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Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Today's Readings
First Reading: Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 23
Gospel: John 8:1-11
Read today’s readings at USCCBReflection
Two women. Two sets of accusers. Two very different outcomes.
Susanna is a faithful wife falsely accused of adultery by two corrupt elders who tried to assault her. When she refused them, they fabricated charges. The assembly believed them because they were powerful men. Susanna was condemned to death.
But she cried out to God, and God sent Daniel - a young boy - who exposed the elders' lies by questioning them separately. Their stories didn't match. The innocent was saved. The guilty were punished.
In the Gospel, a woman is caught in the very act of adultery - not falsely accused, actually guilty - and dragged before Jesus. The scribes and Pharisees want Jesus to condemn her. It's a trap: if he says stone her, he contradicts his message of mercy. If he says release her, he contradicts the law of Moses.
Jesus bends down and writes in the dirt. Nobody knows what he wrote. Then he stands and says: let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone. He bends down again. One by one, beginning with the eldest, they walk away.
Then: Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? No one, sir. Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.
For families, these two stories together say something crucial: God defends the innocent and shows mercy to the guilty. Both. In the same breath. Susanna was innocent and God rescued her. The woman in John was guilty and Jesus didn't condemn her. Your family needs both truths. When your children are falsely accused - at school, online, by peers - God defends the innocent. And when your family members sin - genuinely, actually sin - Jesus doesn't throw stones. He says: neither do I condemn you. Now go and sin no more.
Mercy and justice are not opposites. They are two hands of the same God.
Universal Prayer
As a family, pray together:
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For the Church - that she would defend the innocent like Daniel and show mercy to the guilty like Jesus, holding justice and mercy together without dropping either. Lord, hear our prayer.
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For those falsely accused - at work, in relationships, in court: that God would send a Daniel to speak the truth and vindicate them. Lord, hear our prayer.
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For those who are genuinely guilty and drowning in shame: that they would hear Jesus say "neither do I condemn you" - and then hear the rest: go, and sin no more. Lord, hear our prayer.
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For the faithful departed - that the God who knows what is hidden would judge them with mercy and receive them in love. Lord, hear our prayer.
Faith in Action
Tonight, talk about the difference between condoning sin and showing mercy to sinners. Jesus didn't say the woman's sin didn't matter. He said he didn't condemn her - and then told her to change. Practice that in your family: love the person, name the sin, never throw stones.
“Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.”
— Psalm 23:4
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