In the Gospel for the Fifth Sunday of Lent C, Jesus saves the women caught in adultery. The Pharisees and scribes want Jesus to condemn her to death for breaking the Mosaic Law. Instead he challenges the one without sin to cast the first stone. “And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She replied, ‘No one, sir.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more ‘ ” (John 8: 9-11). Jesus saves her life. He offers her mercy and forgiveness instead of judgement, condemnation. He gives her a second chance to live a better life. How has God’s forgiveness helped you live a better life?
In the Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Lent C, Jesus tells the parable of the Prodigal Son. The father threw a party for the wayward son who had returned home. “[The older son] became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’ He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found’” (Luke 15: 28-32). The older son was self righteous and judgmental of his younger brother. He refused to join the party. The Pharisees and scribes resented Jesus eating with sinners. So Jesus challenged them to love sinners as God loves them. Christians share in the joy God has for sinners. We celebrate God’s love with mercy for those whom society disregards. How are you a sign of God’s loving embrace for the outcast, suffering, ignored, abandoned and rejected?
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