Whenever I go to Confession, I write my sins down on the Notes app in my phone. Sometimes, I get too nervous to go off my memory so I have to write them down in order to say them all and give a good Confession. Well, I once heard a story of a young woman who did something similar. She would usually bring a scrap piece of paper and scribble them down as she reflected in the Confession line. One particular day, she forgot her paper so she scrounged around in her purse and found a bill that she already paid and wrote her sins on the back. She went to Confession, did her penance and went about her day. A few weeks later, she got a letter in the mail. It was the same bill, with her sins written on the back. The paper had dropped on her way out of the church and someone found the bill with her address and mailed it back to her.
I thought about this story as I read about the crowd who wanted to stone the adulterous woman in today’s gospel. Imagine what would happen if this woman’s bill fell into the wrong hands. What if it fell into the hands of someone who didn’t like this woman or someone who was known to gossip and chose to use these woman’s sins on the bill to hurt her, her family, her marriage or her reputation.
The crowd in today’s gospel wanted to stone a woman to death because of her worst sin, but what did Jesus teach them? He humbled them with the best truth bomb, “Let the one among you without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7)
We all hear rumors, lies and gossip about people. It’s easy to judge, spread the gossip or take a look at their faults and think maybe we are better; but are we? Are any of us perfect and without sin blinding our spiritual lives? No. As the gospel goes on and the only two people left standing there are Jesus and the woman, he tells her to “go and from now on do not sin anymore.” Our sins are for Jesus alone to judge and forgive. Let us remember that the next time we are quick to pass judgments on others. Let us pray for our universal church and for all of those struggling with the weight of the sins they are carrying and may they know that forgiveness and mercy can be found in our Savior, Jesus Christ.
[Readings: Dn 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 or 13:41c-62; Jn 8:1-11]
