April 6, 2025
5th Sunday
Lent
FOCUS: Go, and from now on do not sin any more.
In this Lenten season, our readings reflect on mercy and repentance. Indeed, repentance is at the foundation of our Lenten calling. May we truly examine our hearts for ways we can seek God’s abundant mercy and grow in our relationship with him. Like the woman caught in adultery, we must be willing to allow Jesus to see our shortcomings if we wish to receive the forgiveness he offers.
What's in Your Heart
The readings today take us into the realm of the impossible. Yahweh put water in the desert—impossible; Saint Paul tells us we will attain resurrection from the dead—impossible; the adulterous woman is condemned by no one—impossible.
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What impossible deeds has God performed in your life? What other impossible deeds would you like to see accomplished in your lifetime?
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Isaiah tells us not to get distracted by events in the past. What past events would you do well not to get caught up in again?
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There is no doubt that Christian forgiveness remains an extremely radical concept. When have you found it most difficult not to condemn the sinner along with the sin?
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What would help you most to follow Christ’s admonition to “go and sin no more”? How can you offer similar help to others?
Homily Stories
I remember in the eighth grade Sister William sharing with the class the story of the woman caught in adultery. Sister explained that what John the Evangelist excluded when he gave us this gospel was the listing of sins that those who wanted to stone the woman committed. That was what Jesus wrote on the ground. Sister told us that God also knew all of our sins and that, if we were not careful we could lose all the blessings given to us. So we should not be passing judgment on anybody else.
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But that slipped right past me. It was the fact that Jesus knew everything I had done and he might somehow let my “sinful cats out of the bag” for all to see that frightened me.
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We obviously do not know what Jesus wrote. But the reality is that each one of us is a sinner. Saint Paul admits in the second reading—and we, too, need to admit—that we have not attained perfect moral maturity.
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This is why Lent is so important. Freeing ourselves from our sinfulness takes all the energy and strength we have, and more. We cannot dissipate it by being judgmental about anyone else. It’s precisely that self-righteousness that has given religion a bad name. Instead, by admitting our sinfulness, we can experience that absolute forgiveness that Jesus’ dying and rising from the dead bring, and then we must go and sin no more.
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First Reading
Second Reading
Gospel
Quotes
To listen well is to love well.
—Saint Ignatius of Loyola
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Forgiveness is what we need when we think we don't and what we give when we think we shouldn't.
—Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B.