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I can vaguely remember multiple times when I was younger and in elementary school and was assigned to write about a hero that stood out to me and how they exemplify good character. Everybody in my classes, including me, wrote about who we thought were heroes, like firefighters and police officers and those in the military. Also, many students would wright about their parents and why they were a hero to them. I never really understood this. My thought process was that a parent was nothing extraordinary, just a person that was called to a simpler life. Today, however, I have changed my attitude about that. I now believe that it takes a lot to be a parent, and even though parents are not considered a hero by the majority, they will always be a hero to someone. That someone is me, and that hero is my father. The reason why I chose my father is because he does exemplify great qualities, or virtues, throughout his daily life. I may not have realized before now, but he is one of my greatest role models that I want to be like. Though he may not be perfect, he does strive to live the best way he can. This, however, is not though societal means, but through his relationship with God. It is in his relationship with God that my father is able to exemplify the virtues that he does. The two main virtues that he exemplifies are faith and loyalty. The first virtue that my father exemplifies is faith. But what is faith? For the longest time I have heard the word, even used it, but never really knew what I was saying. I always thought that faith was believing in what one cannot see, or sense, like having faith that someone you know is still alive since the last time you had contact with them. Recently, however, I have broadened my knowledge upon faith through talks, classes (like Foundations of Catholicism), and through reading The Heart of Virtue. It is true that faith is believing in what the senses cannot know, but that is only the beginning of it, for it does not even include the religious aspects of faith.

During my Foundation of Catholicism class, I came to understand from my teacher that faith comes down to one main point: it is a relationship with God. This is for three reasons: it is a response to God, a belief in what we heard is true, and it is a gift as well as an act of the free will. God contacts us many times and in many forms throughout our lives and we are called to answer his call. This corresponds to faith because we are called to respond to Gods contacting us, and what better way to respond to God than to believe that God is calling us in the first place. Faith is also believing in what we heard, Gods call, is true. This is because if He calls down to us and tells us to do something, we are to believe that it is truth, because God is the Truth and he will not lie or create fallacy. Lastly, faith is a gift and an act of free will. This is probably the most important part because it shows the double side of the relationship between God and men the most. Since faith is given to us by God we are called to use it, but at the same time God does not force us to use it, he allows man to freely choose whether to believe in Him or not. That is really what faith is; freely believing in a non-sensual God who does not make us do anything.1 Knowing what faith is I can explain why I believe that my father exemplifies this virtue. First off, my father is a dedicated man in his faith. Not only did he try his best to raise me and my siblings in the Catholic faith, but also he did so while others were falling away. This is an important piece of information because by others I mean my aunts and uncles, on both sides, and my mother. This was very difficult for my father because my mom started to fall away at the most crucial point, when my siblings were going to college. This was hard because now, only my father and I are true practicing Catholics. Surprisingly, he takes this well; he has faith that

Ward, Paul D. Foundations of Catholicism. Class at Franciscan University of Steubenville. January 2013.

something good might happen in the end and God will help him bring my family back to the Catholic faith. He has, however, made some progress in this matter, I have seen my mother and one of my sisters go to mass with him more frequently than normal. Also, recently he has begun doing more in his faith to try and bring the family together through the Church, like daily rosaries and reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church, so as to be better knowledgeable. Another reason as to why my father exemplifies faith is by his relationship with God. Ever since I can remember my father has always been in a good relationship with God. He has always gone to mass and strived to be the best that he is called to be. The biggest thing for me, however, is that he never showed me or my siblings when he was in a bad spot. I can remember when my maternal grandfather died and my father would assure me and my siblings that there was a good reason for this and to trust that God was going to be there for my grandfather. Another thing that I can remember is that my father would like to remind us of the footprints in the sand story. He would always say that God is always there for us, especially in our times of need. No matter what happened my father would always show us God, and make sure we knew about Him. The other virtue that my father exemplifies is loyalty, but what is true loyalty? Ever since I can remember, I have heard people talk about loyalty in a more societal sense. It was talked about like it was something achieved. Basically if someone did something for you, you had to repay them with your loyalty to them. This could be further thrown out of context because the other party did not have to be loyal to you per say. This sense really abuses the meaning of loyalty and takes it way out of context. What I understand of loyalty is that to be truly loyal to someone involves faithfulness.

First off, loyalty needs to involve faithfulness. A person cannot be loyal to another person if they do not have faith in them. Just like how I described faith earlier, loyalty also needs the same criteria. It needs a true relationship for it to work right. Basically, there needs to be some consensus between the two people, or however many people there are, that there is a loyal bond. No person can be truly loyal to another person without the other person either being loyal back or accepting the loyalty. One thing that I want to point out is that there is a difference between being loyal to a person and having the virtue of loyalty. Anybody can be loyal to at least one person; that is how true friendships are made and are based off of. On the other hand someone who exemplifies the virtue of loyalty is loyal to more than just that one person; they can be loyal to people, to their job, and to God. Basically what it comes down to is that someone who is naturally loyal can be loyal all the time, while someone only loyal to a friend may not be loyal to other things like work. After realizing what true loyalty is, I can now explain my reasoning, of which there are mainly two, as to why my father is a loyal man. First off, my father is a diligent worker. He has worked at the same factory since I was a baby, and he has worked hard. I bring this up, because I remember talking to my friends father, who ended up being my fathers boss, and when he realized who my father was he went on about how great of a worker my father is and how dedicated to the work he is. My friends father then told me how he wished there was more of my father because he rarely sees someone who not only cares about the work he does, but he consistently does it well. To me that screams loyalty. The other example of my fathers loyalty is kind of two-fold. Not only does it pertain to God, but it also pertains to his parents. This loyalty is towards the fourth Commandment: honor your father and mother. It is by obeying this law and being loyal to it that my father remains

loyal to both God and his parents. Now how does my father go about honoring his father and mother? Well first and foremost he has been there for them when they need it the most. Recently my father has been doing a lot for my grandparents because my grandfather has been diagnosed with a disease called Parkinson's disease. Since the time that my grandfather has been diagnosed with Parkinsons disease, he has badly fallen down three times, been put into a nursing care facility, been to the hospital twice, and had surgery. This may seem like nothing at a first glance, but an 87 year old man with all of these conditions is not good. I bring this up because my father is the one who has to look after him. All of his siblings are at least two and a half hours away and my grandmother cannot drive. So my father daily picks up my grandmother to see her husband and run errands. My father also stays for a minimum of ten minutes to check up on his father and see if he is up for any conversation or what not. Lastly, and the most important to me, is that my father takes my grandmother to mass every week, and makes sure that there are arrangements for my grandfather to go to mass at the nursing care facility when possible. That is what, I believe, the fourth Commandment is really about. It is not just about caring for your parents, but it is helping them to do things that they cannot do on their own but truly desire to do. If that is not loyalty then I do not know what is! All in all, I have learned something important over the years; parents are heroes. This is especially eminent with me and my father. He truly is my hero and he has does exemplify great virtue throughout his life. I really wish I could have realized this earlier because I would have been nice to try and follow his footsteps at a younger age, maybe I would have been able to be more like my father, and what a great thing that that would be.

Bibliography DeMarco, Donald. The Heart of Virtue: Lessons From Life and Literature Illustrating the Beauty and Value of Moral Character. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1996. Ward, Paul D. Foundations of Catholicism. Class at Franciscan University of Steubenville. January 2013.