August 29, 2021: 22nd Sunday B
August 29, 2021: 22nd Sunday B
Do the following words resonate with you? “You made us, Lord, for Yourself, and our hearts will be restless until we rest in You.” These words were written by St. Augustine whose memorial we celebrated earlier today. I think many of us here in Louisiana have restless hearts this weekend with the hurricane fast approaching us. Restlessness is a sign of our desire to be filled and fulfilled. We all have it. We try to ignore it at times, but still it remains. For many Louisianans, the memories of Hurricanes Katrina, Gustav, Laura, and other storms are still fresh in our minds--days and weeks of power outage, flooding, roof damage, and evacuation. By now we all have made external preparations as best as we can by filling up with gas, recharging battery packs, and packing ice in coolers. The reason we came to this church today is to make our internal preparation. Throughout generations, Jesus has gathered his disciples in a community of faith, prayer, and ministry to face storms of nature, life, and death. The first apostles must have recalled during times of persecution, the occasion when they were in a small boat together with Jesus on the Sea of Galilee being tossed about by a sudden storm. “It is I, do not be afraid,” Jesus said to his first disciples as he calmed the storm. So we gather as a community of disciples in the presence of the Risen Jesus in the Eucharist for reassurance.
Restless hearts seek purity of heart
As restless as our hearts are at this moment, Jesus seeks in us purity of heart. A restless heart is in fact seeking purity of heart. Jesus said on the Mount of Beatitudes, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” As adopted children of God through baptism, we should always strive to “see” God, to hear his voice, and to follow his lead. The reason why Jesus criticized the Scribes and the Pharisees was because they didn’t go beyond the purely external observance of the Jewish faith, for example washing hands and vessels at proper times. These were supposed to be an external sign and a symbol of what was to happen interiorly, that is cleanliness or purity of heart. However, the religious leaders emphasized the external compliance while neglecting the true internal conversion and trust. True purity has to begin with the heart because from within the heart comes evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. While lust of the flesh wounds our purity, our attachment to material goods and attachment to excessive comfort also dulls our hearts.
A Pure Heart in Communion with God
A spiritual writer wisely observed, “ That longing [for purity of heart] lives within us until we find communion with God and experience his love. It is only in God that our restless hearts can rest. Otherwise, we spend our days trying to silence our longing by satisfying sensual appetites for gluttony, greed, lust, and pride. None of it works.” The restless heart is, in truth, in search of Jesus.
Fall in Love and Stay in Love with Jesus
Examination of conscience, prayer, reconciliation, and receiving Jesus in the Eucharist will help us obtain purity of heart. The more time we spend with God will allow him to make our hearts more like his Son’s. Mother Teresa said, “To be pure, to remain pure, can only come at a price, the price of knowing God and of loving him enough to do his will. He will always give us the strength we need to keep purity as something beautiful for God. Purity is the fruit of prayer. If families pray together they will remain in unity and purity, and love each other as God loves each one of them. A pure heart is a carrier of God’s love and where there is love, there is unity, joy, and peace.”
We have to remember that the word ‘love’ is a verb; love is our faith in action. We hope that in the coming days in the aftermath of the hurricane, each of us will become carriers of God’s love in assisting our neighbors.
