Fifth Sunday of Lent (Year C) - 6 April 2025
6th April 2025
“Should we fall into sin, let us at once humble ourselves sorrowfully in His presence, and then, with an act of unbounded confidence, let us throw ourselves into the ocean of His goodness, where every failing will be cancelled and anxiety will be turned into love.” - St Paul of the Cross
A reflection on today's Gospel reading by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J Sheen:
"By defending the woman, Christ proved Himself a friend of sinners, but only of those who admitted that they were sinners. He had to go to the social outcasts to find bigness of heart and unmeasured generosity which, according to Him, constituted the very essence of love. Though they were sinners, their love lifted them above the self-wise and the self-sufficient, who never bent their knees in prayer for pardon. He came to put a harlot above a Pharisee, a penitent robber above a High Priest, and a prodigal son above his exemplary brother. To all the phonies and fakers who would say that they could not join the Church because His Church was not holy enough, He would ask, ‘How holy must the Church be before you will enter into it?’ If the Church were as holy as they wanted it to be, they would never be allowed into it! In every other religion under the sun, in every Eastern religion from Buddhism to Confucianism, there must always be some purification before one can commune with God. But Our Blessed Lord brought a religion where the admission of sin is the condition of coming to Him. ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are ill.’
"But why would He not condemn her? Because He would be condemned for her. Innocence would not condemn, because Innocence would suffer for the guilty. Justice would be saved, for He would pay the debt of her sins; mercy would be saved, for the merits of His death would apply to her soul. Justice is first, then mercy; first the satisfaction, then the pardon. Our Lord really was the only One in that crowd who had the right to take up the stone to execute judgment against her, because He was without sin. On the other hand, He did not make light of sin, for He assumed its burden. Forgiveness cost something and the full price would be paid on the hill of the three Crosses where justice would be satisfied and mercy extended. It was this release from the slavery of sin that He called the beautiful name of freedom.
"Why then, if it is the Son Who makes you free men, you will have freedom in earnest. (John 8:36)
"One of the most beautiful things about forgiveness is that it can evoke love where there was none before. It then becomes imitative of God’s way with us Who loves us ‘while we were yet sinners.’ We pardon as we love. Since God loves infinitely, He pardons without limit.
"Forgiveness has a strong redemptive power. George Bernard Shaw stated a truth of this kind when he put those words upon the lips of Joan of Arc when she was sent to the faggots: ‘If I go through the fire, I shall go to the hearts of the people.’ Somehow or other, by not bearing revenge against those who persecuted her, she eventually won all the hearts of France. Men’s persuasions and explanations and devices may fail, but the love that was shown by forgiveness first manifested on the Cross is the simplest way to the human heart."
(Life of Christ & Walk With God)
A Prayer for the Forgiveness of Sins (St Gemma Galgani)
My Jesus, I place all my sins before You. In my estimation, they do not deserve pardon, but I ask You to close Your eyes to my want of merit and open them to Your infinite merit.
Since You willed to die for my sins, grant me forgiveness for all of them. Thus, I may no longer feel the burden of my sins, a burden that oppresses me beyond measure.
Assist me, dear Jesus, for I desire to become good no matter what the cost. Take away, destroy, and utterly root out whatever You find in me that is contrary to your holy will. At the same time, dear Jesus, illumine me so that I may walk in Your holy light. Amen. 💐💖🙏