Presence of God

O Lord, purify my heart and my mind, that I may learn to know You better.

Meditation

I. The beatitude : "Blessed are the clean ofheart, for they shall see God" (Mt. 5, 8), corresponds to the gift of understanding. There is a purity ofheart which is the indispensable condition for receiving an abundant inflowing of the gift of understanding; it is the purity that results, not only from the absence of sin, but also from the absence of the slightest earthly affection. In fact, God does not communicate Himself fully to a creature whose heart is not absolutely pure; that is, one whose entire capacity for affection is not reserved for Him. As long as we have any attachment to creatures, any seeking for the affection of others, any complacency in feeling that we are loved by them, our heart is not pure enough to enjoy the divine communications. Therefore, before allowing a soul to penetrate His divine mysteries, God subjects it to a purification of the affections by means of detachments and sacrifices, sometimes at the cost ofblood, but which, ifgenerously accepted, will eventually detach the heart from creatures and leave it entirely free for its Creator. If God makes us pass through this trial, let us not draw back or try to evade His action, but let us cooperate with it, being fully persuaded that He reserves the fullness of His gifts and of His light for those souls alone who are free from any shadow of creatures, those hearts which belong entirely to Him. In this sense it may well be said that the sight of God is the reward promised to the pure of heart. In fact, if the heart retains any attachment, even slight, to creatures, the intellect remains clouded, and "has no more capacity for receiving enlightenment from the wisdom of God than has the air, when it is dark, for receiving enlightenment from the sun.... Oh!" exclaims St. John of the Cross, "if men but knew how great is the blessing of divine light whereof they are deprived by this blindness which proceeds from their affections and desires!" (AS I, 8,2.6). Indeed, when the heart is pure, then the intellect, like a clear glass, can be completely penetrated by the light of the Holy Spirit.

II. There is another purity of heart which is not just a disposition to receive the gift of understanding, but is the fruit ofthis gift. Here the word "heart" is used in its broader meaning of spirit and mind, which is its usual meaning in Holy Scripture.

Our minds are so dull that we can always err in understanding divine things, either by imagining them in a material way, measuring them by worldly standards, or by interpreting them according to our personal views, considering only one aspect, and ignoring others which are essential, and so on. This dullness of mind, unfortunately, has been the source of many heresies in the Church. The gift of understanding, giving us the light of the Holy Spirit Himself, purifies our minds from these errors and frees them from the illusions ofthe imagination, as well as from other false interpretations. By means of this purity of mind, the gift of understanding insures the integrity of our faith, enabling us to penetrate the objective reality of the divine mysteries, and giving us the real meaning of God’s law, of the commandments, and the counsels. On the other hand, this gift, which allows us to penetrate the divine mysteries by the infused light of the Holy Spirit, makes us clearly understand that God cannot be enclosed in our dull imaginations nor in our limited ideas, but that He is infinitely superior to anything we can think or imagine about Him. St. John of the Cross says, "Since God is inaccessible, see that thou concern not thyself with how much thy faculties can comprehend and thy senses can perceive, that thou be not satisfied with less and that thy soul lose not the agility that is needful for one that would attain to Him" (SMI, 52).

Ifwe wish to respond to the motions of the gift of understanding, we must be detached from our own ideas and ready to renounce them even though very dear to 11s; we must not be too sure about our way of understanding the things of God, but must seek the guidance ofthe Church. Above all, we must humbly pray for the gift of understanding because it will free us from errors and give us a right understanding of divine things.

Ifthe Holy Spirit finds us pure in heart, He will enlighten us more and more; greater purity will lead to greater light, and vice versa; thus, from clarity to clarity, we shall arrive at a more profound penetration of the divine mysteries, which will give us a kind of foretaste of the beatific vision. "Blessed are the clean ofheart, for they shall see God!"

Colloquy

"O Lord, give me right sentiments about You and grant that I may seek You with simplicity of heart. My heart says to You, ‘ I will seek Your face. ’ When my heart seeks You, O Lord, it is Your presence it is seeking. Your home is where You dwell, and where do You dwell, if not in Your temple? My heart is Your temple : teach me how to welcome You there. You are spirit, and I must adore You in spirit and in truth. Gome into my heart, and all the idols shall fall.

"Now I shall listen to Your voice and learn to long for You and to prepare myself to see You. Blessed are all who see You! And if they do see You, it is not because, while they were on earth, they were poor in spirit, or because they were meek or merciful, or because they mourned or hungered and thirsted after justice, but because they were clean of heart. Humility is good for attaining the kingdom of heaven; meekness is good for possessing the land; tears are good for receiving consolation; hunger and thirst afterjustice, for being filled; mercy is good for obtaining mercy, but only purity of heart permits us to see You.

"My desire is to see You; what I desire is great, but it is You who tell me to wish for it. Help me to purify my heart, because what I desire to see is pure but my means of seeing it, impure. Come to me, O God, and purify me by Your grace; purify my heart with Your aid and strength. If I receive You into my heart during this present life, after my death You will admit me into Your presence" (St. Augustine).

"Come, Holy Spirit, speak to my heart; or at least, if You wish to remain silent, may Your very silence speak to me, because without You I am always in danger offollowing my own errors and confusing them with Your teachings" (cf. St. Bernard).