4/7/19: 5th Sunday of Lent: Misery Finds its Remedy in Mercy

The account of the woman caught in adultery is one of the classic stories of the Gospels. Interestingly, the story does not appear in the earliest, Greek manuscripts of John's Gospel. St. Augustine, who would have read the account in the Latin manuscripts, which all contained it, surmised that the story is left out because Jesus appears as one who is radically, even scandalously, merciful. Even this woman who had sinned so seriously finds mercy in Jesus, who does not condemn her, who simply dismisses her, saying, "Do not sin anymore." The same radical mercy continues today in the Church through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where even the worst sinner, repenting, finds unconditional forgiveness and a new start with God.