Monday, July 15, 2013
529. How does one reach purity of heart?
(Comp 529) In the battle against disordered desires the baptised person is able, by
the grace of God, to achieve purity of heart through the virtue and gift of
chastity, through purity of intention, purity of vision (both exterior and
interior), discipline of the imagination and of feelings and by prayer.
“In brief”
(CCC 2532) Purification of
the heart demands prayer, the practice of chastity, purity of intention and of
vision.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 2520) Baptism confers
on its recipient the grace of purification from all sins. But the baptized must
continue to struggle against concupiscence of the flesh and disordered desires.
With God's grace he will prevail - by the virtue
and gift of chastity, for chastity
lets us love with upright and undivided heart; - by purity of intention which consists in seeking the true end of man:
with simplicity of vision, the baptized person seeks to find and to fulfill
God's will in everything (Cf. Rom 12:2; Col 1:10); - by purity of vision, external and internal; by discipline of feelings
and imagination; by refusing all complicity in impure thoughts that incline us
to turn aside from the path of God's commandments: "Appearance arouses
yearning in fools" (Wis 15:5); - by
prayer: I thought that continence arose from one's own powers, which I did
not recognize in myself. I was foolish enough not to know… that no one can be continent unless you grant
it. For you would surely have granted it if my inner groaning had reached your
ears and I with firm faith had cast my cares on you (St. Augustine, Conf. 6, 11, 20: PL 32, 729-730).
Reflection
(CCC 2849) Such a battle and such a victory become possible
only through prayer. It is by his prayer that Jesus vanquishes the tempter,
both at the outset of his public mission and in the ultimate struggle of his
agony (Cf. Mt 4:1-11; 26:36-44). In this petition to our heavenly Father,
Christ unites us to his battle and his agony. He urges us to vigilance of the heart in communion with
his own. Vigilance is "custody of the heart," and Jesus prayed for us
to the Father: "Keep them in your name" (Jn 17:11; Cf. Mk 13:9, 23,
33-37; 14:38; Lk 12:35-40). The Holy Spirit constantly seeks to awaken us to
keep watch (Cf. 1 Cor 16:13; Col 4:2; 1 Thess 5:6; 1 Pet 5:8). Finally, this
petition takes on all its dramatic meaning in relation to the last temptation
of our earthly battle; it asks for final
perseverance. "Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is
awake" (Rev 16:15).
(Next question: What are the other
requirements for purity?)
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