“Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’” John 8:11

All through the Gospels, we see Christ always giving new beginnings to the people he comes across.  To me the wondrous thing about his miracles is not always in the actual act of the miracle but the fact that the person receiving the miracle gets a new beginning.  I think of the Geresene Demoniac man, the hemorrhaging woman, the woman in our text today, the man hanging on the cross alongside Christ and the woman at the well. 

Never once in the Gospel do I recall Christ condemning someone.  And in fact, the entire Bible is narrative of God working tirelessly with His people to uplift them from the drudgery of sin and death to the heights of exaltations and life.  In the Magnificat, (what I consider Christ’s mission statement) we hear Mother Mary saying, “[God has] lifted up the lowly” (Luke 1:52). To me, proclaiming the Gospel of Christ is so important because it has the power to renew someone’s life as exemplified in the Gospels.  It is the backbone of the ministry of Christ.

Christ died upon the cross so life us out of sin and to allow us to begin anew.  Therefore, during the penitential season, allow ourselves to be renewed in Christ.  Let him come into your heart, mind and soul and renew your faith, hope and love in him and his creation.  Let this season be a new beginning for you and let it uplift you to do the work of Christ with charity for all.

Prayer:  Dear Lord, come into my heart and renew my spirit so that I may rejuvenated to do Your work.  Amen.