Spiritual Corner -- “Blessed are the Clean of Heart, for They Shall See God”

Brothers and sisters in the Lord, the Bible says: Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. What does it mean to be clean of heart?

One day, St. Francis of Assisi and Brother Leo were taking a leisurely walk. St. Francis noticed that Brother Leo was very unhappy, so he asked him, “Brother Leo, do you know what it means to be clean of heart?” Leo answered, “Sure, it means we don’t find any sin, any wrong doing and fault in ourselves to blame for.” St. Francis went on saying, “Now I know why you are not happy, it’s because no matter what, we always have something to blame ourselves for.” Leo replied, “Yes, I have been so upset because I cannot achieve inner purity.” St. Francis said, “Leo, listen to me carefully, do not mind too much of the cleanliness of your heart. Look rather to Jesus who is your brother and your friend. Rejoice and be glad in God, your Saviour. This is the meaning of clean of heart. When you look at Jesus, don’t look at yourself. Being sad about your imperfections and sins is actually an act of idolatry.”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, many of us have the same temptation, often blaming ourselves for our own sins, for our wrong doings and our shortcomings. We may query why is my character like that? Why didn’t I succeed? Why am I not like him?...,etc. Today, St. Francis of Assisi tells us to forget about ourselves but focus our attention on the beauty, mercy and benevolence of Jesus Christ. St. Francis said, “Even when you feel broken, frail, distraught, uneasy and uncertain, we can release all these into the peace of Jesus.” Each of us, just like a drowning person, can only rely on the hope that people on land will save us, but not on our own ability. Similarly, we should have the same faith in God. We are saved not because of the perfection of our spirituality, the number of prayers we have offered or the number of good deeds we have performed but entirely because of God’s pity and His mercy. We should perform acts of charity in order to express our gratitude towards God, and our love for the beauty, mercy and benevolence of Jesus Christ. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.

Yours,
Fr. John Wang