463. Purity of heart

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 463

Ave Maria series

How does one achieve “purity of heart”?

The purity of heart required for love is achieved in the first place through union with God in prayer. When God’s grace touches us, this also produces a path to pure, undivided human love.  A chaste person can love with a sincere and undivided heart. [2520, 2532]

As she lay dying in the hospital, 11-year old Maria Goretti’s last words were of mercy towards her attacker: “I forgive Alessandro Serenelli … and I want him with me in heaven forever.”….. 463

Saint Maria Goretti (October 16, 1890 – July 6, 1902) is an Italian virgin-martyr and one of the youngest canonized saints. She was born on the eastern side of Italy to a farming family, but increased poverty forced the family to move to the western side of the country when she was only six. Her father died when she was nine, and the family had to share a house with another family, the Serenellis. She took over household duties from her mother, while her mother and the rest of her family worked in the fields. One afternoon, Alessandro, the son of the Serenelli family, made sexual advances to her, but when she refused to submit to him because that would be a mortal sin, he stabbed her fourteen times. She was taken to the hospital, but she died after forgiving him. He was promptly arrested, convicted, and jailed. After three years he repented, and when eventually released from prison, he visited her mother begging forgiveness, which she readily granted. He later became a lay brother in a monastery, eventually dying peacefully in 1970. Saint Maria Goretti was beatified in 1947, and canonized in 1950. Her mother attended both ceremonies.

When we turn to God with a sincere intention, he transforms our hearts.  He gives us the strength to correspond to his will and to reject impure thoughts, fantasies, and desires.  404-409

“Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”  Matthew 5:8

“Now the works of the flesh are plain: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery…I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”  Galatians 5:19-21

[2520, 2532]

THE BATTLE FOR PURITY

2520 Baptism confers on its recipient the grace of purification from all sins. But the baptized must continue to struggle against concupiscence of the flesh and disordered desires. With God's grace he will prevail:  --CCC

- by the virtue and gift of chastity, for chastity lets us love with upright and undivided heart; --CCC

- by purity of intention which consists in seeking the true end of man: with simplicity of vision, the baptized person seeks to find and to fulfill God's will in everything; --CCC

- by purity of vision, external and internal; by discipline of feelings and imagination; by refusing all complicity in impure thoughts that incline us to turn aside from the path of God's commandments: "Appearance arouses yearning in fools";  --CCC

- by prayer:

I thought that continence arose from one's own powers, which I did not recognize in myself. I was foolish enough not to know . . . that no one can be continent unless you grant it. For you would surely have granted it if my inner groaning had reached your ears and I with firm faith had cast my cares on you.--Saint Augustine --Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

IN BRIEF

2532 Purification of the heart demands prayer, the practice of chastity, purity of intention and of vision.–CCC

Saint  Maria Goretti Purity 

462. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 462

Ave Maria series

The Ninth Commandment:  You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.

Why does the Ninth Commandment forbid sexual desire?

The Ninth Commandment forbids, not desires per se, but rather disordered desires.  The “covetousness” against which Sacred Scripture warns is the rule of impulses over the mind, the dominion of urges over the whole person, and the sinfulness that it causes.  [2514, 2515, 2528, 2529]

Sermon On The Mount by Carl Heinrich Bloch 1834-1890. ….. 462

 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.   If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.   It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.--Matthew 5:27-30(a portion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount).

The erotic attraction between man and woman was created by God and is therefore good; it is part of a person’s sexual nature and biological constitution.  It ensures that man and woman can unite with one another and descendants can spring from their love.  The Ninth Commandment is meant to protect this union.  The shelter of marriage and family must not be endangered through playing with fire, in other words, through reckless indulgence in the erotic energy that crackles between man and woman.  That is why it is a good rule, especially for Christians: “Keep your hands off married men and women!”  400-425

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”  Colossians 3:5

 [2514, 2515, 2528, 2529]

"YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF"

THE NINTH COMMANDMENT

You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.( Exodus 20:17.)²⁹⁹ --Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.(Matthew 5:28.)³⁰⁰ --CCC

2514 St. John distinguishes three kinds of covetousness or concupiscence: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life.(Compare 1 John 2:16.)³⁰¹ In the Catholic catechetical tradition, the ninth commandment forbids carnal concupiscence; the tenth forbids coveting another's goods.--CCC

