Blessed are the Pure of Heart

When we put on eyeglasses, if they are dirty, we are not able to focus well and driving on the freeway at night raining, it may prove disastrous. There is nothing wrong with our eyes, but the eyeglasses do not let us focus well because of the dirt. When we are pure of heart, we are able to see clearly the will of God and to follow it accordingly. When our heart is not pure, or it is polluted by sin, we are "driving on the freeway of life with dirty glasses and we are not able to see well." That can lead to disaster and spiritual death. A great collision of wills can happen and we may end up in the ditch of life upside down.

When we are spiritually able to see God face to face without shame,
we are pure in heart.
When we are able to accept God's will in our lives,
we are pure in heart.
When we are able to praise him even when our world apparently has fallen apart,
we are pure in heart.
When we are able to place somebody else's needs ahead of ours,
we are pure in heart.

The pure of heart can enjoy life, here on earth, because they are helping God build his kingdom of heaven. In Matthew, what is refer to as kingdom of heaven means Kingdom of God, because the writer as a good Jew, could not write God so instead he wrote heaven. We are the builders of the kingdom of God and it begins here on earth.

As Bishop Robert F. Morneau says: "'Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.'" The pure of heart are those who are not defiled and polluted by values and attitudes that take us away from God. We know that our seeing is dependent upon the condition of our hearts. If pure, we shall see the glory of God and our own as well as others' dignity."[1]

To the Jewish people , the heart was the center of our being. How can we get dirt into our heart? Let us rephrase the question and ask: How can we sin? We can sin by doing something we should not do or we can sin by not doing something we should have done.

Let us compare it to homework. We can fail by writing the wrong answer to a test or we can fail because we did not take the test.

How can we foster purity of heart? In a few words, by bringing the heart of Jesus everywhere we go. If Jesus can witness our actions and "be proud", we are doing good.

This week, let us turn off the world and all its noise and let us turn to Jesus in action and prayer.

The following English version of Anima Christi (Soul of Christ ) is attributed to Cardinal John Henry Newman:

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water flowing from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O Good Jesus hear me, in your wounds hide me
and never permit me to be separated from you.
From the evil enemy, defend me
In the hour of my death call me, and grant me to come to you
that with your saints I may praise you for ever and ever. Amen.

One of the challenges of our age come from owning a computer. Please, let us pray over your computers and dedicate all our work to God and for the glory of God. Everything we have is a gift, whatever we do with our lives is our gift to God.

PS - I found a Pastoral Letter by Bishop Robert W. Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City - St. Joseph written on February 21, 2007 which I believe is worth our time reading. It is titled "Blessed Are The Pure In Heart - A Pastoral Letter on the Dignity of the Human Person and the Dangers of Pornography," It can be found at http://www.diocese-kcsj.org/Bishop-Finn/pastoral-07.htm

[1] Bishop Robert F. Morneau. "God is in Our Midst: The Beatitude's Promises" http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/EDC/ag0102.asp