To Be Pure as He is Pure

In the Mass readings for the Solemnity of All Saints a particular theme emerges very strongly. It is the theme of “purity of heart.” In the first reading we hear of the great multitude in heaven, the members of which are described as those who “have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.” Immediately after this, it is said:

Therefore are they before the throne of God,

and serve him day and night within his temple;

and he who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence.

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more;

the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.

For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,

and he will guide them to springs of living water;

and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. (Rev 7:14-17)

It is amazing to see that the Lamb has become the Shepherd! He who was “led like a lamb to the slaughter and did not open his mouth” has ransomed from the jaws of death a flock to be his own…and he leads them from the darkness into light, from hunger and thirst into the abundance of his bounty, described as “springs of living water” and the consolation of love in which he wipes “every tear from their eyes.” Through his redeeming death he has “gathered together into unity the children of God who were scattered abroad.” They are gathered together into the sheepfold of his love through a washing with his own cleansing Blood…through standing at this Fountain of Mercy, the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ opened as he hangs upon the Cross, and receiving its healing and saving streams which pour forth for them.

But as we progress more deeply into the readings of this day, the image of sheep and the sheepfold gives way to the deeper truth: adoption into the family of the Trinity, adoption as children of God. In the First Letter of Saint John, we hear:

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears that we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every one who thus hopes in him purifies himself just as he is pure. (1 Jn 3:1-3)

In this passage the deepest meaning of our redemption in Christ is revealed to us: we have been made children of the heavenly Father. In the words of John we can sense a profound and burning joy, as he gratefully exclaims: “See what love the Father has given us!” Yes, see what love, what awesome and unspeakable love! What love through which he has made us his children!

This childlike relationship with our Father is a reality already here and now. Indeed, it is the very deepest truth of our life, in which alone everything else can be understood correctly. It is the simple truth of being enfolded in God’s healing grace, in his abundant love…cradled on every side by his abiding presence. And yet this gift that we have received is also preparing us for its full, glorious revelation at the end of time, when we will see Christ face to face, and therefore become fully like him as children of the Father. We will be transformed in the light of his countenance, as Saint Paul says: “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed in his likeness from glory unto glory” (2 Cor 3:18).

This invitation and promise to behold the face of God—to see the glory of the Father shining in the face of Christ, and to gaze, with Christ, upon the face of the Father himself—this also awakens in us the desire to be “pure as he is pure.” For as the Gospel of the Beatitudes says, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God” (Mt 5:8). Hearts that are blinded by sin cannot see God, for their interior eyes are shut, unable to discern the beauty of the Beautiful One, the goodness of the Good One, the truth of him who is Truth, and the Love of the God who is all Love. But Jesus has come to us to shine into our darkness, to open us to his healing and saving light. Therefore let it not be said of us: “The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” Instead, let it be true of us: “He who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God” (Jn 3:19-21).

God is inviting us to let ourselves be bathed in the radiance of his face, in the glorious light of his love. We need only step out of the darkness of our fear, our sin, in which we “hide from the face of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” We need only open our hearts, as burdened and wounded as they are, to his piercing gaze…a gaze that does not accuse or condemn, but rather touches, embraces, heals, and transforms.

But what does it mean to be pure as he is pure? It does not mean, most fundamentally, to be impeccable in the performance of good works, to possess all the virtues in an eminent degree. It means, first of all, simply to have a heart that is open to the light of love, to welcome at every moment the gift that comes to us unceasingly from God. The essence of the sin of Adam and Eve, and of every one of us since, is precisely to close oneself off from this free gift, from the outpouring light of God which gives us all things—the whole creation, and indeed our very being as his beloved children. As we open ourselves to welcome this gift, we find that it encompasses us in its embrace, sheltering and sustaining us.

Knowing ourselves to be cradled on all sides by infinite Love, we can yield ourselves up freely and confidently to this Love, allowing it to be expressed in our life, in all our thoughts, words, and actions. In this way the purity of childlike openness before God flowers in the openness of our whole life—an openness to God’s goodness, beauty, and truth present within creation, and an openness especially to each one of our brothers and sisters in whom God lives and whom he infinitely and tenderly loves.

