Kids, when I was young, I sometimes did things that got me in trouble with my parents. I know, I know, hard to believe right? Well, it’s true. Maybe like you, I would do something that my parents said not to do, and when they found out, I might get in trouble. Let me tell you about one of those times.

My mom had this favorite plate, not one you eat off of, but one that was pretty to look at. She put it on a stand in the living room where people could see it. It was very pretty. She figured that if it was in the living room, nothing bad could happen to it. Well, Jim happened to it. The plate was about this big, was blue and white, and it was from Japan. My mom loved it.

One day I knocked it over by mistake and it broke into three pieces. I felt so bad! I knew it was her favorite, and I also knew I wasn’t supposed to play in that room. “When she gets home, she’s going to be so mad!” I thought to myself.

But when she got home and saw what had happened, it ended differently than I expected. Yes, she was very sad, but I apologized, and she could see that I really did feel bad about it, so instead of being mad, she forgave me! She loved me, forgave me, and asked me not to be playing around in that room anymore. From then on, I didn’t because I did not want to disappoint her. 

I was truly sorry.

I was forgiven.

I promised not to do it ever again.

So, in the Gospel today, the same kind of story is told about a women who did wrong and how Jesus reacted differently than anyone expected. This is a good story for us as we prepare for Easter.

In this story, Jesus is teaching people about mercy and forgiveness. He is teaching about how we should be merciful and forgiving, like my mom was with me. While Jesus was there, they brought a woman to Him who had done something wrong and asked Jesus if they should do what the law said they should do for the thing that she did wrong. 

Instead of answering them, He did something unexpected: He asked them a question. He asked them if they had ever done anything wrong so that rather than pointing their finger at someone else who did something wrong, they should work to live better lives like Jesus wants them to. He wants them to admit their own mistakes.

Kids, what this shows is Jesus knows that:

We all make mistakes.

He wants us to genuinely feel bad for doing something wrong.

And he wants us to try to not do it again in the future.

Jesus said to the woman, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”

If we do that, He will forgive us every time. He loves us that much! So, just like my mom forgave me and your parents forgive you, we can also be forgiven by Jesus when we do something wrong. When we say we are sorry and we mean it, He forgives us completely.

So, for all of us, we have two weeks left in Lent. Two weeks to pray, to say we are sorry, to ask Him for the strength to avoid sin in the future so that when Easter comes, we are ready to welcome Him. We will be joyful and so thankful for what He has done for us and for His forgiveness in our lives. 

Don’t waste another minute, talk to Him today in prayer. You can even pray as you approach the altar this morning to say you are sorry for your mistakes or to thank Him for His love and mercy. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is another great way to let God know we regret our mistakes and want to do better.

Sometimes saying we are sorry is a little hard, but once we say it, we feel better! Jesus wants that “I’m sorry” to be easy to say so that He can lovingly say “You’re forgiven.” Can you do that?

One more thing about my mom’s plate. My dad took the three pieces of the broken plate, superglued them together and put it back up where my mom displayed it. From then on, everyone who saw it thought that because of the cracks in the plate, it must be a rare and valuable antique!