philippines
on Metro-Manila youth reported
that among students two thirds
say they are average
performers.
 They give little value for
excellence and a passing grade
is the objective. Less than half
complete their high school
requirements “most of the time.”
 Only one third complete their
assignment “all the time”
(McCann-Erickson Philippines 2002)
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Virt ues For a H ero ’s J ourney
 A recent UNESCO report ranked the Philippines
74th in the Education Development Index, falling
below Mongolia, 61st; Vietnam, 65th; Indonesia,
58th; and China, 38th.
 The Philippines performed poorly in the Trends
in International Mathematics and Science Study
in 2003, ranking 41st in Science and 42nd in
Math in a field of 45. The shortage of classrooms
and teachers is becoming more serious every
year.
 Best Universities in the world
2008 2007 School Name Country
1 1 HARVARD University United States
2 2 YALE University United States
3 2 University of CAMBRIDGE United Kingdom
254 401-500 Ateneo de MANILA University Philippines
276 398 University of the PHILIPPINES Philippines
401-500 DE LA SALLE University Philippines

Reference:
http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/results/20
08/overall_rankings/fullrankings/
 Wi nd B eneath th e Wi ng s:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ne y
 Some of the young
people are
exceptional persons
who are truly
prepared to make a
positive contribution
in this world.
 But the remainder
forms a big block that
will face life after
school in a stagnant
mediocrity
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 Among the youth,
standards of morality are
negotiable.
 Social acceptance rather
than principle has become
the norm of behavior
(McCann-Erickson
Philippines 2000).
 The paradox of the time is
that we have taller
teenagers but shorter
characters.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 It is said that young
people are indifferent to
the world. “Dead-ma..
Walang pakialam.”
 Not because the world
has required too much
from them, but because it
has demanded so little.
 The world has robbed
youth of their hero’s
journey.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 “Wasted”. Because of
new technologies,
young people are more
disposed to isolate
themselves now into a
private world defined by
personal computers
and digital phones.
 Young people cannot
clearly see that life has
meaning only by
embracing a world
wider than their own.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 The temptation is
much stronger to
simply live a sloppy
life.
 To stay mediocre.
“Mababaw.”
“Cheap.”
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 They may venture
into something of
worth.
 But generally they
seem to have no
confidence that they
can bring about any
valid and enduring
change in the world.
So they get stuck at
just “trying hard.”
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues For a H ero’s J ourn ey
 “Pokeman” is that
video game sensation
that became a
worldwide craze at the
close of the 20th century.
 The movie earned
$ 25 million in the U.S.
alone in its first two days
at the box office.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 The toys and the cards have
become an addiction.
Why were kids drawn to this
imaginary world of battling
pocket monsters?
 “Kids fall in love with
Pokemon because it
represents youth as dignified
and important, something
young people desperately
want”
(Time, 20 December 1999).
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 “The noble man devices
noble plans and, by noble
deeds, he stands, “says Isaiah
the prophet (Is 32:8).
 Nobility has nothing to do with
royalty.
 Nothing to do with “class.”
 It has something to do with
“growing in divine grace.”
 It means living up to one’s
dignity as a child of God.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Virtues For a Hero’s Journey
 St. Paul urges the early
Christians: “Whatever is
true, whatever is
honorable, whatever is
just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is gracious, if
there is any excellence, if
there is anything worthy
of praise, think about
these things.”
(Phil. 4:8)
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 That which habitually
disposes a person to
do the good is called
Virtue.
 Habit comes from the
Latin “habitus”,
meaning “character”.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero’s J our ne y
 A habitual
disposition means a
settled tendency of
behavior.
 A habit is a behavior
pattern acquired by
frequent repetition
that shows itself in a
regular or increased
facility of
performance.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero’s J our ne y
 Human virtues are
stable dispositions of
the intellect and the
will that guide our
conduct and order our
passions according to
reason and faith.
 They are acquired by
human efforts and are
both the seed and the
fruit of morally good
acts (CCC 1804).
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 Passions, or feelings,
“are emotions or
movements of the
sensitive appetite that
incline us to act in regard
to something felt or
imagined to be good or
evil” (CCC 1763).
 They are natural
components of our
psyche as human beings.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 Passions are neither
good nor evil in
themselves (CCC 1767).
 “Passions are morally
good when they
contribute to a good
action, evil in the opposite
case” (CCC 1768).
 Passions can be
perverted by vices or
taken up into the virtues.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues For a H ero’s J ourn ey
 Heroism or
martyrdom testifies to
the role of the heart.
 It gives an insight into
the purpose and
power of passions.
 It suggests that our
noblest feelings are
our essential and
extraordinary guides
to greatness.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 Only a powerful love could
lead, for instance, a
teenager to override his
impulse for personal
survival and offer his life to
save a drowning friend.
 Seen from the head, such
self-sacrifice is irrational.
 Seen from the heart, it is
the noblest choice to
make.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ne y
 Experience has shown us
many times how a person
of obvious intelligence
can do something so
downright dumb.
 Being intelligent does not
guarantee a smart life.
 Scholastic achievement
has little to do with
emotional life.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 To know that a
person is “summa
cum laude” is to know
that he is of superior
achievement as
measured by grades.
 The distinction does
not tell us anything
about how he reacts
to the vicissitudes of
life.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero’s J our ne y

