Nineteenth Friday of Ordinary Time

"Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.” They said to him, “Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?” He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery."

We are constantly tempted to make excuses for our sins. This extends not only to sins like choosing to divorce a spouse (without an annulment) and then remarrying, but also other sins such as lying, acting uncharitably toward someone in need, etc. Our minds can construct excuses out of thin air, but these pretexts are empty in the eyes of God. He is not primarily concerned with our thoughts, but rather with our actions: good and evil. If we do evil, then He shall remember it until we seek His Divine Mercy. If we do good from our hearts, then He shall reward us with the graces we need to bear any burden and to one day join Him in His never-ending heavenly feast.

Are we in the habit of making excuses? How can we overcome this temptation and instead do God's Will without hesitation? In what areas of our life are our hearts hardened and what can we do to soften them?

O Lord, make us open to doing your will without delay or excuse.

Amen.