PURITY OF MIND

In the Gospel of Matthew 5th chapter Jesus says: “You have heard that it was said: ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” (Mt 5:27-29)

It is natural that every normal man is confronted with a temptation in the sphere of purity through some woman who as if innately evokes in him a kind of physical pleasure, whether by her face, by general visage or by emphasizing certain parts of woman body. This animalism is in us and one must in humility be conscious of it. Humility is even here the basis for receiving of sound principles which protect us so that we not let ourselves be enslaved by the pressure of the corrupted nature of our flesh. If we yield to it, we become slaves of our own lustfulness which works as a powerful drug. He who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life (cf. Gal 6:8).

The first impulse to inward adultery happens above all through the eye. This is followed by a feeling and a thought. Impure mind is ruled by impure imagination – by inner eye. If our mind is pure, then both our inner and outer eye are pure and then also our whole body is full of light (cf. Mt 6:22). Eye, hand, foot are just instruments of our will which bears responsibility for them. Our will and our mind are to be ruled by the light of the truth of the Gospel (cf. Mk 1:15). If our mind is ruled by the belief in the Gospel, we have sound, God’s principles and if we have opened ourselves to the Holy Spirit and at the same time broken with the spirit of this world, we are able to fight against the deceitful system of our nature –the flesh. The question of fornication or adultery is the question of our mind. Our mind is to be pure – it is to be ruled by the Spirit and not by the flesh!

Merlin Carrothers tells this story: A certain pastor of the Pentecost Church built up a prosperous congregation. He had a good wife and well-bred children. His ministry brought a lot of blessing for almost 30 years. One day a certain woman from his congregation asked him for a pastoral talk. She confessed that she was often thinking of him and imagining impure things. The pastor had not expected such conversation, he was not prepared for it. What he was obliged to do was straightaway to stop her, radically to change the topic of conversation and as soon as possible to end it. However, for his dullness he heard her out with compassion. Outwardly as if nothing happened. The pastor resolved that provided she should wish to visit him for the second time, he would call his wife so that she could be a witness to the next talk. However, the said person met him unexpectedly, began a conversation and started to cry. Out of false compassion he stroke her. She immediately used the opportunity and embraced him. The result? Soon after she became pregnant and harshly demanded that he was to divorce his wife and marry her. When afterwards he consulted the pastor Merlin, he told him something as follows: “You fell into a trap, but the root is deeper. How were you looking at women during your life?” He replied: “Normally, as any other man.” Merlin told him: “But this is just where the whole problem lies, and that is why this catastrophe happened. What does it mean ‘normally’? It means that you did not stand up radically against impure thoughts and images. Even if you never admitted a thought of physical adultery, you were committing spiritual adultery through your inner eye (imagination) and this hotbed was through the years waiting for an opportunity and when it came, then it became manifest. That is the core of the problem.” Then the pastor publicly announced before the whole parish what he had committed, he became an ordinary worker and in this way maintained his family and moreover paid alimony for the child born of adultery. For this sin he suffered great pain and humiliation on himself, on all his family and the parishioners, too, were deeply hurt. Some of them were very much offended at the adultery of their pastor. The root of the whole misery consisted in the fact that he did not look to the purity of mind, that he did not pluck out the inner eye of imagination and did not throw it away (cf. Mt 5:29)

The pastor Carrothers tells another story: A certain lady who outwardly lived in a happy marriage asked for a pastoral talk. Her parents were credited with building up a church in their congregation and her husband was doing all that she would only wish. Other women secretly envied her happy life. She, however, had her own image of what her husband should be like. Though he was a very good man, according to her parameters he was little attentive to her. Once they visited their friends. Their host during the conversation showed his wife great attention, yet she received it somewhat coldly. The lady in her heart condemned her friend that she did not return such attention and kindness with gratitude. On the nearest occasion she praised the said husband for his attention to his cold wife and at the same time she complained of similar coldness of her husband. Suddenly, as if they found each other. However, this man then wanted her to divorce and leave her husband. But she too much loved her children, and she knew that if she got divorced, not regarding the fact that it was a grave sin, her children would stay with her husband. The pastor advised her that she must resolutely break with this acquaintance. She said that she had already been about to do so but could not, and she confessed her thoughts of suicide in which she saw the only way out. Even the categorical warning that by such devious thinking she seriously endangers her eternal salvation did not help. In about a month the pastor came to hear that “by unlucky accident” this woman had a car-crash and suffered a death injury.

We often see an absolutely unwise and scandalous behaviour of young priests towards women. God will not protect them if they ignore both natural and spiritual protection against the fall. It is only a question of time when it will result in a catastrophe. The statistics render sad balance of numerous withdrawals from priesthood. The statistics of divorces, and that even in Christian families, is not better! What is the solution? To take God’s Word seriously (Mt 5:27-29) and to look to the purity of mind. This advice does not concern only priests, but also the believing men and women – all must strive for purity of mind.

With women the purity of mind is not so much related to the sphere of carnality but to the sphere of pride. From human nature automatically arise the inner attitudes – a desire to be important, to appeal to someone in a certain way, to attract one’s attention. All this is a great disposition to the receiving of the spirit of deceit, therefore Christian women should – concerning their thinking – do repentance above all in relation to this sphere of pride. Through repentance they should become more and more truthful so that they are not guided by their self-love but that both their thinking and conduct spring from a living relation to God. This is the biggest protection against the strong influence of the spirit of the world which, in a great measure, is also an unclean spirit. The supreme ideal of true life is the Mother of God – Virgin Mary.

Purity of mind is connected with a living faith in Jesus, with pure love to Him and with humility which is ready to learn and take advice not only in this sphere but above all in the purity of faith. The current heresies of HCT (historic-critical theology) and openness to occultism dispose as priests so the common believers to apostasy from Christ and finally they are a way to hell!

If we look at adultery from the point of view of God’s Word, we can see that the root is in impure thinking and fantasy, the disposition to which is moreover given through pornography, impure films… And therefore the sin is not only the impure act but even the fact that one consciously abides in impure thoughts. Before God’s Judgement we will render accounts before the whole world even of these impure looks and thoughts.

As for homosexuality, the view of the Scripture is clear, it is a graver sin than adultery or blood fornication mentioned by the Apostle in the Epistle to Corinth: “Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (1Cor 5:5)

“Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters (occultists), nor adulterers, nor homosexuals… will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1Cor 6:9)

The Apostle points at our great dignity, which we often forget: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?” (1Cor 6:15-19)

Therefore it is necessary to pluck out the spiritual eye of imagination and likewise, it is necessary to separate even the physical look from a lustful one.

The fight for purity of heart always was and especially nowadays is a bloodless martyrdom and true heroism!

In Christ,

                 Fr. Eliáš A. Dohnal ThD. OSBM

                 Fr. Metod?j R. Špi?ík ThD. OSBM

                 Fr. Cyril J. Špi?ík Ing. ThD. OSBM

                 Fr. Markian V. Hitiuk ThLic. OSBM

Pidhirtsi 28th June 2007