Our Book of Pure Hearts now registers over ten thousand names. They represent those mostly young people who have joined the Movement of Pure Hearts (MPH) and made a total commitment to Jesus because they wish to love truly and chastely. Here are a few accounts of how their decision bears fruit in their lives:
Evelina, aged 22:
For a year now I have been going out with the boy I love. At first everything was just great. But the more time we spent together, the less our conversations and walks together seemed to satisfy us. We wanted more, something that would strengthen our love. We decided petting and touching would serve that purpose and bring us closer together. We saw nothing wrong in what we were doing. We loved each other and so we felt entitled to engage in this behavior. Sometimes our conscience would bother us, but we played it down, persuading ourselves it was no big deal. The only reason we stopped short of sexual intercourse was that we wished to avoid an unwanted pregnancy and its consequences. All year we went to church as if nothing were the matter. Occasionally we went to confession. Though we would confess our actions we felt no remorse over them; nor did we try to correct the situation. This went on for a year or so until I received that special issue of Love One Another Magazine. It hit me like a lightning bolt! I read the issue from cover to cover and realized I was destroying the love Jesus had gifted us with. For the first time in a long time I knelt down to say my night prayers, and Jesus took the time to show me the great error we had lived in over the last period. Only chaste behavior could strengthen our love for each other. But it is never too late to make amends. We both agreed that we could no longer keep putting ourselves to the test. At first we found it hard to stay chaste, but thanks to the strength and grace we received and continue to receive at every Holy Mass and in the sacrament of reconciliation, we have succeeded! Now we are both very happy and thankful that Jesus intervened in time, and did not allow us to totally destroy our love.
If we entrust everything to Jesus, He will certainly give us the graces and strength we need for the struggle. For Him there is no one too dirty or too sinful.
A reader:
Three years ago I met Jesus on my life’s journey and I was born again. I began to walk with Him, and though my wounds weren’t immediately healed, God has sustained me throughout all this time.
One of my life’s dreams has always been to have a happy, loving family. Preventing me from realizing that dream were my problems of purity. It took me a long time to mature into the virtue of chastity. With God’s help and thanks to Mary’s intercession, I began to put my life in order only a year ago. I started with regular monthly confessions, which I offered up for my friends. After eight months they were married, and God allowed me to see the change in their lives.
This gave me the strength to go further. A month after their wedding and after my ninth First Friday confession, I recited the MPH Prayer of Consecration and joined the Movement of Pure Hearts. Since then a great deal has changed in my life. One of God’s greatest gifts to me was meeting this girl I have started going out with. Regardless of what God has prepared for us, I trust we will live life in all its fullness.
But I know that we can achieve nothing on our own. So I decided to write this letter, which, in addition to being an expression of gratitude to the Movement of Pure Hearts, expresses my ‘yes’ to God’s love working in my life. It is an expression of my desire that God love me and I love God. I want to live my life loving chastely and truly.
Magda:
I always say it began with a little publication that fell into my hands. From Love One Another Magazine I learned about the MPH retreats. The retreats made me realize the seriousness of the matter: how important chastity and purity of heart were for us. On meeting young people who lived as if these things really mattered, I decided it was worth swimming against the current. Before that, I was of the opinion that since hardly anyone wanted to live chastely these days, what was the point of insisting otherwise? But then I saw things as they really are. Membership in the MPH and reciting the MPH Prayer of Consecration help us to stay the course even when sometimes we feel like giving up. Whenever I fall into sin, I go the confession as soon as I can. Thanks to MPH, I now read the Holy Scriptures regularly. I see the fruits of the Holy Spirit increasing in my life and now I try to live as if I really want to enjoy heaven one day.
Gregory:
Keeping the MPH promises encourages me to look at women chastely and to pick myself up right away whenever I fall into sin. Belonging to MPH shows me that chastity has profound meaning and that being one with God and seeking His will every day result in good fruits. God shows me how important I am to Him since He allowed me to be born. He gave me His Son that I should not have to bear the consequences of my sins but rather enjoy eternal life: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).