Reflection on the Fifth Sunday of Lent

Isaiah 43: 16-21 Phil. 3: 8-14 John 8:1-11

“Being forgiven by someone is nothing short of an amazing grace.“

In today’s readings we hear from the prophets Isaiah and Paul and from Jesus, the source of divine revelation. All reveal a relationship to God that is a gift to them and to us. From today’s readings we learn:

Isaiah says, “Remember not the things of the past. See I am doing something new.”

Paul writes, “Forget what lies behind, strain forward to what lies ahead.”

Jesus asks, “Has anyone condemned you?” “No one,” she answered. Jesus responded, “Neither do I.”

These passages tell us that being in relationship with God and one another is sheer grace, and being forgiven is sheer mercy – actions which lead to new inner strength, a healthy community and freedom. Having a merciful heart as God has for us is the call of the Gospel and our participation in the now of God’s mercy. Listen to this text from Exodus 3:7-8 and hear the heart of God:

I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt. (Imagine Gaza or Sudan.)

I have heard their cry. (Imagine immigrants being deported.)

I have come down to them. (Imagine those being fired recently in D.C.)

Here is the heart of God: I have seen, I have heard, I have come down, and I will do something new. We have all had experiences of God’s love and mercy, of God doing something new. Scripture tells us, “God’s anger lasts for a moment, God’s mercy for ten thousand years.” That is God’s absolute sheltering love. Chardin writes, “We are one after all, you and I. Together we suffer, together we exist, together we recreate one another.” We can put our footprints in the shoes of the prophets and Jesus and learn that our deep experience of God’s mercy to us must be reflected in our mercy to one another. Then we would know that the deep human longing for wholeness that distinguishes us can also be the interlacing that unites us. 

The loving mystery of God is always about compassion, meaning to suffer with another. This compassion changes everything: It heals, it mends the broken, it restores what has been lost, it draws together those who have been estranged. Compassion pulls us out of ourselves and into the heart of another. It gives us the courage to ask one another for forgiveness, for mercy. We need each other to do that if we are to be well.

Karl Rahner asks, “Which should we love better: the little island of our own certitude or the ocean of the incomprehensible mystery of the other?” 

It is our standing together at the foot of the cross that can create healthy bonds in community. The cross holds up to me the challenge of standing with people I have misjudged. For example, a few years ago, a serious encounter with another Sister was an opportunity for sheer mercy for both of us. It is Jesus’ example of mercy to others that helps my fears melt away so that I can invite another into a relationship of wholeness.

Let us pray at this Lenten Eucharist to be people of mercy and compassion. Let us pray for a change of heart as well as a change of behavior. That will be sheer grace.  “Has no one condemned you,” he asks? ”Go and sin no more.” As Loretto, let us hunger for mercy, hunger for love, hunger for wholeness. Only then can we, as Loretto, and our world survive.

Sing with me: Mercy, within mercy, within mercy.