Blest are the Pure in Heart.

Homily for June 16, 2017


While praying yesterday’s evening prayer from the Divine Office, I took some time to reflect on the hymn: Blest are the Pure in Heart and coincidentally, our Gospel passage this morning happens to dwell on purity of heart.

As the lyrics of the hymn says: Blest are the pure in heart, for they shall see our God, the secret of the Lord is theirs, their soul is Christ’s abode… Still to the lowly soul he does himself impart, and for his dwelling and his throne chooses the pure in heart. Lord, we thy presence seek; may ours this blessing be; give us a pure and lowly heart, a temple fit for thee.

Basically, what Jesus teaches us this morning is the need to be pure in heart. It is not only when a man goes to bed with a woman that he has committed adultery. The sin of adultery or fornication has already taken place the moment he or she looks at each other lustfully.

In other words, so long as we lack purity of heart, we are already on the path of sin. To be impure in one’s thoughts and looks is to plant a tree which eventually bears fruits of immorality, indecency, adultery, fornication, pornography, masturbation and so on. Jesus does not want us to just deal with the fruits, he wants us to uproot the tree itself which is impurity.

When we succeed in uprooting the tree, then we have succeeded in overcoming the sin. Hence, Jesus says: “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away.” How do you pluck out your eye? Or your hand? By deliberately controlling the contents of your heart.

Sexuality is a thing of the mind! The battle is right there in your mind. You must start by avoiding lust. Each time you look at a person, what do you see? Do you see God in the person? Do you see a copy of God’s craftsmanship? Does the person’s beauty remind you of God’s beauty and majesty? If you can win the battle in your mind, you will not fall into sin.

When we are pure in heart, the issue of divorce will not even arise at all. This is because the only grounds on which Jesus permits divorce is unfaithfulness and unfaithfulness cannot happen if both parties are pure in heart. If all married men and women are pure in heart, their desire would only be for their spouse and they would never give consider divorcing their spouses or marrying anyone else.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, as you instructed me to cleanse my heart of all bitterness, unforgiveness and hate yesterday, help to cleanse my heart from all impurities that it would be temple fit for you. Amen.

*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Friday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: 2 Corinthians 4:7-15 and Matthew 5:27-32).*


Fr. Abu.

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