2515 Etymologically, "concupiscence" can refer to any intense form of human desire. Christian theology has given it a particular meaning: the movement of the sensitive appetite contrary to the operation of the human reason. The apostle St. Paul identifies it with the rebellion of the "flesh" against the "spirit."    (Compare Galatians 5:16,17,24; Ephesians 2:3.)³⁰² Concupiscence stems from the disobedience of the first sin. It unsettles man's moral faculties and, without being in itself an offense, inclines man to commit sins.(Compare Genesis 3:11; Council of Trent: Denzinger-Schonmetzer 1515.)³⁰³ --CCC

IN BRIEF

2528 "Everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" --CCC

2529 The ninth commandment warns against lust or carnal concupiscence.–CCC

JT  Beatitudes  Sermon On The Mount 

461. The true and the beautiful

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 461

Ave Maria series

How does art mediate between beauty and truth?

The true and the beautiful belong together, for God is the source of beauty and also the source of truth.  Art, which is dedicated to the beautiful, is therefore a special path to the whole and to God.  [2500-2503, 2513]

Mary, Queen of Heaven procession statue is an example of religious art.  The carved wooden statue was formerly at Holy Cross Church in Bay Settlement and was greatly admired by Adele Brise when she attended Mass there.  It was later given to the Champion church by Father Daems and later the statue transferred to the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Help. Between religious events, the statue is displayed in a mirrored case in the visitors center at the National Champion Shrine.….. 461

What cannot be said in words or expressed in thought is brought to light in art.  It is “a freely given superabundance of the human being’s inner riches” (see below CCC 2501).  In a way that closely approximates God’s creativity, inspiration and human skill are combined in the artist so as to give a valid form to something new, a previously unseen aspect of reality.  Art is not an end in itself.  It should uplift people, move them, improve them, and ultimately lead them to worship and thank God.

“The author of beauty created them (the things of this world).  Wisdom 13:3

“From the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator.” Wisdom 13:5

“For me, perfection in art and in life springs from the biblical source.”  --Mark Chagall (1887-1985) Russian painter)

“Christians think God invented and made the universe—like a man making a picture or composing a tune.” --C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)

[2500-2503, 2513]

TRUTH, BEAUTY, AND SACRED ART

2500 The practice of goodness is accompanied by spontaneous spiritual joy and moral beauty. Likewise, truth carries with it the joy and splendor of spiritual beauty. Truth is beautiful in itself. Truth in words, the rational expression of the knowledge of created and uncreated reality, is necessary to man, who is endowed with intellect. But truth can also find other complementary forms of human expression, above all when it is a matter of evoking what is beyond words: the depths of the human heart, the exaltations of the soul, the mystery of God. Even before revealing himself to man in words of truth, God reveals himself to him through the universal language of creation, the work of his Word, of his wisdom: the order and harmony of the cosmos-which both the child and the scientist discover-"from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator," "for the author of beauty created them."(Wisdom 13:3, 5.)²⁹⁰–Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

[Wisdom] is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her. For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness. (Wis 7:25-26.)²⁹¹ For [wisdom] is more beautiful than the sun, and excels every constellation of the stars. Compared with the light she is found to be superior, for it is succeeded by the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail. (Wis 7:29-30.)²⁹² I became enamored of her beauty. (Wis 8:2.)²⁹³ --CCC

2501 Created "in the image of God,"(Genesis 1:26.)²⁹⁴ man also expresses the truth of his relationship with God the Creator by the beauty of his artistic works. Indeed, art is a distinctively human form of expression; beyond the search for the necessities of life which is common to all living creatures, art is a freely given superabundance of the human being's inner riches. Arising from talent given by the Creator and from man's own effort, art is a form of practical wisdom, uniting knowledge and skill, (Compare Wis 7:16-17)²⁹⁵ to give form to the truth of reality in a language accessible to sight or hearing. To the extent that it is inspired by truth and love of beings, art bears a certain likeness to God's activity in what he has created. Like any other human activity, art is not an absolute end in itself, but is ordered to and ennobled by the ultimate end of man. (Compare Pius XII, Musicae sacrae disciplina; Discourses of September 3 and December 25, 1950.)²⁹⁶ --CCC

2502 Sacred art is true and beautiful when its form corresponds to its particular vocation: evoking and glorifying, in faith and adoration, the transcendent mystery of God - the surpassing invisible beauty of truth and love visible in Christ, who "reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature," in whom "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily." (Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 2:9.)²⁹⁷ This spiritual beauty of God is reflected in the most holy Virgin Mother of God, the angels, and saints. Genuine sacred art draws man to adoration, to prayer, and to the love of God, Creator and Savior, the Holy One and Sanctifier.--CCC

