Click here for daily readingsIn the Gospel reading for today, Jesus, after seeing His crowd of followers, sits down and decides to teach them. Something He saw in the people propelled Jesus to take the time to sit down on the side of a mountain and teach what we would come to know as the Sermon on the Mount. In part of this teaching, Jesus leads the people through a series of statements highlighting the blessings of divine happiness. One of these blessings reveals how deeply Jesus cares about and understands the nature of our human hearts. He desires our holiness so that we might share in the Father’s Kingdom with Him. According to Matthew, Jesus says, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.”
It is an act of humility to consider the cleanliness of our hearts. But like a smudged window, darkened gradually by grime, our hearts can and do become sullied by sin. This shadowing of heart space can happen subtly, almost imperceptibly. And just as it’s hard to see the view through a grime-covered window, it is hard to recognize God at work in our lives when the view from our hearts has become blocked. The light simply struggles to filter in.
In today’s first reading, the prophet Zephaniah urges the people to seek God. He speaks of those who see the Lord, a people “humble and lowly,” a remnant chosen by God who “shall do no wrong and speak no lies; nor shall there be found in their mouths a deceitful tongue”. These, the remnant, are people of a clean heart.
This level of humility is challenging, but today Psalm 146 also assures us the Lord is working for the good of the lowly, for our good, and will keep faith forever. We need not be afraid to consider the state of hearts—the Lord is with us, and in Him we can (and should) take refuge. Paul, too, reminds us in his letter to the people of Corinth that the chosen are called not through any merits of their own, but to fulfill God’s mission. Imagine our hearts as magnificent stained glass adorning a cathedral. The more we allow the light to shine through them, the more God’s glory is illuminated.
Today, let us make every effort to tend to our whole hearts so that as we seek God, we might also see Him. Just as the simple attention to the task of cleaning a window can make it shine and sparkle, so too that type of attention applied to the care of our own hearts will allow God’s light to move through freely. And suddenly the view becomes very clear.
En la lectura del Evangelio de hoy, Jesús, tras ver la multitud de sus seguidores, se sienta y decide enseñarles. Algo que vio en la gente lo impulsó a sentarse en la ladera de una montaña y enseñar lo que llegaríamos a conocer como el Sermón del Monte. En parte de esta enseñanza, Jesús guía a la gente a través de una serie de afirmaciones que resaltan las bendiciones de la felicidad divina. Una de estas bendiciones revela cuán profundamente Jesús se preocupa y comprende la naturaleza de nuestros corazones humanos. Desea nuestra santidad para que podamos compartir con él el Reino del Padre. Según Mateo, Jesús dice: “Dichosos los limpios de corazón, porque verán a Dios”.
Es un acto de humildad considerar la limpieza de nuestro corazón. Pero como una ventana sucia, oscurecida gradualmente por la suciedad, nuestro corazón puede mancharse, y de hecho eso pasa, a causa del pecado. Esta opacidad del espacio del corazón puede ocurrir de forma sutil, casi imperceptible. Y así como es difícil ver el paisaje a través de una ventana sucia, es difícil reconocer la obra de Dios en nuestras vidas cuando la visión de nuestros corazones se ha visto bloqueada. La luz simplemente no puede entrar fácilmente.
En la primera lectura de hoy, el profeta Sofonías insta al pueblo a buscar a Dios. Habla de quienes ven al Señor, un pueblo “pobre y humilde”, un puñado de gente elegido por Dios que “No cometerá maldades ni dirá mentiras; no se hallará en su boca una lengua embustera”. Estas personas son gente de corazón limpio.
Este nivel de humildad es desafiante, pero hoy el Salmo 146 también nos asegura que el Señor obra por el bien de los humildes, por nuestro bien, y que mantendrá su fe para siempre. No debemos tener miedo de considerar el estado de nuestros corazones: el Señor está con nosotros, y en Él podemos (y debemos) refugiarnos. Pablo también nos recuerda en su carta a los corintios que los elegidos son llamados no por méritos propios, sino para cumplir la misión de Dios. Imaginemos nuestros corazones como magníficos vitrales que adornan una catedral. Cuanto más dejamos que la luz brille a través de ellos, más se ilumina la gloria de Dios.
Hoy, esforcémonos por cuidar nuestro corazón con todo nuestro ser para que, al buscar a Dios, también podamos verlo. Así como la simple atención a la tarea de limpiar una ventana puede hacerla brillar y resplandecer, también ese tipo de atención aplicada al cuidado de nuestro propio corazón permitirá que la luz de Dios circule libremente. Y de repente, la visión se vuelve mucho más clara.
Raine Pyne is a longtime public school educator. She is married to Greg, who is also an educator. They have five sons, three dogs, and one cat, plus hundreds of adolescent students and countless stacks of books. Raine is a former parish catechist and women’s retreat leader. She is a student at the Theology of the Body Institute and a member of the Word on Fire Institute’s Writing Community. She is passionate about learning, language, and the ever deepening journey of faith.
Feature Image Credit: Hans Thoma, art.diocesan.com/stock-photo/view-of-holzhausenpark-7467/
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