We were talking before the break just about the relationship of freedom,

this concept of the freedom of indifference versus the concept of freedom of excellence,

and that for St. Thomas, freedom is really the interaction of the pursuit of truth and the pursuit of goodness,

working together, intellect and will, and that, and we concluded with this whole concept that making similar choices

of a same kind eventually built a hobby to us in us, which is either a vice or a virtue.

We want to distinguish, we want to add another word to that and say what they're called,

for St. Thomas, acquired vice or acquired virtue. You've acquired something, all right?

You've acquired vice and you acquired virtue. That's going to be very important for our talk,

this is the second talk today. I want to begin, though, when we talk about this acquiring virtue

and vice, simply to say that it's, we all know how difficult this is.

It's difficult to become virtuous.

It's difficult to live morally.

And St. Thomas, when he talks about these things, he's not simply speaking as a philosopher or as an ethicist,

even though much of what I spoke of in our last talk really was St. Thomas relying a lot on Aristotle.

St. Thomas is first and foremost a man of faith. He's a believer.

So it would not be good for me to leave you without some sort of understanding of what role

then grace and faith play in the moral life and the virtuous life.

And what role they play in helping us to become more free?

Precisely because, as I said at the beginning of our time together today,

there can be a temptation and a tendency to see all things godly

or to see God as somehow restricting our freedom.

I'd love to be able to do this.

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