“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 anymore.”( Jn 8:10-11).

God is good all the time.

Being a sinner isn't the problem. The actual predicament is the failure to repent and confess our sins. When circumstances brought the woman, who was taken in adultery to stand before Jesus, she realized how easier to face God with our sins than we often imagine.

Is the experience at confessional any different? If we behave like the Scribes and the Pharisees, who condemn the sinner and the sin, we will view confession as a stage set by the Church to make us feel ashamed and condemned before the priest, and we will hate going to confession.

God's leniency is overwhelming, but certainly, the woman wouldn't have known it had the situation not forced her to stand before Jesus. The words Jesus spoke to her: Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, do not sin anymore, reveals what truly happens at the confessional .

If Jesus forgave the sins of the woman without condemning her when they forced her before him, how much easier and more readily the Lord seeks to forgive those who humbly approach the sacrament of confession to seek pardon from him?

Consider the meaning of what Jesus said to the people:  Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. Do you not think that the words of absolution from the priest as the woman heard it from Jesus, matter to assure us of God's forgiveness? Or you really think it suffices to confess just by admitting your sins during personal prayer and feel that all your sins are forgiven so that you don't need a confession.

I pray and hope that God enlightens us with his grace to take advantage of all he offers us during this season of Lent. Amen.