The Virtue of Justice

What is virtue?

“Virtue in general is a firm and habitual disposition to do good; it allows a person not only to perform good actions but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends towards the good with all his bodily and spiritual powers. He pursues and chooses this good in the concrete, specific actions of daily life . . .”

What is justice?

"Justice is the virtue that guides the human will to give God and to others what is their due. Justice enables me to give God, and He always comes first, to give God and others what God and others have a right to. Justice is not charity. Justice is a strict obligation.”

From a conference on virtue given for religious sisters by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. Read more of what he had to say about the cardinal and theological virtues here.

Image:
Giotto’s “Justice”, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.