Oct 30 Mon
Life of holiness.
The Lord said: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be filled.” This hunger is not for bodily food, this thirst is not for any earthly drink: it is a longing to be blessed with holiness, and to be filled with the Lord himself.
Happy is the soul that longs for the food of holiness or justice, and thirsts for this kind of drink; no one would seek such things if he had not previously tasted them. When the someone hears the voice of the Spirit saying: “Taste and see that the Lord is good,” he has already received a portion of God’s goodness, and he is on fire with love, the love that gives joy of total purity.
For this person, all that belongs to time counts as nothing; he is entirely consumed with desire to eat and drink the food of holiness. That person finds the true meaning of the first and great commandment: “You shall love the Lord God with your whole heart, and your whole mind and your whole strength,” because to love God is to love holiness, sanctity of life.
Finally, just as the love of God should result in concern for one’s neighbor, so the desire for holiness should result in the virtue of mercy, as it is said: “Blessed are the merciful, for God will be merciful to them.”
Remember, Christian, God –Mercy itself– wishes you to be merciful and compassionate; The Holy One himself wishes you to be holy, so that the Creator may shine forth in his creature, and the image of God may be reflected in the mirror of the human heart as it imitates his qualities. The faith of those who live their faith is a serene faith. What you long for will be given you; what you love will be yours forever.
Since it is by giving yourself that everything becomes pure for you, you will also receive that blessing which is promised next by the Lord: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”
Great is the happiness of those for whom such a reward is prepared. Who are the clean of heart if not those committed to live a holy life? What mind can imagine the great happiness of seeing God? What words can express it? Yet man will achieve this, when he has been transformed, so that he will see God, “no longer in a mirror or obscurely but face to face.” In the deep joy of seeing God, human nature will possess “what eye has not seen or ear heard, what man’s heart has never conceived.”
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