40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Fifth Week of Lent, 04 April 2022 Daniel 13:41-62 <*(((>< + ><)))*> John 8:12-20
For the second straight day, we hear the story of adultery: yesterday the woman was guilty, today the woman is accused wrongly but in both instances, your justice and kindness prevailed, O God our Father!
But what is really with adultery that it is a favorite sin and topic in your Sacred Scriptures, dear Lord? More than its nature of infidelity, adultery also speaks deeply of our broken relationships with women: like those two old men accusing Susana wrongly of having a tryst with another man, so often we have forgotten, even refused to recognize adultery involves another man, not just the woman.
Open our eyes, Father, especially the "chauvinist pigs" and misogynists among us; may the light of Jesus Christ your Son enlighten the darkness within us and enable us to see "where we came from" and "where we are going" so that we stop accusing and judging each other of sins we ourselves are guilty too.
“You judge by appearances, but I do not judge anyone. And even if I should judge, my judgment is valid, because I am not alone, but it is I and the Father who sent me. Even in your law it is written that the testimony of two men can be verified. I testify on my behalf and so does the Father who sent me.”
John 8:15-18
How funny, dear God, that the root of this word adultery means to pollute or defile when in fact, that is also the root of our sinfulness when we defile others because we have defiled our very selves first when we turn away from you as our origin and destination. Amen.
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