Choose a topic from Part 2B:

125. Timidity or Cowardliness

1. Sin puts disorder into human acts. Now, fearwhich is ordinate, and in line with right reason, helps a man shunwhat he ought to shun; this is a good fear, not a sinful fear.Indeed, when such ordinate fear is imparted as a supernatural dowerto the soul, it is called the gift of fear; it is one of the sevengifts of the Holy Ghost. But inordinate fear leads a manto avoid what virtue requires him to face and endure. This is thesinful fear called cowardice or timidity.

2. Fear shrinks from what is apprehended as evil, andespecially from the physical evil of death. Fortitude stands up tosuch evils. It is evident, therefore, that sinful fear standsopposed to the virtue of fortitude.

3. Sinful fear is often a venial sin. But it can be amortal sin. It is mortal sin when it makes a man ready to violatedivine law in serious matters in order to escape what is feared.Thus the fear that leads a man to deny the faith rather than enduremartyrdom, is a mortally sinful fear.

4. Yet fear diminishes a man's responsibilitysomewhat, and, to that extent, excuses from sin. For fear is astress which bears on the will and hampers its free choice. What isdone from a motive of fear, however great, is indeedsimply voluntary, but at the same time is in somesense involuntary, since it would not be done except for thestress of fear. Hence, an act done through fear is a mixture ofvoluntary and involuntary. But it is voluntary enough to make a manresponsible, even for mortal sin.

"There is nothing which gives greater security to our actions, or more effectually cuts the snares the devil lays for us, than to follow another person’s will, rather than our own, in doing good."
St Philip Neri

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"We must not be behind time in doing good; for death will not be behind his time. "
St Phillip Neri

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"It is vanity to be concerned with the present only and not to make provision for things to come."
Thomas á Kempis

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