5th Sunday of Lent (Rachel's Vineyard Retreat) for Parents of an Abortion

 

When the adulterous woman was brought before Jesus in front of the crowd what did she feel?

Embarrassed, shame, guilt, anger, fear, sadness, judged, condemned, burdened.

But after her encounter with Jesus, how did she feel? Unburdened, free, loved, peace, joy, thankful.

This weekend you have encountered Jesus. Jesus did not condemn her. Jesus forgave her. Jesus revealed His love to Her. Jesus defended her. Jesus did not condemn you. Jesus forgave you. Jesus revealed His love for you. Jesus defended you.

You have done something very beautiful for yourself and your family. You have sought peace, mercy, forgiveness and love and Jesus in His abundant mercy has bestowed it upon you.

Jesus saw your suffering and His Heart was touched. He felt sympathy for you, and He consoles the one who suffers and makes the pain His own. Jesus could not see the tears in the person’s eyes without wiping them, because His compassion is always aroused by our pain.

Through baptism, Jesus dwells in us and because He dwells in us, He feels what we feel. When we are sad or feel lonely or misunderstood, He feels those feelings.

The compassionate Heart of Jesus suffers when He sees souls in sin. Jesus waits untiringly for our conversion. He sees the misery of our soul and wants to relieve that misery with His love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness. Weary, Jesus waits until we ask. His body thirsts, but His Heart thirsts even more to relieve our misery. He sits with infinite patience—waiting just as He waits for us…

Jesus said to the woman, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to stone her.” They all slowly walked away and then Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one sir?” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” Our Lord sends her away free from her enemies. If Jesus does not condemn her and he doesn’t want others to condemn her, than certainly she should not condemn herself.

Jesus once told His disciples, “Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful.” He also means we need to merciful to our self, as God is merciful to us.

Evil spirits convince us to sin and then accuse us after we have sinned. But God is infinitely merciful. Jesus told St. Faustina, “The greater the sinner, the greater one has the right to my mercy.” He also said, “Though one’s sins be as scarlet, and as many as sands on the shore, all is washed away in the ocean of my mercy.” Jesus wants us to trust in His Mercy.

If we have self-deprecating thoughts or thoughts doubting God’s mercy, remind yourself that Jesus has forgiven you. Don’t allow those thoughts in your mind, and then eventually, they will become less and less. The burden that you have carried, Jesus lifts and frees you of it, with His unfathomable mercy. Repeat often: Jesus, you have forgiven me. Jesus, I trust in You.

Have you ever heard of Bernard Nathanson? He was a Jewish abortionist who did over 7,000 abortions. He saw the evil he was doing and eventually discovered the love of Jesus and became Catholic. When he was baptized all his sins and the punishment due to his sins, were all washed away in the ocean of God’s mercy.

Baptism washes away all sin and the punishment due to all sin, so when he was baptized, if he would have died, he would have went straight to heaven. How infinite is God’s mercy.

Something you may want to do is to make an act of forgiveness toward the abortionist and to anyone else who encouraged you to get it, such as boyfriend, or parents and to make an act of forgiveness towards yourself. We need to forgive.

For example, we can say, “In the name of Jesus I forgive the abortionist. In the name of Jesus, I forgive my boyfriend. In the name of Jesus, I forgive myself.”

The Sunday after Easter is called the feast of Divine Mercy given to us by Jesus through St. Faustina. If a Catholic goes to Confession during Lent and if he or she receives Holy Communion in the state of grace, on the Sunday after Easter, their soul will become like it was at baptism. All sins and all punishment due to one’s sins are washed away in the ocean of God’s mercy. All purgatory time is eliminated.

After receiving the sacrament of confession and after obtaining God’s divine mercy on the Feast of Divine mercy, some might still feel guilty. But this is false guilt caused by wounded emotions. If we have these feelings, we need to remind our self, “Jesus has truly forgiven me and these are just feelings”. We don’t go by feelings, we go by what is true.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. When He finds a lost sheep, He picks up the lamb and carries it on His shoulders and when He comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep!” In another scripture, Jesus tells those around Him, “The angels in heaven rejoice over one repentant sinner.” So, every time we go to Confession, angels have a party in heaven. Jesus came to forgive sinners. He said, “I came not for the righteous, but for sinners.”

Who did Jesus first appear to when He rose from the dead, St. Mary Magdalene, a former prostitute? Who did Jesus appear to on the road to Damascus? Saul who persecuted Christians and encouraged the killing of St. Stephen. But Saul, changed his name to Paul and became a great saint.

St. Augustine was promiscuous and fathered a child out of wedlock, but he had a conversion and became not only a priest, but a bishop, a saint and a doctor of the Church.

Jesus can take anyone, no matter their sins and make them saints.

I would like to encourage you to do several things when you get back to your normal life. First, I suggest you pray the Rosary every day. When we meditate on the joyful mysteries of Jesus conception, visitation, birth, presentation in the temple, and finding in the temple, we come in contact with the beauty of family life and there is great healing. When we meditate on the sorrowful mysteries, the agony in the Garden, the scourging at the pillar, the crowning with thorns, the carrying of the Cross, and especially the crucifixion, we see how much Jesus loves us and we when we unite our sufferings and agony with the sufferings and agony of Jesus, it gives great peace to our soul knowing Jesus understands what we go through.

Finally, I would to recommend you come before Jesus in an adoration chapel or before Jesus in the tabernacle. There as we adore Our Lord in the Eucharist whether in a monstrance or in a tabernacle, in the silence, Jesus will pour His healing rays of love into your hearts. Never has anyone not left who did not have more peace after being with Jesus in the Eucharist. During adoration, Jesus will embrace you, wipe away your tears and give joy to your heart, knowing, everyday is a new day and we can live a new life in Christ.

May you turn to the Virgin Mary, our Mother in heaven, who will place Her mantle upon you and keep you close to Her Immaculate Heart. She will give you a mother’s love and encourage you on your daily walk with Jesus, Her Son. For with Mary, you will encounter Jesus every day.