“Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”
“A clean heart create for me, God; renew within me a steadfast spirit.”
“Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children
of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.”
There is no doubt that purity, that being free from the stain of sin, is a biblical
command.
How could it not be?
If sin is something that keeps us from God, then it makes sense that we should do all
that we can to avoid it.
Being pure is a good thing.
It’s just not the only thing, or even the most important thing.
You see, when we talk about purity, what we’re basically talking about is a negation.
Being pure isn’t anything in itself, but is rather the absence of sin, the absence
of stain.
And while again, that’s great, what I would do to be pure, it’s not exactly the greatest
goal to set our sights on.
To define ourselves by what we don’t have or what we don’t do, lends itself to a rather
passive, unengaged existence in which our highest concern is simply the avoidance temptation.
If all we’re focused on is NOT getting dirty, then we might be tempted to never go outside,
to never eat spaghetti, to never do anything that could possibly ruin our nice white clothes,
leading us to a rather fundamental question of life: is life really worth living if we
never get to eat spaghetti?
A question, I should point out, that is absolutely true on a literal level, because spaghetti,
as we all know, is God’s gift to humanity and I would eat it 8 days out of seven—but
for the purposes of this video, I ask it metaphorically: is life really worth living if we’re too
focused on avoiding the possibility of evil that we never actually seek the good?
Let me offer you a scenario.
Let’s say that there is a person in your life that is in dire need of help.
Maybe they’re homeless, sick, lonely, going down a wrong path.
As it turns out, this person is also someone whom you find to be the most attractive person
God has ever created.
When you get near this person, heck, even look at them, there are things that happen
inside of you that you cannot explain.
Which, if you were single or this person was your spouse, wouldn’t be the worst thing,
but you’re married to someone else, and so are they, and so the feelings inside of
you are 100% a temptation, a near occasion of sin.
If all you care about is purity, then the answer is simple: avoid the person and their
needs.
There is too much of a risk that you will be tempted, that you will be filled with impure
thoughts, that you might even do something bad, and so, to remain pure, you must cut
them out of your life and move on.
Leaving you pure, and the other continuing to struggle with whatever they’re going
through with no help.
More than that, your purity has gone untested and your capacity for virtue has been left
unchanged.
Neither of you have benefited in any way… you’re just not worse off than you were
before.
Such is the logical end to a life focused only on purity as the highest goal.
There may not be anything bad, but there isn’t really anything good either.
It’s for this reason that, for me, purity should never be the goal of anyone’s life,
but rather the effect of a life of holiness.
You see, unlike purity, holiness is an active word.
It isn’t defined by what we don’t do, by what we avoid, but rather by what we do
to become more like God.
When we set out to be holy, we open ourselves up to be challenged in prayer, we stretch
ourselves to more authentically lay down our lives for another, we let go of our fears
and begin to trust more completely in the God of all.
When we set our sights on holiness, not purity, we find ourselves naturally called outward,
to a life of service and humility, undeterred by dangers or temptations.
Pope Francis said it perfectly in Evangelii Gaudium: “I prefer a Church which is bruised,
hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which
is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.”
Those who lock themselves in churches out of fear, who wall themselves up to avoid temptation,
who choose not to engage with the messiness of life because, well, it’s messy—they
may remain pure, but they know nothing of holiness.
Holiness goes out, it makes one vulnerable, it engages with the world so that it can be
a conduit of God’s grace to transform and heal the world.
And do you know what?
It also purifies.
When you think of the purest souls that our world has ever seen, don’t you think of
Mother Theresa?
Don’t you think of Mary, the Mother of God?
Two people who let their hearts be broken by the poor, who called for justice, who were
active in prayer, holding onto all of the many ills of the world in their hearts.
They were pure of heart, precisely because they sought holy lives.
Purity was the effect of their lives, not the goal.
And so it should be with us.
Now, is there a greater risk to this?
Of course!
When you get involved with the mess of the world, there is a chance you’re going to
get messy.
You may occasionally find yourself tempted, you may suffer a bit more, you may even struggle
with sin, but at least it will be a struggle.
At least it will be a life lived, rather than a life avoided.
God tells us to be pure, yes, but not because we ran from difficulty and hid, not as an
end in itself!
What he wants are men and women with such virtue that they can engage with the world
and yet remain faithful, who can do the work of God even when it's difficult.
That… is the goal.
That is what purity really means to God.
It isn’t about hiding from evil, it is about confronting it head on and showing the world
that good will always triumph.
Don’t define your life by what you don’t do, by what you avoid; define your life by
your pursuit of holiness, imitating Christ in all that you do.
Do that, and I have no doubt in my mind that you will be left with a pure and clean heart,
ready to see God.