Holy Spirit of God, help me not condemn, because I, too, am a sinner …

Daniel 13:1-64 & John 8:1-11

 
Attempted rape, perjury, and condemnation of a virtuous woman to death! Daniel as a holy judge of Israel had every right to condemn the two Jewish elders to death themselves! But it was the sin-breeding deceits they themselves proclaimed that was their own death sentence; the darkness of their own hearts condemned them. Jesus turned the tables on condemnation, whether it be self-inflicted or socially imposed, by proving time and again that, although by virtue of his own righteousness  he had every right to condemn any sinner, condemnation of one’s self or of others is not the way for human beings to right wrongs. “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her,” he told the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees. Unfortunately, there are many stones we/I pick up these days to throw at those ‘sinners caught in the act’. I am all too ready to stoop down to sling criticisms, judgments, verbal slurs and thoughts of disdain at my nunaqatiit (Inuktitut: the people I live on earth with). Woe is me!  When I consider the sin of these stones, let alone the other sins of omission and commission that I myself commit on a daily basis, I like the crowd who would stone the adulterous woman have to slink away and again consider the depths of God’s life-giving Mercy. Will I continue to condemn myself and others with hard pebbles, stones and rocks of half-truths born of my own turning away from God?  Or will I remember that I, too, am a sinner who has fallen short of the glory of God, and likewise need to receive and extend the Mercy of God?  Holy Spirit of God, help me not condemn, because I, too, am a sinner.  
 
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake… Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”  (Psalm 23:3) 
 
Our hearts were made for you, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you.
St. Augustine of Hippo   
 
Listen to Surrender, Purify My Heart  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WppYk89xn9E
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
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