23 March 2026 (Monday) / Monday of the 5th week of Lent (optional commemoration of Saint Turibius of Mongrovejo, Bishop) / Lenten Weekday/ Saint Toribio De Mongrovejo, Bishop / Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent

23 March 2026 (Monday)

Monday of the 5th week of Lent (optional commemoration of Saint Turibius of Mongrovejo, Bishop)

Lenten Weekday/ Saint Toribio De Mongrovejo, Bishop.
Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Daniel 13: 1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 or Daniel 13: 41c-62
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
Verse Before the Gospel: Ezekiel 33: 11
Gospel: John 8: 1-11
Liturgical year 2026 (Cycle A/II)
Liturgical color: violet (or purple)

First Reading : Daniel 13:1‐9,15‐17,19‐30,33‐62

In Babylon there lived a man named Joakim. He had married Susanna daughter of Hilkiah, a woman of great beauty; and she was God‐fearing, because her parents were worthy people and had instructed their daughter in the Law of Moses. Joakim was a very rich man, and had a garden attached to his house; the Jews would often visit him since he was held in greater respect than any other man. Two elderly men had been selected from the people that year to act as judges. Of such the Lord said, ‘Wickedness has come to Babylon through the elders and judges posing as guides to the people.’ These men were often at Joakim’s house, and all who were engaged in litigation used to come to them. At midday, when everyone had gone, Susanna used to take a walk in her husband’s garden. The two elders, who used to watch her every day as she came in to take her walk, gradually began to desire her. They threw reason aside, making no effort to turn their eyes to heaven, and forgetting its demands of virtue. So they waited for a favourable moment; and one day Susanna came as usual, accompanied only by two young maidservants. The day was hot and she wanted to bathe in the garden. There was no one about except the two elders, spying on her from their hiding place. She said to the servants, ‘Bring me some oil and balsam and shut the garden door while I bathe.’
  Hardly were the servants gone than the two elders were there after her. ‘Look,’ they said ‘the garden door is shut, no one can see us. We want to have you, so give in and let us! Refuse, and we will both give evidence that a young man was with you and that was why you sent your maids away.’ Susanna sighed. ‘I am trapped,’ she said ‘whatever I do. If I agree, that means my death; if I resist, I cannot get away from you. But I prefer to fall innocent into your power than to sin in the eyes of the Lord.’ Then she cried out as loud as she could. The two elders began shouting too, putting the blame on her, and one of them ran to open the garden door. The household, hearing the shouting in the garden, rushed out by the side entrance to see what was happening; once the elders had told their story the servants were thoroughly taken aback, since nothing of this sort had ever been said of Susanna.
  Next day a meeting was held at the house of her husband Joakim. The two elders arrived, in their vindictiveness determined to have her put to death. They addressed the company: ‘Summon Susanna daughter of Hilkiah and wife of Joakim.’ She was sent for, and came accompanied by her parents, her children and all her relations. All her own people were weeping, and so were all the others who saw her. The two elders stood up, with all the people round them, and laid their hands on the woman’s head. Tearfully she turned her eyes to heaven, her heart confident in God. The elders then spoke. ‘While we were walking by ourselves in the garden, this woman arrived with two servants. She shut the garden door and then dismissed the servants. A young man who had been hiding went over to her and they lay down together. From the end of the garden where we were, we saw this crime taking place and hurried towards them. Though we saw them together we were unable to catch the man: he was too strong for us; he opened the door and took to his heels. We did, however, catch this woman and ask her who the young man was. She refused to tell us. That is our evidence.’
  Since they were elders of the people, and judges, the assembly took their word: Susanna was condemned to death. She cried out as loud as she could, ‘Eternal God, you know all secrets and everything before it happens; you know that they have given false evidence against me. And now have I to die, innocent as I am of everything their malice has invented against me?’
  The Lord heard her cry and, as she was being led away to die, he roused the holy spirit residing in a young boy named Daniel who began to shout, ‘I am innocent of this woman’s death!’ At which all the people turned to him and asked, ‘What do you mean by these words?’ Standing in the middle of the crowd he replied, ‘Are you so stupid, sons of Israel, as to condemn a daughter of Israel unheard, and without troubling to find out the truth? Go back to the scene of the trial: these men have given false evidence against her.’
  All the people hurried back, and the elders said to Daniel, ‘Come and sit with us and tell us what you mean, since God has given you the gifts that elders have.’ Daniel said, ‘Keep the men well apart from each other for I want to question them.’ When the men had been separated, Daniel had one of them brought to him. ‘You have grown old in wickedness,’ he said ‘and now the sins of your earlier days have overtaken you, you with your unjust judgements, your condemnation of the innocent, your acquittal of guilty men, when the Lord has said, “You must not put the innocent and the just to death.” Now then, since you saw her so clearly, tell me what tree you saw them lying under?’ He replied, ‘Under a mastic tree.’ Daniel said, ‘True enough! Your lie recoils on your own head: the angel of God has already received your sentence from him and will slash you in half.’ He dismissed the man, ordered the other to be brought and said to him, ‘Spawn of Canaan, not of Judah, beauty has seduced you, lust has led your heart astray! This is how you have been behaving with the daughters of Israel and they were too frightened to resist; but here is a daughter of Judah who could not stomach your wickedness! Now then, tell me what tree you surprised them under?’ He replied, ‘Under a holm oak.’ Daniel said, ‘True enough! Your lie recoils on your own head: the angel of God is waiting, with a sword to drive home and split you, and destroy the pair of you.’
  Then the whole assembly shouted, blessing God, the saviour of those who trust in him. And they turned on the two elders whom Daniel had convicted of false evidence out of their own mouths. As prescribed in the Law of Moses, they sentenced them to the same punishment as they had intended to inflict on their neighbour. They put them to death; the life of an innocent woman was spared that day.

