We Have to Avoid Extremes and Balance the Demands of God's Commandments With Mercy

With the focus on marriage in today's Gospel reading, we reflect on the challenges couples face. Jesus also understands how difficult it is for us. He has compassion for people who in their human weakness fall short of what is the ideal, but at the same time, our weakness cannot be an excuse to disregard what God has intended marriage to be. Jesus has the wisdom to balance the demands of God's commandments with mercy and compassion. Likewise, we have to avoid the extremes -- condemning and excluding anyone who cannot fulfil the demands of the rules, or completely throw out God's vision for marriage and calling it unrealistic. God's command isn't just a law that we must follow. It's a beautiful vision of life. -Sunday Homily by Fr. Gerard Louis, C.Ss.R. (6 October 2024)