It is easy during Lent to focus almost exclusively on the things we’ve chosen to fast from or “give up.”

Certainly, there can be great spiritual progress made by loosening our attachment with certain things while at the same time growing our strength of will. Fasting can definitely help with this.

But another way we might learn to do much the same thing involves our growth in the cardinal virtue of temperance. Temperance is simply the virtue by which we find moderation and balance in our use of the good things of this earth. It is a matter of learning and using self-control.

Without question fasting also involves a great deal of self-control. But we can also see how temperance is a little different.  Rather than choosing to do without something for a time, it seeks instead to use that thing in a very reasonable and appropriate manner, avoiding self-indulgence or carelessness.

Temperance isn’t so much about going without as it is about learning to use something well. It seeks to change my attachment to something through how I choose to use it.  Contrary to popular opinion, it doesn’t seek to eliminate the pleasurable things of this life, rather it simply seeks to keep them (and our relationship to them) in proper order — as God would have us use them.

We can miss the fact that the improper or immoderate use of any created thing ultimately affects our freedom. We can become enslaved to even the most ordinary things if we habitually use them in indulgent ways. In extreme cases this indulgent use may become addiction. In other cases, it may simply mean some “thing” may end up determining more of what our life looks like than is reasonable and we may not even realize it.  

We probably most often encounter the term “temperance” in reference to food and drink — and rightly so, those are areas where it can be especially important for us. But as a virtue, temperance really involves our dealing with any of the good things in this world that are attractive or pleasurable.

Therefore, I can be temperate when it comes to watching TV or spending time on the Internet, every bit as much as when it comes to eating desert or drinking alcohol. Unfortunately, “temperance” is often misunderstood, especially in our own country where it often has negative connotations. This is perhaps due in part to the “Temperance Movement” which grew so prominently during the 19th and early 20th centuries leading up to the passage of the 18th Amendment in 1919.

However, far from simply being about “temperance,” this movement was much more about what it also became known as, “Prohibition.”

Eliminating something completely (whether from society or our personal lives) is not really a matter of temperance — at least not in terms of a virtue.

Avoiding something altogether may prove a difficult challenge. Learning to use something with moderation is sometimes an even greater one. As St. Augustine noted many centuries ago: “Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.” And so with that in mind, learning to grow in the virtue of temperance, especially during Lent, may present us with unique challenges.

What if instead of giving up deserts completely, we simply had one bite of a desert (assuming of course the rest would not be wasted)? Or what if instead of giving up coffee (if we are used to having several cups a day), we simply chose to have one small cup?

The challenge and the possible benefits begin to be obvious. But we hopefully also begin to see that Lent might provide a wonderful time to begin growing this virtue, especially if there is something in our lives which we would like to use in a more balanced way, or for which there is no need to give up entirely. And while our Lenten fasting may have begun on Ash Wednesday, our growth in temperance can begin today.