“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisees, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.” (Matthew 23:25-26)
We often spend so much time focusing on our outward appearance; not only physically, our clothes, shoes, hair, makeup, accessories, etc, but on our actions as well. We want recognition for the good that we do; we pat ourselves on the back. But the real focus should be on what is in our hearts. This can be very difficult. We don’t want to see the areas in our hearts where sin looms; the selfish, prideful, jealous and hateful side of ourselves. It is crushing to our ego so we often don’t look at it. We busy ourselves with the things that make us look good. “While evasion and distractions draw us away from the road to real happiness, prayer brings us back to what is most authentic in man’s quest for happiness. ‘The truth will set you free’. Prayer makes us free; it preserves what is most fragile and most precious in us: the integrity of our desire, that desire which, in final analysis, is nothing but the need for God.” (Fr. Bernard Bro)
It is through prayer that God will help us to see what needs to change in our lives. Through prayer we receive the grace necessary to do God’s will. I pray for God to reveal to me the areas in my heart that need to be purified. And when I am really open to this, it is painful. But as I slowly become the person he created me to be, I can see the beauty in the cross. I pray for him to burn away all that is not of him, and as I am being refined, I begin to see his light shine forth. This isn’t a onetime thing, but a daily process that will continue until we are with him in heaven. And while this can be discouraging at times, there is comfort in knowing that our final destination will be more glorious than we can imagine. To be with Him is what our heart truly desires, nothing less.
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