"Rend your hearts, not your garments" --Joel 2:13

This was read at the Ash Wednesday Mass, and it struck me that many people will apply this to correcting sins in their lives such as pride or greed, but rarely do they have the gumption to use it to battle for purity. Becoming pure in and through the Lord requires us to give up our twisted desires that are lodged in our hearts-- and often this is not simply something which can be handed over to the Lord, but rather something which involves His skillful operation (and us willingly climbing lying down on the operating table!). It requires us to not simply police our actions (rend our garments) but rather to root out impurity from the deepest part of our souls (rend our hearts). Until we are able to give up our addiction to near-occasions of lust to the Lord, we cannot be purified.