Pastor’s Corner 06.04.2025
Once a penitent approached me for a confession. As he entered, he began to tell me: “Don’t judge me. If you do, you may be the last priest I will ever see in confession”.
It caught me by surprise. I was speechless and did not know how to react. I just gave him my trademark smile and requested him to take his seat. This made me think a lot about my own approach to the sacrament of penance. I never had the attitude of judgement or at least that is what I thought. Judgement belongs to God alone. The readings of this Sunday focus on God’s mercy and compassion.
The gospel of this Sunday is the story of a woman who was “allegedly” caught in adultery. She was brought to Jesus by the Pharisees, not so much for the woman (they knew the punishment was to stone her to death), but they wanted to put Jesus to test. Jesus knows that he’s being put on trial by his enemies, who want to report him to the religious authorities as breaking the law. Jesus knowing their designs, uses this opportunity to teach them about the mercy of God.
Jesus invites us to look into ourselves first and not pass judgements on others.
St Francis of Assisi used to say, “Of all the sinners, I am the worst,” because he’s the only one who can look and search the depths of his own heart and find the many ways he refused to love enough and care enough, the many ways he was ungrateful and unkind. And he himself would be the first to admit it.
And others would say to him, “Francis, Francis, stop that, everybody knows you’re a holy man.”
And Francis would say to them, “What I say is the truth. I cannot see into the hearts of others, but I can look into my own, and I know that without the forgiveness and mercy and grace of God I would be lost forever.”
Today, we should be encouraged by these words of Jesus “Neither do I condemn you.” The complete forgiveness of Christ is incredible. When he says these words to us, he means them. He means that he has taken care of our negative past. He calls us to forget past failures and embrace His renewal with hope and trust. So, Christ will always fill us with Joy, which he will complete for us soon through his death and resurrection.
Finally, as we approach the glorious season of Easter, the Lord equally says to us: “Go and sin no more.” This is an injunction we must believe and put into practice. He promises us a better future and a share in his glory if we remain faithful to this command. Therefore, we must constantly run to Jesus irrespective of our situation.