{"id":2470,"date":"2006-11-27T17:51:33","date_gmt":"2006-11-27T17:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2006\/11\/clean-hands-and-a-pure-heart\/"},"modified":"2015-11-27T07:02:59","modified_gmt":"2015-11-27T06:02:59","slug":"clean-hands-and-a-pure-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2006\/11\/clean-hands-and-a-pure-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Clean Hands and a Pure Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"John%20on%20Patmos%20with%20BVM.jpg\"<\/a>Monday of the Thirty\u2013Fourth Week of the Year II<\/strong>
\nRevelation 14:1\u20133, 4b\u20135
\nPsalm 23:1\u20132, 3\u20134ab, 5\u20136 (R. 6)
\nLuke 21:1\u20134
\n<\/em>
\nPrayer for the Holy Father<\/strong>
\nThousands have taken to the streets in Turkey to protest the apostolic journey of the Holy Father to that country. Threats to his security are rising. Yesterday in his Angelus message the Holy Father asked for our prayers. This is what he said: \u201cWith confidence, I wish to follow in the footsteps of my venerated predecessors, Paul VI and John XXIII, and I invoke the heavenly protection of Blessed John XXIII, who for ten years was apostolic delegate in Turkey and felt great affection and esteem for that nation. I ask all of you to accompany me with prayer so that this pilgrimage may bring all the fruits willed by God.\u201d It is crucial that we pray for the Holy Father, not only individually and privately, but also corporately and publicly during the coming days.<\/p>\n

The Sights and Sounds of Heaven<\/strong>
\nIn the First Reading, Saint John continues to gaze into the mysteries of heaven. He sees the Lamb and, all around the Lamb, those who bear \u201cHis name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads\u201d (Ap 14:1). Not only does Saint John see the sights of heaven, he also hears the sounds of heaven: \u201cAnd I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters\u201d (Ap 14:2). He hears the \u201cnew song\u201d that is sung before the throne of God by the choir of the elect.<\/p>\n

John the Virgin Disciple of the Lord<\/strong>
\nTo John, the virgin disciple of the Lord and the virgin son by adoption of the Virgin Mother, it is given to understand the beauty of chastity. The chaste are those \u201cwho follow the Lamb wherever He goes\u201d (Ap 14:4). The companions of the Lamb are distinguished by the radiance of their purity: a purity preserved by a special gift of grace, or a purity recovered by a gift of repentance.<\/p>\n

Castitatem Amare<\/em><\/strong>
\nSaint Benedict has but two words on chastity in the entire Holy Rule. Whereas other monastic rules treat of chastity at great length, Saint Benedict says simply and succinctly: Castitatem amare<\/em>, to love chastity. Those two words say all that needs to be said on the subject. There is nothing negative here; no stifling prohibitions and no minute regulations. Saint Benedict\u2019s approach is entirely positive. He presents chastity as beautiful; it is this that makes it worthy of love. Virtue, you see \u2014 all virtue \u2014 is a participation in the beauty, the truth, and the goodness of God. Saint Benedict understands that one who loves the beauty of chastity will rise to a higher love: the love of the beauty that shines on the Face of Christ.<\/p>\n

The Generation That Seeks Your Face<\/strong>
\nIt is this that explains the refrain of the Responsorial Psalm: \u201cLord, this is the generation that seeks your Face\u201d (Ps 23:6). Who shall live in the intimacy of the Lamb? \u201cHe who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false\u201d (Ps 23:4). Purity of heart is akin to singleheartedness. If you would be pure of heart, seek one thing only: seek always the Face of the Lord. His all\u2013sufficient grace will do all the rest.<\/p>\n

The Widow Who Gave All<\/strong>
\nToday\u2019s Gospel gives us a model of purity of heart: the poor widow who gave all that she had. She is singlehearted in her gift. She holds nothing back for herself. In the gift of her two copper coins, all that she had to live on, she is an image of that other widow, the Virgin Mother who gave all that she had when she placed the lifeless Body and Blood of her Son in the cold tomb. Jesus was the life of Mary\u2019s life. In placing the Body of Jesus in the tomb, she \u201cput in all the living she had\u201d (Lk 21:4). Virginal chastity makes the full gift of self possible, and the full gift of self is the perfection of virginal chastity.<\/p>\n

O Mary Conceived Without Sin<\/strong>
\nIn Paris today is the feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal of the rue du Bac. If you would follow the injunction of Saint Benedict to love chastity \u2014 castitatem amare<\/em> \u2014 seek the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, all\u2013holy, all\u2013pure, all\u2013beautiful. It is the Blessed Virgin\u2019s joy to keep those who trust in her beneath her virginal mantle and to deep within their hearts the love of chastity. Repeat the invocation given to Saint Catherine Labour\u00e9: \u201cO Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.\u201d And then, rejoice in hope, for all who call on the Virgin Mary will most assuredly find themselves one day in the company of those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday of the Thirty\u2013Fourth Week of the Year II Revelation 14:1\u20133, 4b\u20135 Psalm 23:1\u20132, 3\u20134ab, 5\u20136 (R. 6) Luke 21:1\u20134 Prayer for the Holy Father Thousands have taken to the streets in Turkey to protest the apostolic journey of the Holy Father to that country. Threats to his security are rising. Yesterday in his Angelus <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homilies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-DQ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2470"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2470"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11944,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2470\/revisions\/11944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}