What is your word worth? We make solemn commitments throughout our lives. In marriage, in religious vocations, in public office, and even in our everyday responsibilities. But what happens when honoring those commitments becomes costly? What if someone with greater earthly authority demands that we betray them? And what happens when we become so attached to the words of a promise that we forget the justice it was meant to serve? A virtuous person does not simply keep every promise without question. He understands what he has promised, why it matters, and what justice requires. And that’s why Oath-Keeping matters. Intro Welcome to VirTrue where we work together to turn away from vice and to adopt the virtuous life we’re all called to. I’m your host Jethro Higgins, and today on VirTrue we’re going to be talking about Oath-Keeping. The Social Catholic is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new posts and support our work, become a paid subscriber today! Virtue Description Definition: Oath-Keeping is faithfully fulfilling solemn commitments made before God, according to reason and justice. The Latin Jurisjurandi Observatio literally refers to the observance of an oath. Conrad of Hirsau describes this virtue in connection with preserving a publicly established law through a sworn obligation. The emphasis is on honoring the responsibility created by the oath. An oath differs from an ordinary promise because it invokes God as witness. St. Thomas Aquinas — Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 89 Aquinas identifies three necessary conditions for a proper oath: * Truth: We must speak truthfully and intend what we swear. * Judgment: We must swear with discretion and sound reason. * Justice: The obligation must be morally lawful. An oath does not make an evil action good. The Catechism, paragraphs 2150–2155, similarly explains the seriousness of invoking God’s name and the moral responsibilities associated with oaths. Scripture — Matthew 5:37 (NABRE) Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Christ teaches that truthfulness should characterize our ordinary speech. Our word should be trustworthy even when we are not under oath. Oath-Keeping belongs to Justice because we owe others what we have rightfully promised, and we owe God reverence when we invoke his name. Vice of Deficiency — Perfidy Definition: Deliberately betraying a just oath or solemn obligation for personal advantage or to escape its demands. Perfidy is more serious than simply forgetting a promise. The perfidious person knowingly violates an obligation that remains just and binding. Consider a public official who swears to uphold the law but accepts a bribe to ignore it. Or a person who enters a solemn commitment with every intention of abandoning it once it becomes inconvenient. In both cases, the person benefits from the trust established by the oath while refusing the responsibility it creates. Scripture — Ecclesiastes 5:3–4 Ecclesiastes warns against making vows to God and failing to fulfill them. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and fail to keep it. Perfidy destroys trust because it separates our words from our actions. The virtuous person understands that an oath creates a real obligation, not merely an expression of present intentions. Vice of Excess — Formalism Definition: Excessive attachment to the outward requirements of an oath while disregarding the reason and justice that give it moral legitimacy. Formalism mistakes the form of an obligation for its purpose. A person can become so determined to fulfill the exact words of an oath that he commits an injustice in the process. Scripture — Mark 6:22–28 King Herod swore to give Herodias’s daughter whatever she requested. When she demanded the head of John the Baptist, Herod was distressed, but he ordered John’s execution because of his oath and the guests who had heard it. Herod treated the obligation of his oath as more important than the commandment against murder. Aquinas addresses this principle in Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 89, a. 7: an oath to do something unlawful must not be fulfilled. Formalism can also appear in less dramatic circumstances when someone insists on the exact wording of a commitment while disregarding its just purpose. The distinction: Perfidy abandons a just obligation. Formalism clings to an obligation in a way that violates justice. Observance of an Oath requires us to honor what is rightfully binding without elevating an oath above God’s moral law. My Story When I was a kid my uncles got really big into the organization Promise Keepers. The importance of keeping your word was always a big deal in my family. That commitment to being true to your word really stood out when I entered the professional workforce. I have a tendency toward the excess here. Idon’t want to step away from work until the job is done even if I’m after hours, and cutting into family time. My wife also struggles with this excess. I used to give her a hard time because she would bring work home when we were not yet married and work all night long on her bed. After marriage, I really began to embody this vice. I remember multiple times when we lived near D.C. I would stay up on my computer until 1 or 2 A.M., trying to make sure something urgent my boss requested would be finished by morning. But my family life is sacred, and regularly working into the morning became a toxic trait for me. Leaving DC helped. That environment champions setting your family aside for long hours making progress at work. I thought I was keeping my oath to work AND to my family, bringing in the money that our family needed through my diligent work, but what I really was doing was trading an excess in oath-keeping at work for a deficiency in oath-keeping at home and convincing myself that the family always needed me to sacrifice my time with them for them. Work-life balance isn’t the right word for it either. Avodah is the right way to think about our commitments to work and to family. Our work is ultimately to serve God, and if it stops doing that, we need to make adjustments. The World We live in a world where commitments are often treated as temporary arrangements. Political leaders swear oaths of office. Spouses exchange marriage vows. Religious and clergy undertake solemn obligations. These commitments are not merely ceremonial. They establish responsibilities that continue after the excitement of the ceremony has worn off. But the opposite error is also possible. Organizations and institutions sometimes demand unquestioning loyalty to commitments even when fulfilling them would violate conscience or justice. An oath does not transfer our moral responsibility to someone else. Aquinas reminds us that an oath must remain subject to truth, judgment, and justice. We need people who keep their word, but we also need people who understand why their word matters. Example Saint — St. John of Nepomuk c. 1345–1393 St. John of Nepomuk was a priest in Bohemia during the reign of King Wenceslaus IV. He served the Church during a period of serious conflict between royal and ecclesiastical authority. According to Catholic tradition, the king demanded that John reveal the contents of the queen’s confession. John refused. He understood that his priestly obligations came from God and could not be overridden by a king’s command. He was eventually tortured and thrown into the Vltava River, where he died. Historical sources connect his martyrdom to a dispute involving ecclesiastical authority, while the account of the confessional seal belongs to the later devotional tradition. Why he fits St. John did not regard his priesthood as merely a title or position. His vocation carried sacred responsibilities that had to be fulfilled even when doing so threatened his life. The administration of the sacraments, including preserving the seal of confession, was part of those responsibilities. His example illustrates how fidelity to a solemn vocation requires both courage and a proper understanding of authority. The king could command many things, but he could not legitimately command a priest to violate God’s law. The Social Catholic is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new posts and support our work, become a paid subscriber today! Act of Virtue — Oath-Keeping O my God, You are the source of all truth and justice, and You have called me to be faithful to the promises I make before You. I will honor the solemn commitments I have undertaken, even when fulfilling them requires sacrifice. I will not betray a just oath for personal gain, convenience, or fear of suffering. Nor will I allow loyalty to an oath to lead me away from Your divine law. Grant me the wisdom to discern what is just, the courage to fulfill my obligations, and the humility to recognize that no human promise can stand above Your will. May my word be trustworthy, my commitments righteous, and my actions faithful to You. Amen. Closing Prayer Lord, bless us with faith, hope, love, prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice that we may live as you intended man to live, in all virtue and righteousness. Help us to flee from sin, and avoid all temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Protect us with a spiritual hedge in front of us, behind us, above us, below us, to our right, and to our left, within us, and all around us, and seal it with the precious blood of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Help us to keep you in everything that we think, say, and do. Amen. Go out and fill the world with virtue. Deus Vult! Follow Us on Social Media and Other Podcast Networks: Get full access to The Social Catholic at socialcatholic.substack.com/subscribe
