The Shiniest Gold Is the Hidden Gold: Gratitude for Pure Hearts

“[But] take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father." Matthew 6:1 NABRE

The hidden interior

I watched a homily on television recently and the priest wore a white chasuble. When he moved his arms, I could see that the inside of his chasuble was a shiny, glorious gold.

I almost couldn't believe how beautiful it was, how thoughtfully designed, to be only the interior of the garment! It was like I was seeing it only by accident.

It was a priest whom I perceive as being an exemplary priest, a holy priest. How fitting was the gold...Because I bet he’s golden on the inside! 

I was reminded of when we get peaks at someone’s “inside.” We get to see who they really are. 

Catching glimpses

A dear friend of mine took my phone call one night to listen to all of my heartaches. Little did I know that just earlier that same day, she had intervened in a violent and scary situation.

She hadn't told me. And she still took my phone call to listen to my heart's sorrows! That’s the kind of person she is. I glimpsed the reality of her heart—14 karat gold! 

The inside of that priest’s chasuble was gold. Like my friend's heart. Like his own heart, I presume. 

But we also get glimpses of people that we wish we hadn’t seen. 

I'm reminded of a Harvard Ph.D. I met and the way he spoke to a custodian. Sigh. 

But enough of that! 

A top brass example

My favorite example I’ve heard of a "golden glimpse" was shared by Orson Welles on The Dick Cavett Show.

He spoke of General George Marshall.

Orson Welles was at a banquet celebrating an election victory of President Roosevelt. The event was attended by “big brass” and “tremendous names” from WWII. An extremely boyish, innocent GI poked his head into the event and asked General Marshall if he could say hello to him. Welles told Dick Cavett:

“Marshall didn’t know anybody was watching…He took the boy aside away from everybody and sat down with him…he sat with this boy without any grandstanding at all and just put him at ease and made him feel at home again for half an hour and left all the rest of us. He was that kind of fellow.”

May we all try to be “that kind of fellow.”

Like the movement of the priest’s arms revealing the golden interior of his chasuble, may our movements betray our golden baptismal graces. 

Reference

The Dick Cavett Show. 2019. "Orson Welles Recounts Crossing Paths With Hitler And Churchill!" YouTube video, June 28, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_PUUHLknDI.