2503 For this reason bishops, personally or through delegates, should see to the promotion of sacred art, old and new, in all its forms and, with the same religious care, remove from the liturgy and from places of worship everything which is not in conformity with the truth of faith and the authentic beauty of sacred art. (Compare Sources Chretiennes 122-127.)²⁹⁸--CCC

IN BRIEF

2513 The fine arts, but above all sacred art, "of their nature are directed toward expressing in some way the infinite beauty of God in works made by human hands. Their dedication to the increase of God's praise and of his glory is more complete, the more exclusively they are devoted to turning men's minds devoutly toward God" (Sources Chretiennes 122).–CCC

Shrine  Our Lady of Good Help parade statue

460. Dangers from the media

YOUCAT Lesson 460

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

What dangers result from the media?

Many people, especially children, think that whatever they see in the media is real.  If in the name of entertainment violence is glorified, anti-social behavior is approved of, and human sexuality is trivialized, this is a sin both of those in the media who are responsible and also of those supervisory authorities that ought to put a stop to it.  [2496, 2512]

Edward R. Murrow  (April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) a respected American radio and television broadcast journalist.….460

Edward R. Murrow first came to prominence with a series of radio broadcasts for the news division of The Columbia Broadcasting System during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States (one of whom was then teenager Don L. Bragg).A pioneer of television news broadcasting, Murrow produced a series of reports that helped lead to the censure of Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, Bill Downs, Dan Rather, and Alexander Kendrick consider Murrow one of journalism's greatest figures, noting his honesty and integrity in delivering the news. --Wikipedia

People who work in the media should always be aware of the fact that their productions have an educational effect.  Young people must constantly examine themselves to determine whether they are able to use the media freely, with critical distance, or whether they have become addicted to particular media.  Every person is responsible for his soul.  Those who consume violence, hatred, and pornography in the media become spiritually deadened and do themselves harm.

Special means of communication:  Those media that are aimed not merely at individuals but at human society as a whole and influence it, such as the press, film, radio, television, the Internet, and so on.

“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  Matthew 6:21

[2496, 2512]

2496 The means of social communication (especially the mass media) can give rise to a certain passivity among users, making them less than vigilant consumers of what is said or shown. Users should practice moderation and discipline in their approach to the mass media. They will want to form enlightened and correct consciences the more easily to resist unwholesome influences.--Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

IN BRIEF

2512 Society has a right to information based on truth, freedom, and justice. One should practice moderation and discipline in the use of the social communications media. –CCC

People  TV  Radio Edward R. Murrow

459. Social communications media

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 459

Ave Maria series

What ethical responsibilities are connected with the communications media?

Media producers have a responsibility toward media consumers.  Above all they must truthfully inform.  In both the gathering and the publication of real news, the rights and dignity of individuals must be observed.  [2493-2499]

A television program director (left) sets the task for woman reporter and cameraman. ….. 459

The means of social communication should contribute to the establishment of justice, freedom, and solidarity in the world.  In actual fact, the media are not uncommonly used as weapons in ideological conflict, or else, in a quest for higher ratings, all ethical regulation of the content is abandoned and the media are turned into instruments for seducing people and making them dependent.

 [2493-2499]

THE USE OF THE SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA

2493 Within modern society the communications media play a major role in information, cultural promotion, and formation. This role is increasing, as a result of technological progress, the extent and diversity of the news transmitted, and the influence exercised on public opinion.--Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

2494 The information provided by the media is at the service of the common good. (Compare Inter Mirifica 11 .)²⁸⁵ Society has a right to information based on truth, freedom, justice, and solidarity: --CCC

The proper exercise of this right demands that the content of the communication be true and - within the limits set by justice and charity - complete. Further, it should be communicated honestly and properly. This means that in the gathering and in the publication of news, the moral law and the legitimate rights and dignity of man should be upheld.(Inter Mirifica 5 § 2.)²⁸⁶--CCC

2495 "It is necessary that all members of society meet the demands of justice and charity in this domain. They should help, through the means of social communication, in the formation and diffusion of sound public opinion."(Inter Mirifica 8.)²⁸⁷  Solidarity is a consequence of genuine and right communication and the free circulation of ideas that further knowledge and respect for others.--CCC

2496 The means of social communication (especially the mass media) can give rise to a certain passivity among users, making them less than vigilant consumers of what is said or shown. Users should practice moderation and discipline in their approach to the mass media. They will want to form enlightened and correct consciences the more easily to resist unwholesome influences.--CCC

