Author: Virginia Lieto

You can find Virginia blogging about the virtues at virginialieto.com. Virginia has a Master of Arts Degree in Pastoral Theology. She is an adjunct professor of Theology at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine. Virginia is the author of a children's book titled, "Adventures of Faith, Hope and Charity - Finding Patience." Virginia is also a public speaker on the Catholic faith. She lives in Harrisburg, NC with her husband Nick.

Gentleness – For Some a Struggle

Posted: by Virginia Lieto

How can embracing gentleness change your life? Why is embracing gentleness so important? Embracing gentleness can only lead to good things in your life. I speak from experience.

Before retiring from the bank auditing profession to go back to school to obtain my Masters in Pastoral Theology, I was an over-achieving technology audit manager who sought excellence in all that I did, and also sought excellence from all those who worked for me and with me. Because of my good track record of job performance, I had been tapped to lead a very special project that would impact the working style and quality of my entire team of approximately 50 people. I took this responsibility very seriously. I had an intense passion for the work, and especially the work ethic. Well, I got the job done, and after it was all over, Read more…

Gentleness – A Christ-like Attribute

Posted: by Virginia Lieto

What does it mean to express gentleness towards others? Is it a sign of weakness, or a sign of strength? You be the judge.

Gentleness is not only a fruit of the Spirit, but it is also the state of possessing a kind, amiable, mild-tempered nature, where one judges conscience by reason rather than by passion. A gentle person prudently forms judgments logically rather than impulsively. To express gentleness, we must articulate our points in a respectful, gentle tone. We must use our reason to assess actions, while at the same time holding our emotions at bay. Read more…

Practice Respect – Do You Do It?

Posted: by Virginia Lieto

Practicing Respect – what does that mean to you? Do you offer respect to someone when you see them making a stupid or erroneous decision? Practicing respect gets easier once we acknowledge that everyone has been created in the image and likeness of God, AND once we acknowledge that our neighbor has the right to make his/her own choices, even when we personally would not make the same choice. That’s what free will is all about. If God can respect our own individual free will, and allow each of us to make, what may seem to others to be, stupid or erroneous mistakes, then we must respect the choices of others. Read more…

Veterans and Your Families – Thank You

Posted: by Virginia Lieto

Veterans and your families: A huge thank you for your service and sacrifice. Thank you for your fortitude, commitment, leadership, courage, bravery and willingness to serve on our behalf. You are a virtuous group of people. May Our Lord bless you and your families on this day. May we as Americans, never forget the sacrifice you paid to maintain our freedom. May we never take you or our freedom for granted. God bless you! – Virginia Lieto

Embrace Respect? Where Do You Stand?

Posted: by Virginia Lieto

Embrace Respect? Why wouldn’t you embrace respect? And if you do, then why do we see so much disrespect in our society? As humans, we are created as social beings, meant to live in a community, where the basic foundation of living in a community is to give and get respect. So why do we see so much disrespect? Disrespect is something we often claim to see in others, but fail to see in ourselves. Read more…

Respect – A Defining Virtue

Posted: by Virginia Lieto

Do you give others and God the respect due, or is respect nothing more than what you care to give? Respect is to have concern for what is noble in every human being. It is a defining virtue regarding the basis for character building. Without respect for God and others, how could other virtuous habits spring forth? Father Romano Guardini more clearly defined the virtue of Respect within his book titled Learning the Virtues That Lead You to God, as something akin to reverence. He states…Read more…

Practice Contentment – Can that be done?

Posted: by Virginia Lieto

Would you like to be more content in this life? Is it possible to actually practice contentment? To effectively practice contentment, you first need to take stock of what you find to be of most importance to you. Is it your home, your car, your job, etc., those tangible things of this world? Or is it the love of family and friends, good health, a strong faith, and hope in Christ, the intangible things of this life? Do you count your blessings frequently? If you find that you have work to do in this area (let’s face it, none of us are strong in all of the virtues), then start by counting your blessings.

The second way to practice contentment is… Read More

Embracing True Contentment

Posted: by Virginia Lieto

Are you trying to figure out how to obtain true contentment in this life? Are you looking in the right place for true contentment? Embracing true contentment involves making a conscious disassociation with the dependence on material goods and placing our dependence on God to provide all that we need to get us through this life and into the next life. Read more…

Do You Want to Experience Contentment?

Posted: by Virginia Lieto

Do you want to experience contentment? Is inner peace and happiness eluding you right now? Contentment is independence from material goods; being satisfied and grateful for what we have, not seeking to obtain excessive material goods (like that sporty new car or oversized new house). Read more …

Practice Confidence in God

Posted: by Virginia Lieto

Ever wonder why your confidence is not where it should be, and you aren’t sure how to change your situation? To practice confidence in God, and in yourself, step one is to seek the Holy Spirit’s counsel and guidance, asking for the virtues/gifts of wisdom, discernment, knowledge and understanding, so that you can better traverse through this journey that we call life. Step two is…read more…