A Joyful Affirmation

“Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).In this meditation, Fr. Peter Armenio, priest of Opus Dei, highlights Jesus’s teaching during the Sermon on Mount and invites us to reflect on “holy purity” as a means to finding true joy and freedom in our lives.Fr. Peter explains that because God is revealed as self-giving love, and holy purity is an expression of self-giving love, the more we exercise purity, the more we see God face to face.  Holy purity, therefore, liberates us to have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, seeing him in prayer, suffering, and through relationships with other people.Looking at our culture, Fr. Peter examines several falsehoods placed before men and women today concerning this virtue and shows how living out holy purity in our attitudes and relationships both reflects our dignity as children of God, and leads to a happiness that far surpasses what is found by living according to society’s false ideas of freedom as license.Fr. Peter emphasizes the need to not only pray for the grace of the virtue of holy purity, but to pray to desire the virtue, as both will be necessary in living it faithfully. Additionally, he stresses that holy purity is a difficult virtue to live in this day and age; we must avoid the tendency to become discouraged and follow the example of St. Mary Magdalene and continue to repent and begin again. Support the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you:Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review.Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.orgAlso, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today!