Episode Transcript  

One

Purity

What is a pure heart? We know it’s something good. In fact, Jesus names it as one of the marks of blessedness at the very beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” But what does that really mean? Are you pure of heart? Am I?

Let’s begin by understanding what purity actually is. Purity means something is unmixed and undiluted. Pure gold, for example, has no other metals mixed in. It’s just gold. A pure chemical substance is completely homogeneous, not a mixture, but a single, unified substance throughout.
So something is pure when it is consistent and whole, not divided, not mixed.

That helps. But now let’s ask: what does it mean for a heart to be pure?

Two

Impurity
Something becomes impure when it’s contaminated. You don’t have pure drinking water if there’s anything in it besides H₂O, like a dead fly, dirt, or some toxic chemical. That’s not pure water. There are too many foreign substances present for the water to be considered pure. So what is it that makes our hearts impure? What contaminates them?

Here it is: our hearts become impure whenever we place anything above God. That’s what defiles the heart. Whenever we fall in love with something more than God, whenever we believe we need that thing in order to be happy or safe, our hearts are no longer pure. In other words, idols make our hearts impure. We say we believe in God, that He is the most important reality, and that union with Him in Heaven will be perfect happiness. Yet we try to blend idol worship into our hearts, we treat some created good as though it were equally non-negotiable, as though it were just as necessary for happiness as God Himself.

We may think professional success is essential because our identity and self-worth are built on it. We may treat our children as the most important thing in the world, pouring all our time and attention into them. We may fixate on our health as the highest good, letting it consume our energy and focus. Our idols can be a romantic relationship, an erotic experience, entertainment, accomplishments, financial security.

Deep down, we act and feel as though we need these things, as though we can’t live without them, as though we must have them, no matter what. Some people deny they have idols, but whatever keeps us from spending substantial time with God in prayer, or whatever dominates our thoughts when we do try to pray, those are our idols.

Three

Purging an Impure Heart
So all of our hearts are compromised, tainted, contaminated by idolatry. How then can our hearts be purified? How can we become blessed? How can we be made fit to see God?

Scripture is clear: we must go through a purification process. Another word for purification is “purgation.” One of the most common biblical images for this purgation is the refining of gold or silver. How are these precious metals purified? How are contaminants removed? They must be subjected to intense heat, uncomfortable, burning heat, so that impurities can rise and be separated.

Listen to how Scripture describes the purifying of our hearts through fire, suffering, and trial: Isaiah 48:10, “See, I have refined you like silver, testing you in the furnace of affliction.” Malachi 3:2–3, “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like the refiner’s fire… He will sit refining and purifying… refining them like gold or silver.” 1 Peter 1:6ff, “In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire—may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor.”

In other words, purifying our hearts, removing the idolatry and impurity, is going to hurt.

Four

Why Does It Have to Hurt?
Why does purifying the heart involve pain? Why does it require suffering? Here’s why: our hearts are impure because we’ve given them to something other than God. We’ve built our happiness on something less. We’ve made an idol of some created thing. And when that thing is taken away, what do we call it? We call it heartbreak.

If a woman believes her happiness depends on the love of a particular man, and he leaves her, she’s heartbroken. If a man builds his identity on success and then fails, he is crushed. If any of us sets our heart on something of this world, well, things of this world will fail. They will fall apart. They will disappoint. And we will be heartbroken.

But if that heartbreak teaches us to place our happiness in God alone, to set our hearts on Him alone, then that pain becomes purification.
And this purification leads to the ultimate happiness Jesus promised: beatitude. “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”

Five

Detachment: The Path to Blessedness
So what is it that you think you can’t live without? What created thing do you believe is essential? What idol is contaminating your heart? I know painfully well what my three idols are. That’s something for me, God, my confessor, and my spiritual director, but I know them.
We will only find true happiness once those idols are removed, once we are detached, once we are at peace with the thought of letting them go.
That’s when the process of purification truly begins.

Idols are like addictions, and the first step toward healing is to admit our powerlessness and surrender the idol to God. Consecrate yourself to Jesus and Mary. And consecrate that idol, that addiction, to them, every single day. Practice self-denial in concrete ways that help you detach.
Ask God to send the grace and the circumstances that will help you let go. Ask the Divine Refiner to purify your heart with His fire, so that all the dross may be burned away, and you may shine like the saints, with a pure and undivided love for God, delighting in the only One who can satisfy your heart.

Suggested Resolutions:

Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you. 

• Idols are like addictions, and the first step toward healing is to admit our powerlessness and surrender the idol to God. Consecrate yourself to Jesus and Mary. And consecrate that idol, that addiction, to them, every single day.

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