Greeting (See Second Reading)

With St Paul we say today:
"I forget the past
and I strain ahead for what is still to come,
for the prize to which God calls us."
May the strength of the Lord Jesus
be always with you. R/ And also with you.

Introduction by the Celebrant

A. Throw No Stones

Have you ever had the experience of hurting someone very much but that the offended person forgave you, perhaps with difficulty, and accepted your apology, and that was the end? Do you remember how relieved you felt, as if you were a new person? That is how God keeps forgiving us: he makes us new every time again. Do we live as forgiven, new people? Do we make others new by our pardon? Let us encounter again in this eucharist our patient, forgiving Lord Jesus.

B. Look First into Your Own Heart

When they have sinned, especially when grievously, some people are afraid that God is out to catch them, like a policeman who has to implement the law. Today we learn from Jesus that God goes beyond the law, for he forgives and keeps forgiving. This is the attitude we learn from God. Look into your own heart and see that you need forgiveness. And repeatedly so. Then you will also easily forgive others. Let us ask Jesus for this attitude, even when we still feel the hurt inflicted.

Penitential Act

During this Lent we have looked into ourselves
and, hopefully, realized that we are sinners
in constant need of forgiveness.
Let us seek the Lord's pardon.
           (PAUSE)
Lord Jesus, you throw no stones at us
and you don't want us to throw them at anyone:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you do not condemn us
for you have come to save what was lost
and you want us to be free and alive:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you tell us to go
and to sin no more:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
forgive us and make us new.
Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us ask our Father
that we may imitate his mercy
           (PAUSE)
God of life,
this is the Good News you let us hear today
through your living image, Jesus Christ:
Love is stronger than death,
you want the sinner to live
and to become all new.
Let us no longer live in the past of sin
but make us free for life and for love.
Give us hearts as merciful to one another
as you have been lenient and loving to us.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading Introduction: Forget the Past; Go Forward with Me
          To his chosen people suffering in exile, God says: I have done great deeds of salvation for you in the past. I will do greater things for you in the future.

First Reading: Is 43:16-21

Thus says Yahweh, who opened a way through the sea and a path in the mighty waters, who brought down chariots and horses,
a whole army of them, and there they lay, never to rise again, snuffed out like a wick.

But do not dwell on the past, or remember the things of old.
Look, I am doing a new thing: now it springs forth. Do you not see? I am opening up a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
The beasts of the land will honor me, jackals and ostriches, because I give water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert that my chosen people may drink.

I have formed this people for myself; they will proclaim my praise.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6

R. (3) The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Then they said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Second Reading Introduction: Push On to What Is Ahead
          Once Paul had been "seized" by Christ, the past no longer counted, and he strained toward his future in Christ, by the strength of the risen Lord.

Second Reading: Phil 3:8-14

Everything seems to me as nothing compared with the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake I have let everything fall away and I now consider all as garbage, if instead I may gain Christ. May I be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law, but with the righteousness that God gives to those who believe.

May I know him and experience the power of his resurrection and share in his sufferings and become like him in his death, and attain through this, God willing, the resurrection from the dead!

I do not believe I have already reached the goal, nor do I consider myself perfect, but I press on till I conquer Christ Jesus, as I have already been conquered by him. No, brothers and sisters, I do not claim to have claimed the prize yet. I say only this: forgetting what is behind me, I race forward and run towards the goal, my eyes on the prize to which God has called us from above in Christ Jesus.

Gospel Introduction: Go Away and Don't Sin Any More
          The mission of Jesus is not to judge and condemn but to forgive and to give new chances in life. Isn't that our mission too?

Gospel Reading: Jn 8:1-11 (Listen to MP3 - Forgives the Adulteress)

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak Jesus appeared in the Temple again. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them.

Then the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They made her stand in front of everyone. "Master," they said, "this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now the Law of Moses orders that such women be stoned to death; but you, what do you say?" They said this to test Jesus, in order to have some charge against him.

Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. And as they continued to ask him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let anyone among you who has no sin be the first to throw a stone at her." And he bent down again, writing on the ground.

As a result of these words, they went away, one by one, starting with the elders, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Then Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She replied, "No one." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go away and don't sin again."

 

---