“...because of the hardness of your heart..."

Jesus in Mathew 19:8 says to the Pharisees “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” I was recently reading in my Didache bible a section that referenced the Catechism talking about “hardness of heart”. Paraphrasing, it talked about frequent small decisions in our moral/spiritual lives that lead to this hardness of heart. The little things, the lack of virtuous choices – patience, prudence, lack of charity, lack of justice, lack of fortitude in the small daily lived out realities that lead us to the development of a hard heart...I have this problem, likely you do as well. So what?

The problems with a hard heart are many but simply put if you consider your actual heart that beats in your chest then start to layer on some thin concrete over and over again and see how well it beats and functions for you. See how well it will expand and pumps blood, gives life, and rather quickly it stops beating altogether. Ezekiel 11:19-20 says “And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will take the stony heart of out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statues and keep my ordinances and obey them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” What’s the practical application? Examine your heart and go to confession – let the Holy Spirit give you a new heart, a heart that will follow Jesus where he is leading you. A heart that will beat and expand with love and will ultimately be sacrificed for others like Christ.

Come Holy Spirit.