{"id":8749,"date":"2014-12-05T06:00:52","date_gmt":"2014-12-05T05:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/?p=8749"},"modified":"2014-12-02T11:58:12","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T10:58:12","slug":"blessed-are-the-pure-in-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2014\/12\/blessed-are-the-pure-in-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Blessed are the pure in heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"adoration2700\"Friday at Matins:<\/em><\/p>\n

From a Sermon by St Augustine, Bishop & Doctor<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God\u201d.\u00a0 Let us make every effort to purify our hearts, exert ourselves to stay alert, and as far as in us lies gain this grace by constant prayer.\u00a0 And if we wonder about external purity, the Lord tells us: \u201cClean the inside, and then the outside will be clean as well\u201d.\u00a0 Some may think that Scripture refers to the body as much as to the heart, for it is written: \u201cAll mankind will see God\u2019s salvation\u201d. How then can there be any doubt that the sight of God is promised to us, unless there is doubt as to the meaning of God\u2019s salvation?\u00a0 But since there is no uncertainty about this, there is no doubt: God\u2019s salvation is Christ the Lord.<\/p>\n

The Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ can be seen by the eyes of the heart when they are pure, perfect, and full of God; and he was seen also in the body according to the text: \u201cAfterward he was seen on earth and lived among men\u201d.<\/strong>\u00a0 Thus the meaning of the text: \u201cAll mankind will see the salvation of God\u201d is clear: let no one doubt that it means that we shall see Christ.\u00a0 Uncertainty remains, however, as to whether we shall see the Lord Christ in the body, or as the Word who was in the beginning, the Word who was with God and who was God, and into this we must inquire. All mankind will see God\u2019s salvation is said to mean that all mankind will see God\u2019s Christ.\u00a0 But Christ was also seen in a body that was no longer mortal, a body that had undergone a spiritual transformation.\u00a0 After his resurrection he himself said to those who saw and touched him: \u201cHandle and see, for spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have\u201d. This is how he will be seen: not only how he was seen in the past but how he will be seen in the future. And then surely the words all mankind will be more perfectly fulfilled.<\/p>\n

For people see him now, but not all people.\u00a0 On the day of judgement, however, when he comes with his angels to judge the living and the dead, when all who are in their graves hear his voice and come forth, some rising to life, others to condemnation, they will see the very form which he deigned to assume for our sake.\u00a0 Not only will the righteous see it but also the wicked, both those on the right hand and those on the left, for even those who killed him will see him whom they pierced.\u00a0 All mankind, then, will see God\u2019s salvation.\u00a0 Both those who see and he who is seen will be in the body because it is in his real body that he will come to judge.\u00a0 But to those placed on his right and sent to the kingdom of heaven he will show himself in the way he promised when he was already seen in the body: \u201cThose who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and show myself to them\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday at Matins: From a Sermon by St Augustine, Bishop & Doctor \u201cBlessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God\u201d.\u00a0 Let us make every effort to purify our hearts, exert ourselves to stay alert, and as far as in us lies gain this grace by constant prayer.\u00a0 And if we wonder about <\/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":[18,178],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advent-liturgy","category-florilegium-patristicum"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-2h7","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8749"}],"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=8749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8751,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8749\/revisions\/8751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}