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Monday: (3/10): "Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness" Gospel Reading: John 8:1-11 1 Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning He went back to the house of God and all the people came to Him. He sat down and taught them. 3 The teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers came to Him. They brought a woman who had been caught doing a sex sin. They made her stand in front of them all. 4 Then they said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of doing a sex sin. 5 Moses told us in the Law to throw stones and kill a woman like this. What do You say about it?" 6 They were trying to set a trap to find something against Him. Jesus got down and began to write in the dust with His finger. 7 They kept on asking Him. Then He stood up and said, "Anyone of you who is without sin can throw the first stone at her." 8 Again He got down and wrote in the dust. 9 When they heard what He said, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones until they were all gone. Then Jesus was left alone with the woman. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are those who spoke against you? Has no man said you are guilty?" 11 She said, "No one, Sir." Jesus said to her, "Neither do I say you are guilty. Go on your way and do not sin again." Old Testament Reading: Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17,19-30,33-62 (Duutero-canonical) 22 Susanna sighed deeply, and said, “I am hemmed in on every side. For if I do this thing, it is death for me; and if I do not, I shall not escape your hands. 23 I choose not to do it and to fall into your hands, rather than to sin in the sight of the Lord. Meditation: Are you ready to be changed and transformed in Christ like holiness? God never withholds his grace from us. His steadfast love and mercy is new every day (Lamentations 3:22-23). Through the gift and grace of the Holy Spirit we can be changed and made new in Christ. He can set us free from our unruly desires and passions. Jesus never lost an opportunity to bring freedom to those oppressed by sin and guilt. His frequent association with sinners, however, upset the sensibilities of the religious leaders. When a woman caught in adultery was brought to them for trial, they confronted Jesus on the issue of justice. The scribes wished to condemn, Jesus wished to forgive and to restore the sinner to health. His challenge involved a choice – either go back to your former way of sin and death or to reach out to the new way of life and happiness with him. Jesus gave her pardon and a new start on life. God’s grace enables us to confront our sin for what it is – unfaithfulness to God, and to turn back to God with a repentant heart and a thankful spirit for God’s mercy and forgiveness. Do you know the joy of repentance and a clean conscience? Prayer: “God our Father, we find it difficult to come to you, because our knowledge of you is imperfect. In our ignorance we have imagined you to be our enemy; we have wrongly thought that you take pleasure in punishing our sins; and we have foolishly conceived you to be a tyrant over human life. But since Jesus came among us, he has shown that you are loving, that you are on our side against all that stunts life, and that our resentment against you was groundless. So we come to you, asking you to forgive our past ignorance, and wanting to know more and more of you and your forgiving love, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Prayer of Saint Augustine) Psalm 23:1-6 1 The
Lord is my Shepherd. I will have everything I need. 4
Yes, even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will not be afraid of anything, because You are
with me. You have a walking stick with which to guide
and one with which to help. These comfort me.
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