Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
April 7, 2019
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area,
and all the people started coming to him,
and he sat down and taught them.
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman
who had been caught in adultery
and made her stand in the middle.
They said to him,
“Teacher, this woman was caught
in the very act of committing adultery.
Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
So what do you say?”
They said this to test him,
so that they could have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
But when they continued asking him,
he straightened up and said to them,
“Let the one among you who is without sin
be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
And in response, they went away one by one,
beginning with the elders.
So he was left alone with the woman before him.
Then Jesus straightened up and said to her,
“Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?”
She replied, “No one, sir.”
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”
Going to Reconciliation can often be a difficult and emotional act. The penitential season of Lent is a natural time to participate in this healing sacrament, but it still is not always easy to go.
Inevitably, what makes me set aside the time is a remembrance of the weightless feeling when walking out of the confessional. I go to find that sense of comfort when the priest lays his hand on my head, to hear his words of forgiveness on behalf of our Loving Father and to feel the freeness in my heart afterward.
When I think about the woman caught in adultery in this Gospel reading, my heart goes out to her because she didn’t have a choice in publically confessing her sins. She was dragged there before Jesus, likely half naked and very embarrassed.
She was forced to stand there during the whole ordeal. Yet when the last accuser dropped their stone and walked away, she continued to stand there. I would think she would be anxious to run home and not go out in public for days after this shameful ordeal.
Yet she stayed before this wise man who managed to save her life with just a few words. By remaining there, she then received the glorious freedom as the weight of her sin was lifted off her shoulders by Jesus’ merciful words of absolution. Her heart was freed. She could now go home to a renewed life forgiven by God, without even having asked for it.
We have that same opportunity to be filled with God’s grace every time we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And there’s no better time than before Easter!
Prayer
“But for the grace of God there go I.” How true we say, O Lord, as we pray to you that we not judge others’ sins and that we not add our own sins to the lives of others. Give us your sensitive heart that saw the woman taken in adultery all alone and greatly embarrassed, swept up in a rush to judgment, in the absence of friends, no one interested in any extenuating circumstances – all the hidden cruelty. We acknowledge that we too are all too quick to judge. Give us your heart of unconditional love and ever-patient forgiveness. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. John Baptist de la Salle is a patron saint of teachers and all those who work in education because he founded Catholic schools and revolutionized Christian education.
He was born in 1651 to a wealthy family in Reims, France, the eldest of 10 children. He went on to university studies and then entered the seminary, but had to leave because both of his parents had died, and John was left as the head of the household. Six years later, he finished his studies and was ordained a priest. He went on to earn a doctorate in theology.
John became associated with a community of religious sisters who educated young girls, serving as their chaplain. His connection with their work flourished, and he began to adopt their mission for education. He lived in a time when there was a large gap between the wealthy and the poor, and he believed that education was the best tool for those living on the margins to improve their lives and grow in holiness.
He was asked to help found a school, and he went to great lengths to support the teachers there, who lacked training and qualified leadership. He gathered them for meals in his own home, which was a big step at that time because he was still of the upper class.
He eventually founded a new religious community, the Institute of the Brothers of Christian Schools, known as the Christian Brothers (these Lasallian Brothers are a different order than the Irish Christian Brothers, who were founded by Blessed Edmund Rice). Looking back, he could say that he had no intention of becoming so involved—he began with the expectation that he would support teachers materially from his resources and offer supervision. Over time, however, he was drawn ever deeper into the mission of education through these teachers, to the point where he joined his life with theirs. He abandoned his family home and inheritance, left an important position with the Church, and dedicated his life to forming teachers.
By the end of his life, John and the brothers in his community had established a network of schools throughout France that taught students in the vernacular (not Latin), grouped them according to their ability, taught both religious and secular subjects, trained teachers in both skill and mission, and integrated parents into the educational endeavor.
One of his most lasting contributions was the way John pioneered the training of lay teachers. Today, his community of brothers contains some 6,000 men who work with many other collaborators to teach nearly a million students every year.
John died on this date in 1719, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus. He is depicted in the Basilica in a stained glass window that portrays Catholic educators surrounding Jesus—he is the figure standing on the right.
St. John Baptist de la Salle, patron saint of all those who work in education—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. John Baptist de la Salle is in the public domain. Last accessed February 13, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
