GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John

John 8:21-30

Jesus said to the Pharisees:

“I am going away and you will look for me,

but you will die in your sin.

Where I am going you cannot come.”

So the Jews said,

“He is not going to kill himself, is he,

because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”

He said to them, “You belong to what is below,

I belong to what is above.

You belong to this world,

but I do not belong to this world.

That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.

For if you do not believe that I AM,

you will die in your sins.”

So they said to him, “Who are you?”

Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning.

I have much to say about you in condemnation.

But the one who sent me is true,

and what I heard from him I tell the world.”

They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.

So Jesus said to them,

“When you lift up the Son of Man,

then you will realise that I AM,

and that I do nothing on my own,

but I say only what the Father taught me.

The one who sent me is with me.

He has not left me alone,

because I always do what is pleasing to him.”

Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

The word of the Lord

Are these my inspirations?

Jesus acts as a human being, totally dependent on God. He learns everything from Him, Jesus says everything He tells him, and does everything that pleases Him.

This must be the case with us as well. We can do nothing on our own; we do everything good through sanctifying grace and the infused virtues that God has placed in us. Every good inspiration we receive from God, every good act comes from His grace. We can only prepare ourselves to welcome the grace that comes from God and let it act.

If I believe this, then what can I brag about? What can I demand that others value in me? How can I be better than others if God does everything? My vanity is gone.

Applied to Married Life:

Teresa: Forgive me Francisco because for some time now I’ve been measuring your love according to how you value my skills. And that’s unfair. 

Francisco: I love you just the way your are, Teresa, because I see the image of God in you. By God’s mercy, you have the right to be loved as much as He loves me. That is your true worth.

Teresa: I know. God has decided to make me a part of Him, and that is what I am. The rest is vanity of vanities.

Mother,

Forgive us because sometimes we feel like the protagonists of our own genius ideas or our good deeds. If the Lord is silent, what shall we say? Praise the Lord.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John 8:1-11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area,

and all the people started coming to him,

and he sat down and taught them.

Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman

who had been caught in adultery

and made her stand in the middle.

They said to him,

“Teacher, this woman was caught

in the very act of committing adultery.

Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.

So what do you say?”

They said this to test him,

so that they could have some charge to bring against him.

Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.

But when they continued asking him,

he straightened up and said to them,

“Let the one among you who is without sin

be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.

And in response, they went away one by one,

beginning with the elders.

So he was left alone with the woman before him.

Then Jesus straightened up and said to her,

“Woman, where are they?

Has no one condemned you?”

She replied, “No one, sir.”

Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.

Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” 

The word of the Lord

It became a sin

It is very likely that the woman had been caught in adultery by her own husband, and he would be the one to condemn her so that she could be stoned.

He was willing to live without his wife rather than tolerate her sin.

The question today is: What is stronger, blaming my husband/wife for his/her sins or my love for him/her?

For Christ, there is no doubt, because He has demonstrated that He became sin out of love for His Wife.

Applied to Married Life:

Thomas: Lord, my wife has offended me by questioning my love for her without a valid reason. Allow me to do penance for the forgiveness of her offense, united to Your Sacrifice of salvation.

Agnes: Lord, my husband has scorned me by mocking my devotion. Allow me to do penance for the forgiveness of his offense, united to Your Sacrifice of salvation.

(And so both were justified by the love of their spouse.)

Mother,

May our sin be a reason to love one another more. Praise be to our Savior.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John 8:1-11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area,

and all the people started coming to him,

and he sat down and taught them.

Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman

who had been caught in adultery

and made her stand in the middle.

They said to him,

“Teacher, this woman was caught

in the very act of committing adultery.

Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.

So what do you say?”

They said this to test him,

so that they could have some charge to bring against him.

Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.

But when they continued asking him,

he straightened up and said to them,

“Let the one among you who is without sin

be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.

And in response, they went away one by one,

beginning with the elders.

So he was left alone with the woman before him.

Then Jesus straightened up and said to her,

“Woman, where are they?

Has no one condemned you?”

She replied, “No one, sir.”

Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.

Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”

The word of the Lord

I run towards the goal

The law exists, and Jesus does not deny it. What sin is more painful and harmful than adultery within the family context? There are few situations as hard for a husband. Jesus does not diminish the magnitude or severity of the act. Hence, the strong imperative: ‘From now on, do not sin anymore.’ But the love of God is always greater and stronger than the sin. That ‘Neither do I condemn you’ in the face of such a great infidelity against the will of God, He manifests it greatly. Does she deserve condemnation? Yes, but she is liberated through love.

Applied to married life:

Ana: Don’t argue with me anymore; I know I’ve done wrong. I’ve already asked you for forgiveness because I am very regretful. What else can I do?

Jaime: It’s just that I feel it’s not enough. You’ve hurt me a lot, you know?

Ana: I know, and I know I deserve an unpayable punishment, but that’s why I ask for your forgiveness. Will you have mercy on me as God has mercy on you?

Jaime: You’re right. Other times you have also had mercy on me. I am also a sinner, and I don’t have the right to apply a punishment to you that I have not received myself. I sincerely forgive you and ask for forgiveness for having taken so long to forgive you.

Mother,

Like Saint Paul, I decide not to look back and I run towards the goal that Christ has chosen for me. Praise be to the Lord for His mercy.”

Gospel

‘Is the Christ to come from Galilee?’
John 7:40-52

At that time: When the crowd heard these words of Jesus some of the people said, ‘This really is the Prophet.’ Others said, ‘This is the Christ.’ But some said, ‘Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?’ So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
  The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, ‘Why did you not bring him?’ The officers answered, ‘No one ever spoke like this man!’ The Pharisees answered them, ‘Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.’ Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, ‘Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?’ They replied, ‘Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.’

Gospel