 The brightest can fall

down the pit of unruly
impulses. People with
superior IQs can be
very poor pilots of
their private lives.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 Hamlet remarked to his
friend Horatio: “Give me
that man/ That is not
passion’s slave, and I
will wear him/ In my
heart’s core, aye, in my
heart of hearts/ As I do
thee.”
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 The pop distinction
between the “head” and
the “heart” refers to the
two different ways of
knowing.
 The head is the rational
mind and the heart is the
emotional mind.
 These two must operate in
a balance, intertwining their
own ways of knowing, to
guide us in life.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 The goal is the
BALANCE of passions,
not their suppression.
 Every feeling has its
value and significance.
 Life without passion
would be a dull
wasteland. What is
wanted is appropriate
emotion, passion that is
proportionate to the
circumstance.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ne y
 There are many
passions. The most
fundamental of which
are:

LOVE
• The tendency towards
a desirable good which
is present or absent.
• DESIRE when the
good is absent .
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 HOPE when the good is
attainable.
 JOY is the delight
produced by the
presence or possession
of the desired good.

DESPAIR is turning away
from a good that is
possible to attain
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Virtues F or a H ero’s Jour ney
 HATRED
 The aversion against an
evil which is present or
absent.

HORROR when the evil is
foreseeable.
 FEAR when there is the
anguish that the
threatening evil cannot be
overcome.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 SADNESS is the
sorrowful experience
produced by the
presence of evil.
 ANGER is the
resistance against a
present evil.
 BRAVERY is the
tendency to overcome
it.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 Love is the most central
passion.
 “All other affections have
their source in this first
movement of the human
heart toward the good.
 Only the good can be
loved. Passions are evil if
love is evil and good if it
is good” (CCC 1766).
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Virtues For a Hero’s Journey
 There are four cardinal human virtues.
 They are called “cardinal” because they are the
hinges or pivots around which all the other
human virtues are grouped. They are:
 Prudence

• Disposes the practical reason to discern, in every

circumstances, our true good and to choose the
right means for achieving it (CCC 1835).
• It is called the “charioteer of the virtues” because it
guides the others by setting the boundaries.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 Justice
 Consist in the firm and
constant will to give to God
and neighbor their due
(CCC 1836).
 It is justice that disposes
man to respect the rights of
each other, to establish
harmony in human
relationships, and to
promote the common good
of society.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 Fortitude
 Ensures firmness in
difficulties and constancy
in the pursuit of the good
(CCC 1837).

