DAILY- HOMILY

April 7, 2018 - 5th SUNDAY OF LENT

Violet.

Is 43: 16 – 21 / Phil 3: 8 – 14 / Jn 8: 1 – 11

FROM THE 2ND READING:            Phil 3: 8 – 11

Still more, everything seems to me as nothing compared with the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake I have let everything fall away and I now consider them as garbage, if instead I may gain Christ. May I be found in him, without merit or holiness of my own of having fulfilled the Law, but with the holiness which comes from faith in Christ, the holiness given by God which depends on faith in Christ Jesus.

May I know him and experience the power of his resurrection, and share in his sufferings and become like him in his death, and attain through this, God willing, the resurrection from the dead!

GOSPEL READING:           Jn 8: 1 – 11

As for Jesus, he went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak Jesus appeared in the Temple again. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them.

Then the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They made her stand in front of everyone. "Master," they said, "this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now the Law of Moses orders that such women be stoned to death; but you, what do you say?" They said this to test Jesus, in order to have some charge against him.

Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. And as they continued to ask him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let anyone among you who has no sin be the first to throw a stone at her." And he bent down again, writing on the ground.

As a result of these words, they went away  one by one starting with    the elders, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Then Jesus stood up and said to her "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She replied, "No one." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go away and do not sin again."

REFLECTION

Because of St. Paul's surpassing knowledge of Christ, he came to rate all as loss. Paul's personal relationship with Christ changed the ratings of his life. Things he used to rate high were re-assessed as worthless and empty. Everything else had meaning only in its relationship to his knowledge of and hope in Christ: "May I know him and experience the power of his resurrection, and share in his sufferings and become like him in his death, and attain through this, God willing, the resurrection from the dead!"

In the Gospel reading, in efforts to trap Christ, the Pharisees and teachers of the Law bring a woman caught in the act of adultery before Jesus: what would Jesus say or do, considering that the Law of Moses prescribed death by stoning for adulterers.

Knowing that the woman was indeed guilty of adultery, Jesus quietly says, "Let anyone among you who has no sin be the first to throw a stone at her." When none of the accusers dared to condemn her, with everyone leaving starting from the elders, neither did the merciful and compassionate Jesus, "Neither do I condemn you; go away and do not sin again."

Jesus teaches us to forgive. It is only in forgiving that we allow the forgiving God back into our lives. When we are forgiving, we are not inclined to judge and condemn others. We need to do the same before our merciful and forgiving Father in heaven.

FINALLY, WE PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER, FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ASKED OUR PRAYERS AND FOR THOSE WHO NEED OUR PRAYERS THE MOST. 

BIRTHDAY

     Andrea Dominique Yu

Have a good day!

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