Spiritual Gift of the Week
We pray for the grace of pure hearted perseverance,
that we may follow Christ’s beatitudes in joyful hope.
Mary’s life is a meditation on pure hearted perseverance as she accepted with joyful hope,
her role in the mystery of the incarnation.
Spiritual Instruction of the Week
Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)
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Dear Beautiful Daughters of Mary,
As we walked through the theatre district in New York City last Spring, I said to my dear husband: “Please hold my hand, I think we are in pagan territory.” My negative assessment of what looked like a month of May Halloween party was based solely on the immodest dress of the crowd who loitered this famous corner.
To be modest does not mean that we are ashamed of our bodies. It means that we have respect for the power of our sexuality. But, there is more to modesty than simply wearing “appropriate” attire. We practice modesty in our attire, and also in our actions—in our thoughts—and also in our words. We do not speak out of turn, or too soon, or too proudly, or too scandalously. And finally, we do not speak in the grotesque style of gossip. Modesty is a sense of decency. To be modest means that we revere the Spirit of God, hidden within the human heart and soul. It means, as the Catechism states, “refusing to unveil what should remain hidden.” It means to protect our dignity as women loved by God.
Mary is our model of modesty. Her holiness was seen in her modest speech and behavior. As Kevin Tierney wrote: “When we look at the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we see Mary involved in many of the key events of salvation history, but seldom do we actually read her thoughts about being the Mother of God. We never see the thought process behind her fiat. Even in the lengthy instance of her speaking (The Magnificat), we only see her blessing God, instead of explaining to her cousin the joyous event which has occurred. When the shepherds tell Mary an angel spoke of her child’s true identity, we don’t have her response. When Simeon tells her that not only is Christ the Messiah, but that this has very painful ramifications for her, we still hear nothing. We should not imply from this silence that Mary was an automaton, who had no feelings. Luke’s Gospel tells us instead on two different occasions that Mary “pondered these things in her heart.” (Luke 2:19-51) Her first tendency was not to broadcast herself to the world, but rather to veil those thoughts within her heart, where she could converse about them with God.” (“Toward A Marian Modesty”)
To ponder things in our heart means that we modestly await God’s revelation—rather than reveal ourselves inappropriately, or at an inopportune time. To be modest is to be patient. And reserved. (CCC) Modesty curtails curiosity—it is discreet. (CCC) To be modest is to be pure hearted.“Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God,” Jesus told his followers in Matthew 5. What Jesus did not say explicitly, but implied in his modest style of life: Pure heartedness requires modesty.
It is pure gift to be in your company dear beautiful Daughters of Mary. Your modest sense of style is apparent. We pray to lead a modest lifestyle as our Mother Mary led, knowing that modesty prepares us for pure hearted and loving relationships. To be modest is to protect the mystery of our dignity as persons created in God’s image. As we are told in the Catechism: “Modesty is intrinsic to our human condition.” It is one of the 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit. Modesty is our October fruit of the month.
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Saintly thoughts on modesty:
1. When she was just a child, age 9, Teresa of Avila, told her parents “I want to see God.” They most surely responded: Be modest and pure of heart! Years later, she taught her Carmelite sisters not to be vain and proud of their mystical visions and prayerful encounters with God. She gave the following injunction: “Be modest in all your words and works.”
2. After his conversion, Ignatius of Loyola, did not cut his hair or fingernails for a period of time in order to discipline his vanity. He discerned after a while that this action was immodest. It drew much attention to him, and detracted from his message on prayer. He later commended his brother Jesuits to be modest, saying: ”Let your modesty be a sufficient incitement, yea, an exhortation to everyone to be at peace on their merely looking at you.”
Preghiamo—Let us pray,
Deb
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