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Monday of the Tenth week in Ordinary Time

Commentary of the day
Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Sermon 53

“They shall see God”

We want to see God, we seek to see him, we ardently desire to see him. Who does not desire this? But note what the gospel says: “Blest are the pure of heart: they shall see God.” Do what is necessary in order to see him. To compare it with something from material reality, how can you want to contemplate the rising sun if your eyes are sick? If your eyes are healthy, that light will be a pleasure for you; if they are sick, it will be torture for you. You will surely not be allowed to see with an impure heart what one can only see with a pure heart. You will be moved away, put at a distance, you will not see.

How often did the Lord proclaim people to be “blest”? What reasons for eternal happiness did he cite, what good works, what gifts, what merits and what rewards? No other beatitude says, “They shall see God.” This is what the others say: “How blest are the poor in spirit: the reign of God is theirs. Blest are the lowly; they shall inherit the land. Blest are the sorrowing; they shall be consoled. Blest are they who hunger and thirst for holiness; they shall have their fill. Blest are they who show mercy; mercy shall be theirs.” So none other asserts, “They shall see God.”

The vision of God is promised to people with a pure heart. This is not without a reason, since the eyes that allow us to see God are in the heart. Those are the eyes the apostle Paul was talking about when he said: “May he enlighten your innermost vision” (Eph 1:18). So at the present time, because of their weakness, those eyes are enlightened by faith; later, because of their strength, they will be enlightened by vision… “Now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.” (1 Cor 13:12)