Matt. 5:1-16
"Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God."
Sorry this one is so delayed in coming - life gets the better of me sometimes :).
Short and sweet for today, I feel this beatitude speaks of simplicity in its core.
The "clean of heart" are only thus by grace. The Lord gives grace so freely, so fully, to any heart that seeks him. Thus he tells us so often, that if we seek, we will find, and if we ask in his name, we will receive. The pure of heart ask for the grace to be pure, and in their asking they have already received this gift, for to desire that purity requires that you already have some of it dwelling within you.
So to be simplistic, the clean of heart have discovered what it is in this life that is worth pursuing, what all the work is meant to be about. They have seen, they have heard, they have known... it is Truth. They have encountered God in his beauty, his goodness, his absolute truth, and that is what they hunger for. In every situation, life circumstance, challenge, gift, suffering or delight, they seek what can be found - what is real, what is profound, what is love - the truth.
Encountering the Truth can be painful as well as wonderful. Often it brings freedom, a freedom to even more swiftly fly down the path of goodness. The less you can be bound by the lies of the evil one, those doubts and falsehoods and failures and secret fears that creep up on you and eat at your heart, the less you will be misled or your sight darkened when looking for the light. Truth gives immense courage, both because you can surely recognize falsehoods for what they are - fabricated lies meant to deter you - and because you are made bold in your honest acceptance of your humble state. Truth is the light that shines down and reveals your own littleness, brokenness, smallness, and neediness. It awakens you to your failures, your pride and vanity, your self-justification. It opens your eyes to how much you need grace. It makes the working of the Holy Spirit in your life dramatically evident, and allows you to trace back moment by moment how each act, thought, hope, prayer, goodness, delight, etc... in your life has been assisted by the love and mercy of God. This is the reason for hope, courage, boldness, confidence, even audacity - because you know that you would have fallen long ago, and been left in the dust to rot. You know you would have given into the lies to make the hardship go away, would have justified the sin rather than endure the consequences, would have hurt those you love to make life easier... but you didn't, and that grace has been sufficient. So it will remain. It will continue. It will grow. It will dig deeper roots and bear greater fruit. You will be able to do the good that you wish for but feel is impossible, not because you are strong, but exactly because you are weak! In your weakness, He is strong, and your poverty is the space He needs to fill you up and form you.
So Truth reconciles us time and again, day after day, with ourselves, our families and friends, and our Lord. It leads us to understanding, then to contrition, then to forgiveness, healing and mercy. From there we gain grace and hope, boldness and joy, and we pursue the truth more rigorously than ever. It's a funny cycle, much like when you frequent the sacraments (especially Confession and the Eucharist), that is somewhat addictive, for you realize this is one area that you can never actually have too much of (until you are in the beatific vision), and therefore - the more the merrier! It's encouraging.
So let us pray for clean hearts, ones that are natural, given in grace and love, filled up and lavished upon by our Father and Lord and the Spirit.
No comments:
Post a Comment