Responsive Psalm : Psalm 22(23)

If I should walk in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.
The Lord is my shepherd;
  there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures
  where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me,
  to revive my drooping spirit.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.
He guides me along the right path;
  he is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness
  no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your staff;
  with these you give me comfort.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.
You have prepared a banquet for me
  in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil;
  my cup is overflowing.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.
Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me
  all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
  for ever and ever.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.

Verse Before the Gospel: Ezekiel 33: 11
11 I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion, that he may live.
(11. Say to them, "As I live -- declares the Lord Yahweh -- I do not take pleasure in the death of the wicked but in the conversion of the wicked who changes his ways and saves his life. Repent, turn back from your evil ways. Why die, House of Israel?")

Gospel : John 8:1‐11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them.
  The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in full view of everybody, they said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you to say?’ They asked him this as a test, looking for something to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question, he looked up and said, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Then he bent down and wrote on the ground again. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there. He looked up and said, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir’ she replied. ‘Neither do I condemn you,’ said Jesus ‘go away, and do not sin any more.’

For our reflection today:

In his homily at Holy Mass, Pope Francis reflected on the day’s Readings from the Book of the Prophet Daniel (13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62) and the Gospel of John (8:1-11). The Pope introduced his comments by noting that: “today’s readings speak to us about adultery”, which together with blasphemy and idolatry was considered to be “an extremely grave sin in the Law of Moses” that was punishable by death. Adultery, the Pope said, “is contrary to the image of God and God’s fidelity”, for “marriage, in addition to being a human reality, is the symbol of God’s faithful relationship with his people”. Thus, “when marriage is ruined through adultery, it sullies God’s relationship with his people”. In those days, it was considered to be “a grave sin” because “is sullied the symbol of the relationship between God and his people, of God’s fidelity”.

In the Gospel, the Evangelist John recounts the story of the woman caught in adultery. Here, the Pope said, “we encounter Jesus seated among many people ... teaching”. As he was teaching “the scribes and Pharisees approached him bringing a woman forward, perhaps with her hands bound.... Placing her in the midst, they began accusing her: she is an adulteress!”. The Gospel reports that they then asked Jesus a question: “What ought we do with this woman? You speak to us about goodness, yet Moses told us that we must kill her!”. The Pope explained that “they were saying this in order to put him to the test, to have a reason to accuse him”. For, “if Jesus has said ‘yes’, go ahead with the stoning”, it would have provided them the opportunity to say to the people: “but this is your good teacher, look what he has done to this poor woman!”. If instead “Jesus had said: poor woman, forgive her!”, then they would have grounds to accuse him “of not fulfilling the law”.

