5C LENT SUNDAY HOMILY, JOHN 8:1-11, APRIL 6, 2025
1. STORY
John was dying
and asked to go to confession. When the
priest arrived, John was very nervous for he feared to tell the priest a sin he
had committed many years ago but never confessed. After a word of encouragement, John told the
following story. Many years ago, just a
few days before Christmas while he was working on the railroad as a switchman,
the crew got drunk. As the train was
approaching, he pushed the switch in the wrong direction resulting in the train
slamming into a passenger car killing a young man, his wife and two daughters. The priest told John, “If I can forgive you,
God can forgive you because in that car were my mother, father, and two older
sisters.” God forgives all sins.
2. GOSPEL, JOHN
8:1-11
A. A WOMAN WAS
CAUGHT IN ADULTERY.
A woman who had
committed adultery was brought to Jesus. By law, she should be stoned to death. The leaders wanted to know what Jesus would do
about the sinner.
B. GO AND SIN NO
MORE.
At first Jesus
did not respond to the question. Finally,
he told them that the one who had not sinned to throw the first stone. None dared to throw a stone; rather they left
one by one. Jesus then told the sinner,
“I do not condemn you. Go, and from now
on do not sin anymore.” Jesus forgave
her and instructed her.
3. APPLICATION TO
LIFE
A. WE ARE ALL
SINNERS.
i) At the
beginning of Mass, we admit that we have sinned when we pray, “I have greatly
sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and what I have
failed to do.”
ii) We are
greatly influenced by the people around us, the movies we watch, the books we
read, the computer we use, and by the power of the devil.
B. JESUS ALWAYS
FORGIVES US.
i) Jesus is the
Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He has given us the powerful sacrament
of confession. We should go to
confession to receive God’s forgiveness.
ii) We should
avoid the occasions of sin. Stay away
from people who would lead you to drink too much, gamble, take drugs, or go to bad
places. We should be careful what we
read and the movies we watch. We should
be most careful in the use of the computer.
iii) We should
forgive others as God forgives us. We
pray in the Our Father saying, “Forgive us our trespasses and we forgive those
who trespass against us.”
4. CONCLUSION
Through the
sacrament of confession, John received forgiveness for his sin. Jesus did not condemn the woman who had sinned
rather he forgave her and instructed her to sin no more. We are sinners and will receive forgiveness
through the sacrament of confession. We should avoid the occasions of sin. We should forgive those who have offended us. We thank Jesus for his instruction and ask him
for the help to follow his good example.
