But what can we do to instill that desire within ourselves? One of the great Catholic minds of our time, the late Rene Girard, devoted himself to studying the cultural and anthropological contexts for human desire.
He came to the startling conclusion that we borrow all but our most instinctual desires from other people. We want what we want because we have witnessed important people in our lives wanting those things. Many of us have witnessed toddlers, surrounded with toys, fighting over just one of them because one toddler has made it look more desirable than all the other toys.
Once we realize the importance of what others desire, and join them in pursuit of what is desired, we can swiftly move from being close allies to archrivals. We compete with them to obtain what they modeled for us as desirable. When it becomes impossible for both of us to have whatever it is we desire, our rivalry can turn murderous.
In the case of an entire society desiring what is too limited for all of us to possess, chaos can ensue. The chaos can threaten the very stability of society and in order to restore order, a leader will name a scapegoat, someone that can be blamed for the chaos.
Through the blood of Christ, our hands and hearts have been cleared and cleansed. This means that, because of the blood of Christ, we are able to serve and worship God.
When Jesus freed the woman caught in adultery, He asked her: "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? When God has freed our consciences, it does not matter how others try to bind them. When Christ has washed our hands and hearts, it does not matter what other people say about them. We only must make sure that Christ has freed us, and that our consciences, hands, and hearts have indeed been washed in His blood.
Nevertheless, we must remember that we do not cleanse our own consciences, hands, and hearts. This was the arrogance and condemnation of Pontius Pilate. He tried to wash his hands of the guilt of Christ. Enrique R. Have We Not Reason to Rejoice? Dieter F. Patton—the Story Continues Thomas S. Faith, Family, Facts, and Fruits M. Russell Ballard. The Great Commandment Joseph B. Scriptural Witnesses Russell M.
Raising the Bar L. Tom Perry. Do It Now Donald L. Whitney Clayton. Today Is the Time Walter F. A Royal Priesthood Thomas S. Slow to Anger Gordon B. O Remember, Remember Henry B. Mothers Who Know Julie B. Good, Better, Best Dallin H. 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 of blood, but which, if generously 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.
Indeed, when the heart is pure, then the intellect, like a clear glass, can be completely penetrated by the light of the Holy Spirit. 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. Come into my heart, and all the idols shall fall.
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 after justice, for being filled; mercy is good for obtaining mercy, but only purity of heart permits us to see You.
Help me to purify my heart, because what I desire to see is pure but my means of seeing it, impure.
0コメント