Get Happy! The Beatitudes of Life for the Vocation of Wife and Mother - Part VI

Kristen M. Soley

The Sixth Beatitude - Blessed are the pure of heart: for they shall see God.
Merriam-Webster defines pure as, “Not mixed with anything else.” Father Ahern explains that purity of heart lacks actual sin, and affords freedom from affection toward sin. When self-love and the seeking of personal pleasure are removed the passion of love, the human heart becomes crystal clear, 2 not mixed with anything else.   

He further explains:

“In marriage, a man or woman lives to serve and love the other, the spouse or the child. Love leaves no room for self-love, just simple devotion to members of the family. The more perfect this love and service the greater glory is given to God. The lover then sees God now and for eternity. In loving his spouse and children a man pure in heart is too busy loving and providing for his family to be attracted to sins of the flesh; there is no self-love or pleasure seeking in him; this is the first stage of purity of heart… Husband and wife love each other, and the love of each, given, completes the other. They see faults in their marriage partner, but instead of reproach, they simply give more love. Family life, social life, prayer life – each is patterned, geared, and has meaning through love of the spouse and children. As gift after gift of love is given, love of self is forgotten. Happiness is possessed, and purity of heart is found. A man is filled with love for his neighbor and God is glorified. The pure of body, mind, and intention are the happy, the blessed man and women.” 2

  
Possessing no self-love, St. Joseph served God, with a pure heart, by loving Mary, and Jesus and humbly submitting to God’s Will. After having found Mary to be with child, Joseph, “being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.” (MT 1:18-19 NASB) Through the message of an angel, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” … And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.”

In the vocation of wife and mother, purity of heart is simply, humbly surrendering our will to the Will of God, purity of heart, mind and body. We need to seek all that is true, good, and beautiful not only for ourselves, but for our family. When we choose God’s Will over ours, we most assuredly can achieve beatitude. It is only when we are living outside of God’s Will that we introduce discord into our lives.

Begin each day with quiet, meditative prayer, alone with God. Begin by meditating on His Passion and then read a passage from the Gospels. Spend ten to fifteen minutes, quietly reflecting on what we have read. God will take this time to provide all the fruit required to aid is in living in His Will. We can then use the fruits He provides, or give them to those He asks, as we proceed through the rest of the day.

"Every virtue in your soul is a precious ornament which makes you dear to God and to man. But holy purity, the queen of virtues, the angelic virtue, is a jewel so precious that those who possess it become like the angels of God in Heaven, even though clothed in mortal flesh."
~ St. John Bosco

Sources –
1. Newadvent.org
2. Eight Happy People, Reverend John J. Ahern
3. Etymonline.com
4. http://www.americancatholic.org/messenger/oct2000/feature1.asp#F1
5. http://www.copiosa.org/virtue/virtue_meekness.htm
6. Happy are you Poor, Dubay
7. Volume 6, Direction for Our Times – Anne the Lay Apostle
8. Courageous Virtue, Stacy Mitch (A Bible Study on Moral Excellence For Women)
9. Catholic.org
10. http://stperpetuaparish.org/perpetua.php
11. The Twenty-Four Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ – Luisa Piccaretta
12. Michele Szekely - http://www.leblogdelabergerie.com/articles/Catherines.htm