PURITY OF HEART

Friday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time
Mt 5:27-32

Our Gospel today cannot be any clearer: Purity is not only what we do with our bodies but, equally important, what we do with our hearts. Purity is not only what other people see in us but also how our hearts see other people. People around us may not see us sexually permissive or carrying on an illicit relationship, but God sees what is really inside our hearts. Before God, we all stand naked.

Sometimes, I wonder how we would carry our selves if we have a super faculty like that of Superman. What if we have what is called an “x-ray vision” and can see what lies behind doors, walls, clothes, and even skin and bones? Would we be more careful of what we think, plan, and fantasize? The revelation would certainly be very surprising, even shocking.

Perhaps, the reason why we are not given such super faculty is so that we can always have the chance to decide whether we will allow what comes to our minds and what enters our heart to be translated into bodily action. God is merciful and He knows that more often than not impure thoughts and immoral suggestions simply appear in our minds and hearts. But to hold on to them and eventually to act them out remain our free choice.

It is therefore not enough to be careful with what we see, hear, and expose our selves to. We must also always exercise our freewill to decide for God in any course of action we take. This is what separates us from the other members of the animal kingdom. We are not ruled by instinct. We are blest with freewill. Biology says we fall under the animal kingdom, but theology tells us we belong to the Kingdom of God. And Jesus says in the Beatitudes, “Blest are the pure of heart for they shall see God.”