In the lesson of the foundation of the Church, we see Jesus laying the foundation of the Church with the first apostles. We also read that we are called even today to be just like the apostles.
 
How do we follow Christ? We are called to give our whole mind, heart, and soul to Him for His service. “We can well understand that to follow Christ we need to live holy purity and purify our hearts.” [1]

Search: Heart. Mind. Soul.
 
Why should we live a life of purity? The sixth beatitude is “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.” If we truly want to see God everyday we have to live a life of purity. If we live in sin, it is harder to see God. “Your body, you know, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you since you received him from God. You are not your own property: you have been bought and paid for. That is why you should use your body for the glory of God. No one has ever taught about the dignity of the body in the way that the Church does. Purity is the glory of the human body before God. It is the glory of God in the human body.” [2]
 
Why do we struggle with impurity? We all struggle with impurity in our own way because of our Original Sin and the effects it leaves on us. “The wounds of original sin in our intellect, our will, our passions and affections did not disappear with the guilt of it when we were baptized.” [3] Our soul tends to want to rebel from God due to our Original Sin. However, Jesus did come to show us the way to live a pure, virtuous life and be one with Him.
 
What’s the harm in being impure? To remain in impurity does a lot of harm to a person’s dignity, their will to follow anything that is good and holy, and dulls our holiness and strive towards it. Impurity destroys love on every level for a human being. It takes the person into a selfish being, who only looks for control and manipulation for their own pleasure, where cruelty and violence are common.
 
What is the remedy for impurity? As mentioned, Jesus showed us and provided us with a way. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive gifts; one of which is temperance. Temperance is the virtue to help moderate our desires into love and charity.  If we are truly living out temperance, the fruit of this gift is chastity.  Chastity is the practicing of true love or true charity, where one does not look to satisfy his or her own selfish desires, but seeks to help another. Everyone is called to live a life of purity no matter what his or her vocation is. “The purification of the heart demands prayer, the practice of chastity, purity of intention and of vision.” [4] If we practice modesty in our dress, our language, our behavior, and our actions, this will go a long way to help bring the cure for impurity. If we are looking to bring love instead of lust we will remember the acronym “S.P.I.C.E.”: Spiritual, Physical, Intellect, Creativity/Communicative, and Emotion. If we give of ourselves in these ways to God, He will bless us by showing what He truly wants from us, and in turn we will be able to use “S.P.I.C.E.” properly with everyone.

CHASTITY CHART
 
Living to see God is a struggle because living a life of purity is a struggle. Purity of heart requires us to be modest, which is patience, decency, and discretion; all of which are mocked at or pushed aside in today’s culture as well as the times of St. Paul, as we read in the second reading at Mass. “Modesty protects the intimate center of the person.” [5]
 
What is the reward of living a life of purity? Those who truly live a life of purity of heart “are promised that they will see God face-to-face and be like him [6] If we seek God’s heart we will see and accept others as our neighbors and each of us will see that we are truly the a temple of the Holy Spirit and see the dignity and image of God, the divine beauty, in each person. Also, by achieving purity we are in control of our desires instead of the other way around, and as Saint Dominic puts it, “A man who governs his passions is master of his world. We must either command them or be enslaved by them. It is better to be a hammer than an anvil.” 

[1] In Conversation with God 3, 8.1
[2] St. John Paul II, General Audience, 18 March 1981
[3] In Conversation with God 3, 8.1
[4] CCC 2532
[5] CCC 2533
[6] CCC 2519