John 15:3

You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. (Jn 15:3)

(http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2012/04/01/aprile-2012/)

One finds this verse in the passage where Jesus speaks of the vine and the branches (John 15:1-8). These disciples of Jesus "have already been cleansed" because they live the word of Jesus, each one individually and together as a community.

The true vineyard is the community of those who adhere to Jesus, as the branches to the stump. Only he who remains united to Jesus, as the vine to the branches, belongs to the Father's vineyard. The disciple who follows Jesus is called, every day, to give his response to the Word, and in this way is grafted into Jesus. The Word of Jesus, accepted and lived, is like a seed of rebirth, like a germ of life, destined to grow incessantly in those who live it. An ever greater fidelity to the Word is the condition of every apostolic activity. The branch can have apostolic power only to the point that it is rooted in the Lord, bearing witness to Him in sorrows, trials and even death. This indwelling of Christ is a strong and courageous, manly and daily faithfulness. Because this fidelity of the disciple is guaranteed by the faithfulness of the Lord: "I in him."

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An Experience of Life:

Simone Weil, a Jewish converted to Christianity, looking one day at the tall and slender plants, with long and leafy branches, commented that these branches, flooded with sunlight, by way of the phenomenon of chlorophyll, transmitted the lifeblood to the whole plant and thus the roots branched deep into the earth. Concluding her paper, Simone Weil posed a question: "But the plants, then, where do they have their roots, in the earth or in heaven?". And she herself replied: "In Heaven". And she concluded: "So too we have our roots in heaven, and the more one is rooted in God, so much the more one becomes man and so much the more one enters into humanity and becomes companion to each man.”

Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matt. 5:8).
(http://www.domusviridis.org.uk/wol/1999/wol9911.htm)

We know that the Beatitudes are not a negative presentation of Christianity. The image before us is that of a king who in his program inserts a special attention for the category of the weaker ones, as the object of predilection.

The beatitudes are therefore not moral virtues but gifts of a new prospective.

Who then are the pure of heart? They are the simple people, without hidden wrinkles, who know how to see God in life and in the phenomena of nature, as a sun which shines from within everything and behind everything in existence. They are the ones who do not fall into the malice of suspicion as their only criteria to judge their neighbor, but live the phrase of Jesus: “If your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light” (Mt 6:22).

Our job is to purify our outlook, and life will be immediately, now, blessed. The saints are our first models.

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An Experience of Life:

I go to the school of cinematography. Even today the professor is shelling us with images of naked pseudo art. He says that he does this to prepare us for the work that we will have to encounter in the future. At the end of the lesson, I went to him: “I would like to say to you that I disapprove of the constant study of these images in order to acquire our professional licence”. His reply was cold: “Miss, you have something inside of you that is not resolved, but I am not the one to psychoanalyse you”.

I was not frightened; I listen to him and I remained in the reality that I had in my heart: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. As we continued to talk for a while he began to abandon his professorial tone. “If you knew how many times I cried because I had to do something that was against my principles! – he confided to me in the end. - But life has taught me to put up with everything, and you too will do the same!”

Unexpectedly the following day, the professor invited me to express my thoughts to the class regarding the sexual scenes. I looked at my companions: I knew that the greater part of them had very confusing ideas and I felt that it was the moment to transmit, with love, my certainty regarding the respect for others and for life. The professor supported me and declared that he shared my reflections.

After a few days, my companions came to tell me that they were in agreement with me, but they never before had the courage to express themselves freely. I took this opportunity to speak also about their difficulties and sentiments. They asked my advise. I emptied myself interiorly in order to receive each one of them. I listened to them thoroughly and they discovered by themselves the answers that they needed while rediscovering the values that they did know that they had in their hearts. There was born among all of us a freedom and a confidence unimaginable only a few days before. Jesus entered the school of cinematography and He is making headway in the souls of my companions. Only He is the medicine that can cure from the inside the confusion and the sicknesses of our society. (Sonia A. – Argentina).