Charity and chastity go hand in hand.
This simple message has been resonating in me ever since the priest at Holy Rosary said this in the confessional about a week ago. It’s never occured to me until then just how much one relies on the other.
Often times, we offer so much of ourselves in our service, that we fail to do so with charitable hearts. If we are lacking the virtue of charity, It is because we fall short in being chaste. Chastity is much more than control of our sexual desires. It is a discipline, presence of mind, and self-awareness. It is a simplistic pureness that is to overwhelm both the internal and external senses.
We experience that, although “our heart is in the right place”, we fail to uphold a chaste life. Charity without chastity is death. It often leads to a distorted Truth that our actions are always justified so long as our intentions are pure. However, that is rarely the case. Our hearts may have a yearning to give, but we can only give what we have. Charitableness loses it’s meaning if it is not bearing on good soil.
I believe St. Joseph is considered the chaste spouse not just because he upheld Mary’s virginity, but also because he was a protector. Just as he is protector of the universal Church, he protected his very own family. Though often we hear that we must protect ourselves in order to preserve our chastity, I also believe that chastity itself protects us. It protects us by allowing only that of the Lord to remain in our hearts – our thoughts, our actions, our intentions. We can only give what we have. The more we fail to live chastely, the less of God’s pure goodness we can exude and the more we fail to love. St. Joseph’s chastity affirms us that living a chaste life allows us to love unconditionally, with great charity, and with a posture of relentless giving. His chastity (that is, a constant mortification and a deep integrity) allowed him to live his vocation of love towards Jesus – as provider, protector, teacher, servant.
Even more necessary than St. Joseph’s intercession is our ardent desire to love and to serve as our Blessed mother did. We must fix our gaze upon Mama Mary in those times we fail to firmly root our actions in love. Every mention of Mary in the Gospel shows our lady exuding three divine charisms – joy, obedience, and charity (love). She was annointed by God with the vocation of none another than an Immaculate heart. While Joseph was, in a sense, an ordinary man with an extraordinary vocation, Mama Mary was an extraordinary woman who perfectly and flawlessly lived her “ordinary” vocation (to love and serve) in its absolute fullness. Our Lady is the prime example of how a pure and chaste heart purifies all actions and intentions, never leading astray, and always putting others above self simply because the Lord simply asks.
O what I would give to witness the moment of her Magnificat.
What the Lord was trying to tell me was that in the midst of the ever-continuous refinement (by virtues and by grace) lies an even more deeper Truth – my soul must be chastened in order for my heart to remain charitable.
Our Lord says, “Remain in my love.” I never really understood that until now. He calls us to remain in him by protecting our hearts from all things that could prevent us from giving, and loving, for the sake of God’s glory. Remain chaste through acts of charity. Remain loving through righteousness and chastity.
A Chaste Soul. A Charitable Heart. In all these things, Lord, make me a wellspring, giving everything that I have received and receiving only that which I am willing to give.
Amen.
