Blessed are the Pure in Heart

“The biggest obstacle we have to understanding the Word of God is our sin.” Fr. Francis Martin says to the young deacon, now Msgr. Charles Pope. To read the full reflection on one of the most important beatitudes, go to the ADW blog. In a nutshell, we need to stop sinning. We should pray to become more holy.

There is so much evil in this world, and much of it comes from our fallen natures, our propensity to sin. We must fight it. Just like the boy David chooses five smooth stones in preparation to bring down the mighty Goliath, so Our Lady gives us five stones to fight the devil:

Prayer -- Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
* 
Fasting -- Certain devils, can be cast out in no other way except by prayer and fasting, said Jesus (Mark 9:29).
*
Daily Bible Reading -- For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb. 4:12).
*
Confession -- for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation (Romans 10:10).
*
Eucharist -- So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves (John 6:53).
*
You can read more here.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10
I like this recording of the psalm.

Enjoy and God bless.
+

Reflections to Share

I hope to share a few things on my Lenten/consecration journey and one of the blessings of a blog or website is that even if I lose my notebook, I will have these notes online.

The daily readings began with the beatitudes ... and I struggle most with the first one, blessed are the poor in spirit ... for my ego is large and I do enjoy when I am rewarded in this world for my work. I want so much to do everything for the glory of God, yet I want to have some of it for myself. Sigh. This first period is for developing detachment from this world and it is difficult.

This is what I prayed for, from Imitation Book 3, Chap. 40
True vainglory is an evil plague, because it draws away from true glory, and robs us of heavenly grace. For, while a man takes complacency in himself, he displeases Thee; while he looks for human applause, he is deprived of true virtues. But true, glory and holy exultation is to glory in Thee, and not in one's self; to rejoice in Thy Name, but not in one's own strength. To find pleasure in no creature, save only for Thy sake. Let Thy Name be praised, not mine; let Thy work be magnified, not mine; let Thy Holy Name be blessed, but let nothing be attributed to me of the praise of men.

But is it a true prayer when I am still so attached to the praises the world might offer me, for cooking or writing or having lovely children?
+

On love

Today's readings were beautiful and in particular, the second reading (1 Corinthians 13:1-13), which is often spoken at weddings and as you know I have a wedding on my mind.

Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.
.
.
.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
*
But I was surprised to learn that this verse is often spoken at funerals as well. And now it makes sense because God is love. Perfect love. His love for us will never fail. And if you substitute the word God every time the passage refers to love, it becomes startingly clear that God is infinitely patient, merciful and loving ...

It was an emotional Sunday for me as I pondered these verses. It makes me want to abandon myself to Him, and yet ... the ego is still too strong. I keep coming back to the beatitudes: Blessed are the poor in spirit ...

So, which quality of love is the most difficult to express for you?
*

Pumpkins and Beatitudes

It's been a lovely weekend. And I especially like the service for All Saints/Souls at church. My mother and brother are never far from my heart, but today I remember all the others whom I've known and loved. I imagine them all together. Joyful. In the company of all the Saints.

*

We had a young seminarian who delivered a most rousing homily based on the readings for today. I cannot even begin to summarize it, but I'll give it a shot ...

*

We are called children of God. Called for a purpose. Because our destiny is heaven.

*

The Gospel reading were the Beatitudes (Blessed): Matthew 5: 3-12:

*
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

*

Jesus turns everything upside down. I never, ever understood the first one until now. I don't want to be poor in spirit. But what it means is to be less of yourself so you can be more like Christ. Less ego. In the end it comes down to "Not mine but Thy will be done." Again and again I have to learn this. Every. Single. Day. I confess it's not easy to follow Jesus, but I shall die trying.

*

Which of these beatitudes are the most difficult for you to understand? Or live by?

*