Day 34: Mercy Meets Us in Our Sin – Discerning Hearts Podcast

Let in spiritual journey with discerning hearts, from ashes to glory.

Day 34 Mercy meets us in our sin.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John, chapter 8, verses 1 through 11.

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

At daybreak, he appeared in the temple again, and as all the people came to him, he sat

down and began to teach them.

The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery,

and making her stand there in full view of everybody.

They said to Jesus, master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery,

and Moses has ordered us in the law to condemn women like this to death by stoning.

What have you to say?

They asked him this as a test, looking for something to use against him.

But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger, as they persisted

with their question.

He looked up and said, if there is one of you who is not sinned, let him be the first to

throw a stone at her.

Then he bent down and wrote on the ground again.

When they heard this, they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus

was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there.

He looked up and said, woman, where are they?

Has no one condemned you?

No one, sir, she replied, neither do I condemn you, said Jesus, go away and don't sin anymore.

These final days of land asked something deeper of us.

By now we have tried to fast, forgive, to pray more faithfully, but in that very effort

we have likely stumbled, we may feel weary, distracted or discouraged.

These are the very moments where God desires to meet us.

Today's gospel offers a scene of total exposure.

The woman is brought before Jesus not in private, but in public shame.

But what she finds is not condemnation, but mercy.

Jesus does not excuse her sin, but meets it with a gaze of compassion and a call to new

life.

Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.

This gospel is meant for you and me.

We may not be dragged into the public square, but we all carry wounds, regrets and patterns

of sin that feel exposed before the Lord.

He sees it all and still does not turn away.

The one who knows this best loves us most, as Saint Leo the Great wrote,

The ineffable mercy of Christ wiped away the sins of the woman with a word and in the

place of guilt sowed seeds of virtue.

The scribes and Pharisees want justice, but Jesus offers restoration.

He shifts the gaze from the woman's guilt to the self-examination of the crowd.

Let the one without sin cast the first stone, and slowly, silently, they walk away.

This is not a story about someone else.

It is a mirror for our own hearts.

One is not about stone throwing.

It is about our returning.

The desert father, Abba Moses, the black set.

The one who knows his sins is greater than the one who raises the dead.

On his self-knowledge, born in prayer, is the path to healing.

That is why Lent calls us into practices that soften our hearts and open us to mercy.

Silent prayer, especially before the bless of sacrament, begins this process.

So too does the sacrament of reconciliation, where we meet Christ not with punishment,

but with peace.

Saint Elizabeth's of the Trinity beautifully capture the mystery of grace and her retreat

have been in faith.

Abyss calls to abyss.

It is there in the very depths that the divine impact takes place, where the abyss of

our nothingness encounters the abyss of mercy, the immensity of the all of God.

Her words remind us that God meets us in the varied depths, not where we are strong,

but where we are most broken.

There, in the silence and the sorrow, in the place of our failure and regret, God's

mercy does not merely meet us.

It overwhelms us.

We are not left in our misery.

The abyss of divine mercy fills every emptiness with grace.

The invitation today is deeply personal.

Jesus looks at you and asks you, where are your accusers?

Has no one condemned you?

And we answer, he replies, not with wrath, but with mercy.

The response he desires is trust.

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

At daybreak, he appeared in the temple again, and as all the people came to him, he sat

down and began to teach them.

The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery

and making her stand there in full view of everybody.

They said to Jesus, master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery,

and Moses has ordered us in the law to condemn women like this to death by stoning.

What have you to say?

They asked him this as a test, looking for something to use against him.

But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger.

As they persisted with their question, he looked up and said,

if there is one of you who is not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.

Then he bent down and wrote on the ground again.

When they heard this, they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus

was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there.

He looked up and said, woman, where are they?

Has no one condemned you?

No one, sir, she replied, neither do I condemn you, said Jesus.

Go away and don't sin anymore.

Where do you feel most exposed or ashamed before God?

Do you believe Jesus meets you there, not to condemn, but to heal?

What concrete step, perhaps silence, confession, or heartfelt prayer, can you take today to

receive His mercy?

Lord Jesus, you know our sins and still you love us.

You look upon us with compassion and speak a word of mercy that makes us new.

Help us to step out of shame and into grace.

Use our hearts and restore our hope.

Give us the courage to return to you fully and to live in the freedom of your forgiveness.

Amen.