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Cure Your Hardness of Heart
3 min
Gospel
Mt 19:3-12
And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one’? So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman, commits adultery.”
The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.” But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this precept, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.”
Readings are taken from Dynamic Catholic’s Bible: RSV Catholic Edition.
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Transcript
Cure Your Hardness of Heart
Welcome back to Radical
and Relevant, where each day we take a look at the reading of the day to allow the
genius of the gospel to take root in our lives. Today's reading is from the Gospel of
Matthew 19: 3-12. And the Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, is it
lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause? And Jesus answered, "Have you not read that
He who made them from the beginning made them male and female and said, 'For this
reason, a man shall leave his mother and father and be joined to his wife, and the two
shall become one.' So they are no longer two, but one. What therefore God has joined
together, let no man put asunder." And they said to him, "Why then did Moses command us
to give a certificate of divorce and to put her away?" And Jesus said to them, "For your
hardness of heart, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning, it
was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity and
marries another commits adultery. And he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery."
The disciples said to him, "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not
expedient to marry."
But he said to them, "Not all men can receive
this precept, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so
from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men. And there are
eunuchs who have been made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He
who is able to receive this let him receive it." What jumps out at you today? Is there a
word? Is there a phrase? Is there an idea? A phrase that jumps out at me is Jesus says
to them, "For your hardness of heart." We all harden our hearts at different times,
right? Sometimes we do it to protect ourselves. Sometimes we have to do it to protect
ourselves in certain situations, in certain relationships. But hardness of heart is not
the disposition of a Christian. Hardness of heart is not what God is inviting us to. And
so maybe to think about your life, maybe there's one area of your life where your heart
has become hardened. Maybe there's a particular relationship in your life, where your
heart has become hardened, where God is calling you, inviting you, challenging you,
encouraging you to soften your heart towards that situation or to soften your heart
towards that person. Have a great day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.
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