“Picking up the broken pieces of our life, filling the spaces in our emptiness and starting, all over again!”

(Based on Isa 43:16-21, Phil 3:8-14 and Jn 8:1-11 – 5th Sunday of Lent)

It was a quiet Sunday afternoon when a young boy – seven years of age – was playing in the backyard, pretending to be a knight.

In his hand, he held his mother’s old hand mirror…
… imagining it to be a shining sword.

But as he dashed across the garden path, his foot caught on a root.

He tripped.
The mirror slipped.
And shattered – face-first into the mud.

The boy stared at the broken pieces, horrified.

This wasn’t just any mirror – it was a cherished heirloom, passed down through generations.
One of the favourites of his mother.
Now it was cracked… dirt-stained… ruined!

Tears began to fall.

Slowly, he picked up the fragments and walked into the house, bracing for punishment.

His mother looked up… saw the mud, the cracked mirror, the guilt in his eyes.
She didn’t shout.
She didn’t scold.

Instead, she knelt beside him, gently took the pieces from his hands, wiped away the dirt…
… and with a soft smile said: “It’s still a mirror. Cracked, yes – but it still reflects light.”

“And so do you!”

Then she added, as she held him close,
“Sometimes, the best things in life are born through what’s been broken.”

Isn’t that what our faith is all about?

Our God, Who doesn’t discard the broken…
… but redeems it.

Yes… Grace doesn’t fear the cracks – it fills them!

Even when life shatters us into pieces, God doesn’t throw us away.

He stoops down…
… lifts us up
… and says: ‘Let’s begin again!’

The Gospel of the Day is a beautiful testimony of a person who…
… found herself at the lowest ebbs of her life
… when everything seemed all over
… in total tatters and brokenness

Yet…
… was able to pick up the broken pieces of her life
… fill the spaces in her emptiness
… and start it all over again

All by the Mercy of the Lord, Who intervened, and instilled a new hope in her.

The incident in focus is the ‘infamous’ occurrence of the woman who was “caught” in adultery.

There are many things to be pondered and reflected on, through this incident…

Think of the “mean” and “disgraceful” attitude of the people who “caught” this woman “in the act” (Jn 8:3)
… Were they fitted with “special probing and lusty” eyes, that devilishly gazed into “intimate exchanges,” that too on an early morning?

Think of the “self-appointed” role of these “moralists” who sought to restore the innocence of the land, without realising that, perhaps, their own eyes were filled with lust, their hearts drenched in obscenity and their lives soaked in vulgarity.
… How was it that their “clean” consciences and “true” intentions caught hold of only the woman, “caught in the act”, whereas, the man involved, was left, scot-free?

Think of the “deadly” trap that they were laying before the Lord, in seeking to find his opinion on the accused woman
… How neatly they had trapped the Lord in a “most vicious” dilemma:

If the Lord permitted death, it would be going against the Law of the land – of the Romans – since only the Romans were permitted to take the life of a person

If the Lord did not allow to stone, He would be going against the Law of the Lord, which had ordered the stoning of the convicted adulterer to death.

If the Lord permitted killing, He would be going against His own teaching of mercy, and His fundamental mission of “coming to seek and save the lost”

If the Lord forgave her, He would be going against the principle of Justice, and that would be infringing the rights and duties of a Just God.

It was a near-perfect scene, for the religious leaders to dreadfully trap the Lord.

The woman had been caught “in the act” of adultery…

Jesus was now to be trapped “in the act” of breaking the Law…

The woman had been shamefully paraded and stripped of all her dignity…

Jesus was now to be gloriously humiliated and disrobed of His glory and majesty…

But all these were “mere” human thinking and wile wishes…

The wisdom of God is much greater than all human craftiness and cunningness

In their wickedness, they failed to see, that they were testing the law with the Law-Giver Himself!

And so, the Benevolent Law-giver, bent down, and wrote with His finger… (Jn 8:6)
… just as He had, centuries back, written the Law on the tablet and given to Moses: “… tablets that were made by God, having inscriptions on them that were engraved by God Himself” (Ex 32:16)

He wrote, not a new law, but He wrote to make the law perfectly understood..
“Let the one who is without sin, be the first to throw a stone at her” (Jn 8:7)

This statement shattered all those accusers who heard it!

The accusers came armed with stones of certainty, hiding behind a cloak of righteousness.

But now, one by one, the stones fell…
… not in violence, but in shame!

In fact, those who came to cast the stone had themselves been stoned brutally…
… by the guilt of their sin!
Justice had triumphed!
Mercy had excelled!
Love had won!

All had left, save the one accused and the One who was Love and Compassion!

In fact, the Only One Who could actually throw a stone…
… as the Sinless and Guiltness One!

The one accused, stood in fear and trembling before the One Who recreates and renews!

And so she was given another chance…
…. to pick up the broken pieces of her life
… and to start anew!

In the book of Daniel, an innocent lady, Susanna would undergo a similar experience…
… of being condemned and doomed to death!

But the Wisdom of the Lord would shine through the young boy Daniel…
… and innocent life was saved!

Susanna trusted in the mighty Providence of God…
… and her hopes would not be disappointed; she would not be left in desolation.

Yes, in life, we may find ourselves crushed… broken… accused… abandoned… shamed!

But the Lord, still gives us a chance!

He is closest when we are most vulnerable.

Let’s always remember… God doesn’t discard the broken mirror of our lives

He restores it – because He knows it can still reflect His light!

In the stillness of life – beside the rivers of Mercy – God whispers to us:
“You are not your past.

You are not your shame.
You are mine.
Let’s begin again!”

Shall we….?

God Bless! Live Jesus!

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📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic through the Catechism
MAN’S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT – GOD’S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE – The Ten Commandments – The Fourth Commandment – The Family in God’s Plan

The Christian family is a communion of persons…

… a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. (CCC # 2205)