It is the virtue that
strengthens man’s
resolve to resist
temptations, to conquer
fear of trials and death,
and to sacrifice one’s life
for a just cause.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero’s J our ne y
 Temperance

Moderates the
attraction of the
pleasure of the senses
and provides balance
in the use of created
goods (CCC 1838).
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 Temperance
 It is the virtue that
ensures the mastery of
the will over instincts
and keeps all human
desires within the
limits of what is
honorable.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Virtues For a Hero’s
Journey
 The human virtues
are rooted in the three
theological virtues.
“Theological” because
these virtues relate
directly to the “theos,”
God.
 These are the virtues
that give the human
virtues their special
Christian character.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Virtues For a Hero’s Journey
 These are:
 FAITH – we believe in God and believe all that he
has revealed to us and to that Holy Church proposes
for our belief (CCC 1842).

HOPE – we desire, and with steadfast trust await
from God, eternal life and the graces to merit it (CCC
1843). It is connected with future.

CHARITY – we love God above all things and our
neighbor as ourselves for love of God. It is divine
love.
Wind Beneath the Wings:
Virtues For a Hero’s
Journey
 The Hebrew root for faith
is “aman.” The adverb
form is “amen,” meaning
truly or certainly.
 It suggests being sure
and solid. To have faith is
to say “amen.”
 That is to, to proclaim that
one holds on as true and
certain what has been
said. To say “amen” is to
have faith.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 Kareem Abdul Jabbar, that
once famous basketball
player for the L.A. Lakers,
lost his Bel-Air mansion in a
fire.
 He said after that fire: “My
whole perspective changed
after the fire.”
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 I think it’s important now
for me to spend time with
my son Amir and
appreciate other things
beside basketball.
 There are a lot of things
that are more important.
Like friends.” (Chicago
Tribune, 26 May 1983).
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 The Christ Response

Jesus was a man of passion.

He wept over the death of
Lazarus his friend and raged
against the money changers in
his father’s temple.
 He knew how to cry and shout,
because he was deeply
passionate to his cause. Be it
the cause of warm friendship or
of true faith.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 He demanded same
passion from his
believers.
 He wanted fire burning
in their hearts for his
kingdom. He inspired
them to do noble
things.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 He made it clear that to
follow in his footstep is to
walk the extra mile and
give the extra tunic.
 He listed them to a
hero’s journey. There was
no place for the
mediocre. To achieve his
vision, they had to be
men and women of virtue.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues For a H ero’s J ourn ey
 Jesus knew that bad
things do happen to good
people.
 His own life was a
struggle that seemed
unfair.
 When Pilate wanted to
throw Jesus into prison,
Jesus told him: “You
would have no power
over me unless it had
been given to you from
above” (Jn 19:11).
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 He saw his
persecution as being
part of a divine plan of
God.
 He believed and
hoped that love was
in control.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 As you face difficult
questions and situations
in life, what constitutes
the courageous position
for you?
 For what truths and
values would you
sacrifice your life?
 On the other hand, what
choices and actions in
your life do you feel
would show moral
cowardice?
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero’s J our ne y
 LIVE THE FAITH. It was
Forest Gump, in that Oscar-
winning movie, who said:
“When you go to the zoo,
always take some food to
feed the animals.
 Even though the signs on
the bars say “Don’t Feed
the Animals.” After all it
wasn’t the animals that put
signs up there.”
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 In this free country,
Christian as it may
claim to be, you will
be told not to force
your faith on anybody.
Don’t push it on
others.
 Let them figure it out
on their own. But it
doesn’t mean you
can’t share your faith.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 It doesn’t excuse you
from witnessing to
your faith, because
the world is hungry for
the gospel of Christ.
Even though it says
“Don’t Feed,” take
some food when you
go.
 Wind Beneath the Wings:
Vi rtues F or a H ero ’s Jour ney
 Not all will be called
to a martyr’s glory.
 Pope John Paul II
once said that “to die
for the faith is a gift to
some. But to live the
faith is a call for all.”