Sometimes we feel that life has passed us by. We feel that it is too late to start all over again.

Today’s gospel of hope in John, chapter eight, verses 1-11 has something to say to you if you have ever felt that way. This reading promises hope and a new start for those who are prepared to listen. If you listen carefully, you can hear the melody of hope grow stronger and stronger in this reading until it overpowers the original sad story whereby the Scribes and Pharisees wanted to stone to death “a woman who had been caught in adultery.” Jesus, once again, proves that, in the midst of every sin and every humiliation, there is an offer of something better, of hope and future joy. This hope is the sweet music that lies behind the depressing events of the woman caught in adultery in today’s gospel.

Christianity is a religion of hope for those who believe in the new life that Jesus brought to the world. Each moment is the end of the present and the beginning of a hopeful future. Jesus has gone before us and proved that there is nothing to frighten us. He offers a new message of salvation. Our saints have been men and women who were sinners but they left the life of sin behind and went on to live new and joyful lives. The woman in today’s gospel story was one of the first to do this. Likewise, we are called to repent of the sins of the past and plunge ahead into a new life of freedom.

The Scribes and Pharisees, who wanted to destroy the life of the woman who broke the law, were offered the same hope of freedom, but their hearts were hardened. St. Paul was once a man like them. He had been a promising young Pharisee on the rise in Jewish circles. He was well educated, dedicated and ready to take his place among the rulers of Israel. Then, all that changed. He left his former life behind, and found true freedom in following Jesus.

The woman in today’s gospel found her dignity in Jesus’ act of forgiveness. She found the strength to sin no more, to leave the old life behind and begin anew.

—Fr. Hugh Duffy