The one without sin throw the first stone

The woman caught in adultery is a powerful story of the love and mercy of Jesus, and our communion with God.  During Lent we have been singing the Kyrie.  It is a beautiful beginning to celebrate the Paschal Mystery which brings us salvation and peace.  I would love to be able to spend more time with this chant, perhaps even spending some time kneeling before the Eucharist and the cross.

To be sure the woman who kneels before Jesus does not know what to expect. She recognizes her sin, she does not need the Pharisees to pronounce it to everyone in ear shot.  Maybe she is repeating 'Lord have Mercy, Christ have Mercy,' over and over again.  What she does not expect is for Jesus to offer her forgiveness and reconciliation.

Maybe this is why we are reluctant to be honest about our sins and sinfulness.  We do not know what might happen next.  I have always fantasised about yelling, "You did what," from the reconciliation room, I have always seen the close connection between the sacrament of reconciliation and that of healing.  Again and again Jesus restores peoples to God and their communities through his love and compassion.  The expression of Kyrie helps us to appreciate our own brokenness and the need for God's grace and forgiveness. 

In the Mercy Me song, I can Only Imagine, the author ponders what our response might be as we stand before Jesus in the Kingdom.  Kyrie seems like a probable response as we consider how we have responded to God's invitations to love, and our treatment of one another.  Even more so, we come to realize how destructive we can become, to ourselves and others, when reconciliation and forgiveness are absent.

Jesus does not see a sinner dragged before him, but a woman, a child of God, who has sinned, and is fearful, ashamed, and very alone.  Throughout Jesus' ministry as he encounters men and women in need, he does not seen the affliction as much as he sees the effects of sin on a humanity.  Remember Jesus looks up and sees that "they are like sheep without a shepherd.  He knows our wounded and afflicted hearts. 

Kyrie teaches us that we can always be forgiven when we fall or wander far from godliness.  Even when we bump heads God will always take us back.  This faith and confidence allows us to approach our Lord again and again, so that we can live as children of the light.  When we feel all shame-faced, confused, and find ourselves rolling in the dirt, Jesus will take us and restore us to salvation.