2497 By the very nature of their profession, journalists have an obligation to serve the truth and not offend against charity in disseminating information. They should strive to respect, with equal care, the nature of the facts and the limits of critical judgment concerning individuals. They should not stoop to defamation.--CCC

2498 "Civil authorities have particular responsibilities in this field because of the common good. . . . It is for the civil authority . . . to defend and safeguard a true and just freedom of information."(Inter Mirifica 12.)²⁸⁸ By promulgating laws and overseeing their application, public authorities should ensure that "public morality and social progress are not gravely endangered" through misuse of the media.(Inter Mirifica 12 § 2.)²⁸⁹ Civil authorities should punish any violation of the rights of individuals to their reputation and privacy. They should give timely and reliable reports concerning the general good or respond to the well-founded concerns of the people. Nothing can justify recourse to disinformation for manipulating public opinion through the media. Interventions by public authority should avoid injuring the freedom of individuals or groups.--CCC

2499 Moral judgment must condemn the plague of totalitarian states which systematically falsify the truth, exercise political control of opinion through the media, manipulate defendants and witnesses at public trials, and imagine that they secure their tyranny by strangling and repressing everything they consider "thought crimes."–CCC

People  TV Truth A program director 

458. Seal of the confessional

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 458

Ave Maria series

How confidential is the secret of the confessional?

The secret of the confessional is sacred.  It cannot be violated for any reason, however weighty.  [2490]

Catholic faithful waiting in line for their turn to confess their sins to the priest seated in the confessional in the background.  A good confession brings great peace to the soul.…..458

Father Pedro Marieluz Garcés died a martyr as a Catholic military chaplain.  In 1825 in Peru, there occurred a conspiracy by some Royal soldiers against the Spanish governor. The plot was found out and the conspirators were sentenced to death. Before dying, they were allowed to confess their sins to Father Marieluz. Following the execution of the plotters, the Spanish governor believed that there might be other members of the plot who had escaped detection. Since Father Marieluz had heard the confessions of the executed soldiers the governor believed the priest would have knowledge of other conspirators. The governor tried to force Father Marieluz to disclose to him what he had heard under the holy seal of the confessional by threatening him to be shot if the chaplain priest would not obey. Father Marieluz refused to break the seal of the confessional and was executed September 23, 1825.

A priest must not report even the most heinous crime.  Not even what might seem like trifles can be revealed by the priest, even under torture. 238

Thomas Aquinas goes even farther and says that the priest knows the confession “not as man, but as God knows it”.

 [2490]

RESPECT FOR THE TRUTH

2490 The secret of the sacrament of reconciliation is sacred, and cannot be violated under any pretext. "The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore, it is a crime for a confessor in any way to betray a penitent by word or in any other manner or for any reason."(Codex Iuris Canonici, Can. 983 § 1.)²⁸⁴ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

Sacrament  Reconciliation......126.

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 25, 2019

Dagger Falls, Idaho, by Stephanie May. 

Lectionary: 123

Reading 1   ISAIAH 66:18-21

Thus says the LORD:
I know their works and their thoughts,and I come to gather nations of every language;they shall come and see my glory. I will set a sign among them;from them I will send fugitives to the nations:to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan,to the distant coastlandsthat have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory;and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations. They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nationsas an offering to the LORD,on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries,to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the LORD,just as the Israelites bring their offeringto the house of the LORD in clean vessels. Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the LORD.

Responsorial  PSALM 117:1, 2

R.(Mk 16:15) Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Praise the LORD all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!

R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.

For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.

R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Reading 2 HEBrews 12:5-7, 11-13

Brothers and sisters,
You have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children:"My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lordor lose heart when reproved by him;for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;he scourges every son he acknowledges." Endure your trials as "discipline";God treats you as sons. For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline?  At the time,all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,
yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousnessto those who are trained by it.
So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.

Alleluia   JOHN 14:6

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way, the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father, except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel   LUKE 13:22-30

Jesus passed through towns and villages,teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him,"Lord, will only a few people be saved?" He answered them,"Strive to enter through the narrow gate,for many, I tell you, will attempt to enterbut will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,then will you stand outside knocking and saying,'Lord, open the door for us.' He will say to you in reply,'I do not know where you are from. And you will say,'We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.'  Then he will say to you,'I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!' And there will be wailing and grinding of teethwhen you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacoband all the prophets in the kingdom of Godand you yourselves cast out.  And people will come from the east and the westand from the north and the southand will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first,and some are first who will be last."