#Clean hands and a pure heart meaning free#

This is because the heart is really the human being in his or her totality as a unity of body and soul, in his or her ability to love and to be loved.Īs for the definition of the word pure, however, the Greek word used by the evangelist Matthew is katharos, which basically means clean, pure, undefiled. 1 Sam 16:7), we can also say that it is from the heart that we see God. Since the Bible teaches us that God does not look to appearances, but to the heart (cf. In Hebrew thought, the heart is the centre of the emotions, thoughts and intentions of the human person. First of all, we need to appreciate the biblical meaning of the word heart. Let us now try to understand more fully how this blessedness comes about through purity of heart. Discourse at the Prayer Vigil at Tor Vergata, 19 August 2000: Insegnamenti XXIII/2,, 212). It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives” (cf. As Saint John Paul II said: “He is the beauty to which you are so attracted it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. He alone can satisfy your deepest longings, which are so often clouded by deceptive worldly promises. Through his Incarnation, life, death and resurrection, Jesus frees us from sin and opens new and hitherto unimaginable horizons.ĭear young men and women, in Christ you find fulfilled your every desire for goodness and happiness. The Father, in his infinite goodness, responded to this plea by sending his Son.

In the Psalms we hear the heartfelt plea which mankind makes to God: “What can bring us happiness? Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord” ( Ps 4:7). The inner compass which had guided them in their quest for happiness lost its point of reference, and the attractions of power, wealth, possessions, and a desire for pleasure at all costs, led them to the abyss of sorrow and anguish.

Lacking the light which comes from seeing the Lord, they saw everything around them in a distorted fashion, myopically. Men and women began to conceal themselves, to cover their nakedness. From that time on, we were no longer capable of closeness to God. And how dramatic the effects are! Our original purity as defiled. The effects were immediately evident, within themselves, in their relationship with each other and with nature. When Adam and Eve yielded to temptation and broke off this relationship of trusting communion with God, sin entered into human history (cf. In the state of original purity, there was no need to put on masks, to engage in ploys or to attempt to conceal ourselves from one another. To approach God freely, to see him and to be close to him, was part of his plan for us from the beginning his divine light was meant to illumine every human relationship with truth and transparency. It consists in perfect communion with God, with others, with nature, and with ourselves. The first chapters of the Book of Genesis show us the splendid “beatitude” to which we are called.

Have you not noticed that your hearts are restless, always searching for a treasure which can satisfy their thirst for the infinite? God has placed in the heart of every man and woman an irrepressible desire for happiness, for fulfillment. It is like a refrain reminding us of the Lord’s call to advance together with him on a road which, for all its many challenges, leads to true happiness.ĭear young friends, this search for happiness is shared by people of all times and all ages. The word “ blessed”, or “ happy”, occurs nine times in this, Jesus’ first great sermon (cf. This year we will reflect on the sixth beatitude: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” ( Mt 5:8). Together we discovered the revolutionary meaning of the Beatitudes and the powerful summons of Jesus to embark courageously upon the exciting quest for happiness. Last year we reflected on the beatitude of the poor in spirit, within the greater context of the Sermon on the Mount. As our guide for the journey we have chosen the Beatitudes. We continue our spiritual pilgrimage toward Krakow, where in July 2016 the next international World Youth Day will be held.

#Clean hands and a pure heart meaning free#

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