One day the mountain that is in front of you
will be so far behind you,
it will barely be visible in the distance.
But the person you become in learning to get over it?
That will stay with you forever.
And that is the point of the mountain.
will be so far behind you,
it will barely be visible in the distance.
But the person you become in learning to get over it?
That will stay with you forever.
And that is the point of the mountain.
--Brianna West
In today's story of the "Woman Caught in Adultery," Jesus offers compassion to a woman who has been caught in the act of adultery. She has been removed from the house, thrown before a crowd, and is about to be executed. (By the way, the offending man is nowhere mentioned, nor does he suffer any apparent consequences.)
The crowd 1) wants to take the woman's life and 2) treats her like an object or simply as a "test" for Jesus. By forcing the crowd to see that they are sinners too (as are we all), he stops the execution and gives the woman life. And by bending down and speaking with her directly, Jesus restores her humanity, inviting the crowd to see her not as an object, but as a subject.
Jesus again shows us how reach out to those who are excluded, for any reason. Calling them to conversion from any sins, but also treating them with compassion and seeing them as fully human. And of course by remembering that we are all sinners, and should put our stones down.
--Fr. James Martin,
Facebook, April 3, 2022
Facebook, April 3, 2022
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