In speaking about “striving” for holiness, there are often two extremes that people tend to fall into. They both spring from the tendency to speak of growing in holiness as if it were a matter of our own effort, our own will power, our own achievement. The focus is primarily upon man, upon his own desires and aspirations, his own journey and struggle, fighting the “spiritual combat” for the sake of the “ideal” of sanctity. On the one hand, this leads to a kind of “Pelagianism” in which pride and complacency begin to grow in the human heart, a kind of self-righteous reliance upon oneself in which one resists and denies one’s littleness, one’s neediness. On the other hand, there is a kind of despair or discouragement of ever attaining, or getting anywhere close, to this “ideal” of perfection. In this case, the heart is tempted to settle for mediocrity and lukewarmness, since any true holiness is ultimately inaccessible by our own efforts. This can also lead, however, to a kind of “Jansenism” in which we are ever trying to close over the abyss of personal guilt that separates us from a distant and just God by our sacrifices, penances, and good works.

The reason that these two attitudes are so distorted, and can have such devastating effects on our relationship with God, is because they are founded on fundamentally false premises: that sanctity is our own achievement and the fruit of our own effort; that we are the primary ones seeking God, not God the One who is seeking us; that the gap between us and the “ideal” of holiness is to be closed over by our own activity; and indeed that there is such an abstract “ideal” at all. All of these premises miss the most important point: that sanctity is not a matter of some self-enclosed personal perfection, which can be gained simply by human activity or effort, but rather is a matter of an intimate loving relationship come to full flowering. Yes, the “ideal” of holiness is not an ideal at all—it is a Person, the Person of Jesus Christ, who invites us into his loving embrace. When we open ourselves to his invitation, when we entrust our lives into his care, then he draws us where we ourselves cannot go—into the consoling, healing, purifying, and transforming fires of God’s infinite Love.

Indeed, this very Furnace of infinite Love has drawn close to us…as near as possible. It burns in the tiny Heart of that little Child in the womb of Mary, in that little child born in the stable at Bethlehem, in that young man living a hidden life of love, prayer, and work in Nazareth. It burns in the Heart of that man who preaches and teaches and heals throughout the countryside of Palestine. It burns in the Heart of that man who is arrested by his own people, tortured and hung on a Cross…in this Heart that allows itself to be pierced, opening itself wide to pour forth freely the abundance of this burning Love that it contains within itself.

This fire burns in the Heart of the Risen One, who has broken the bonds of sin, suffering, and death, and has crossed over the abyss of separation caused by our infidelity, knitting us back together, like threads of cloth re-woven, into communion with God once again. This fire burns in the Heart of the Eucharistic One, who is present under the humble and hidden appearance of bread and wine, drawing us close to him in order to unite us, in Holy Communion, to the Furnace of Love within him. He welcomes us into his most intimate embrace, sheltering us in the warmth and light of his Love.

When we accept this invitation and give ourselves to him, when we let ourselves be loved by him, he teaches us what it means to “be pure as he is pure.” Indeed, he draws us into proximity with his own Love, which itself makes us pure, if only we give our “yes” to be touched and transformed by this Love. This awesome touch, this awesome transformation, is nothing but the full expression of the Father’s immense tenderness and generosity for each one of us, in which he has created us in his image and likeness, in order to be united to him forever in the Heart of his Beloved Son.

Here, cradled in the arms of Christ, the unique and unrepeatable mystery of each one of us is brought to light, illumined by the light of Love shining from his countenance. We discover, in his gaze, who we truly are in our inmost being, in our authentic identity as precious child of God. And this very truth of our being is set free within us, to find expression in the whole of our life…flowering in a profound and abiding intimacy with Christ, and in him with the heavenly Father, and, finally, in a deep communion with all of our brothers and sisters.

This is holiness…this intimate relationship of love touching our inmost being and enveloping our entire life. And it is not an abstract “ideal,” applied generally and impersonally to every life. Rather, it is the universal reality of eternal Love…the Love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who cradle the entire universe within their embrace! Within the tender embrace of this Love, each one of us finds our own unique personal existence sheltered, affirmed, cherished, and brought to full flowering…and, in the same moment, we find ourselves bound together in unspeakably profound intimacy with every other person, as we are all enfolded in the single Love of our God.