These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.

MONDAY, WEEK V, LENT

Thus was innocent blood spared that day.
(Dn 13:1-9,15-17,19-30,33-62)

“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.”
(Jn 8:1-11)

The stories of Susanna and the Woman Caught in Adultery form a wonderful contrast. In the story of Susanna “innocent blood [was] spared that day"; in the gospel, even the guilty are spared. As Jesus would say, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”