Reflection for the Fifth Week of Lent 2022

Divine Dialogue of God with the Soul

This weekend at Mass there are several options for the Gospel reading. Depending on the choice of your Liturgy Committee or your Pastor, you might hear the story of raising Lazarus from the dead, or the woman caught in adultery, or a hostile scene with Jesus and the leaders.  I would like to comment briefly on the story of the adulterous woman.

We know the story: caught in the act; brought before a ‘judge’ who was Himself being judged; she stood before the public as a sinner, but her prosecutors were themselves revealed as sinners. She, who thought she would lose everything including her life, became instead a woman washed in mercy by the King of Mercy. He did not dismiss her sin: He recognized her sinfulness and turned it into an occasion of an intimacy she could have never imagined. She was forgiven, redeemed, saved. She who had been used by men was now possessed by God.

I do not condemn you, Jesus said to her. Go, and do not commit this sin again. It was the beginning of a future that would place her at the foot of the cross. She loved much because she had been forgiven much. That would be you and I.

Praise You, Lord Jesus.

God bless you. Have a lovely Lenten Week.