BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART

BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART

Pope Saint Leo the Great (d. 461) gave a sermon on the Beatitudes.  Here is something of what he had to say about the sixth Beatitude: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” 

The blessedness of seeing God is justly promised to the pure of heart. For the eye that is unclean would not be able to see the brightness of the true light, and what would be happiness to clear minds would be a torment to those that are defiled. Therefore, let the mists of worldly vanities be dispelled, and the inner eye be cleansed of all the filth of wickedness, so that the soul’s gaze may feast serenely upon the great vision of God.

Beatitudes can be found in the Old Testament, with God promising to bless those who obey him, avoid idolatry, and treat their neighbors justly.  Another word for beatitude is “blessing,” which is found often in the Psalms.  They declare that a person is blessed by observing the conditions of the promises which God made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants, and living by the Covenant which was instituted on Mount Sinai through Moses.  Jesus affirmed that the foundation of the Covenant is to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and first commandment.  The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments” (Mat 22:37-40).  The Beatitudes which Jesus pronounced in the Sermon on the Mount provide guidance for how one is to love God and neighbor.  They are the center of Jesus’ teaching.

The Sixth Beatitude shows us how we may live out all the virtues God teaches us.  By becoming pure in heart.  The word in the original Greek of Matthew which is translated “pure” is kapharoi, which literally means “clean.”  This is not an incorrect translation, as a Greek lexicon will tell you.  But to understand that Jesus is speaking of a clean heart helps us to understand that he is speaking of more than chastity.  A pure heart is one that is honest and charitable.  It is truthful.  We see throughout the Gospels that Jesus was very critical of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes of his day who appeared to obey the Law of Moses but did not live according to its interior meaning.  They acted to be seen, not by God but by men.  Consequently, according to Christ, “they have received their reward” (cf. Matthew 6).  Jesus wants his followers to act from the heart, with pure motivations.  To keep the commandments and do what is right, not to be praised by others, but to please God.  Then they will receive the reward of heaven.

Hypocrisy is a lack of faith and charity.  It exists when we put on a show but have no intention of actually living up to what we want other people to think about us.  It is important to understand that hypocrisy is not the result of failing to live up to what we believe, as long as we have tried to be true.  One may be sincere in a desire to do good but fall into a sin in a moment of human weakness.  This does not make one a hypocrite, only one who needs to be fortified in the heart by the grace of the Holy Spirit.  According to Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap, the well-known preacher of the papal household, hypocrisy is so much condemned by Jesus because “With his hypocrisy, man demotes God, he puts him in second place, putting the creature, the public, in first place. ‘Man sees the appearance, the Lord sees the heart’ (1 Samuel 16:7): Cultivating our appearance more than our heart means giving greater importance to man than to God” (first Lenten sermon, March 2007). 

In his famous psalm, composed by King David after his grievous sins against the Fifth and Sixth Commandments, he writes: “Indeed, you love truth in the heart; then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.  O purify me, then I shall be clean; O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow…A pure heart create for me, O God, put a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from your presence, nor deprive me of your holy spirit...my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.  A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.”  Hypocrisy will get us nowhere, but by true contrition, repentance, and a good sacramental confession, God will give us a pure heart, and the hope of reward in heaven.