Their sole objective was “to put [Jesus] to the test and to trap him. The woman didn’t matter to them; the adulterers didn’t matter to them”. Indeed, the Pope said, “perhaps some of them were adulterers themselves”. For his part, although there were many people around, “Jesus wanted to remain alone with the woman, he wanted to speak to the woman’s heart: this was the most important thing for Jesus”. And “the people slowly went away” after they heard the words: “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her”.

“With a certain irony, the Gospel says that everyone went away, one by one, beginning with the elders: it is evident that they had a big debt against them in the bank of heaven!”, the Pope remarked. Then comes “the moment of Jesus, the Confessor”. He was left alone with the woman standing before him. “Jesus was bending down and was writing with his finger on the ground. Some exegetes say that Jesus was writing the sins of the Pharisees and scribes”. Then “he got up and looked” at the woman, who was “full of shame, and he said to her: Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? We are alone, you and I. You are standing before God, without accusations, without gossip: you and God”.

The woman does not claim to be the victim of “a false accusation”, she does not defend herself, saying: “I didn’t commit adultery”. No, “she acknowledges her sin” and she responds to Jesus, saying: “No one has condemned me, Lord”. Then Jesus says to her: “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again, in order not to pass through a time of disgrace, in order not to experience such shame, in order not to offend God, in order not to sully the beautiful relationship between God and his people”.

“Jesus forgives. But there is something more here than forgiveness. For as a confessor Jesus goes beyond the law, for “the law said that she had to be punished”. Indeed, as the Pope noted, Jesus “was pure and could have throne the first stone”. But he “went beyond this. He doesn’t tell her that adultery is not a sin, but he doesn’t condemn her with the law”. This, the Pope explained, is “the mystery of Jesus’ mercy ... in being merciful Jesus” goes beyond “the law which commanded that she be stoned”. “Mercy,” the Pope explained, “is something which is difficult to understand: it doesn’t eliminate sin”, for “it is God’s forgiveness” that does this. “Mercy is the manner in which God forgives”. For “Jesus could have said: ‘I forgive you, go!’ as he had said to the paralytic: your sins are forgiven!”. In this situation, however, “Jesus goes further” and counsels the woman “to sin no more”.

“How many of us would deserve to be condemned! And it would even be just. Yet he forgives!”. How?, the Pope asked. “With this mercy”, which “does not eliminate sin: it is God’s forgiveness that eliminates it”, whereas “mercy goes goes beyond”. Pope Francis then compared God’s mercy to the sun: “we look at the sky, the many stars, but when the morning sun comes, we don’t see the stars. Such is the mercy of God: it is a great light of love, of tenderness”. For “God doesn’t forgive with a decree but with a caress”. He forgives by “caressing the wounds caused by our sins, because he is involved in forgiveness, is involved in our salvation”.

This is Jesus’ style as a confessor, the Pope said. He does not humiliate the adulterous woman. “He does not say to her: what did you do, when did you do it, how did you do it and with whom did you do it!”. Instead, he tells her “to go and sin no more: God’s mercy is great, God’s mercy is great: forgiving us by caressing us”.

POPE FRANCIS
MORNING MEDITATION IN THE CHAPEL OF THEDOMUS SANCTAE MARTHAE
Forgiveness in a caress
Monday, 7 April 2014

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Pelayan Atasan Tertinggi / Most High Servant,
Yesus, Maria, Yusuf Pelayanan Kasih / Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love 
(Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)

My vocation is Blessed and Saints.

"I am the most humble of all the Saints in Heaven" Mary, Mother of God."

"I am the handmaid of the Lord, said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me."

Mother Mary is the most humble Saint in Heaven and she is also the Mother of God for us all
(Luke 1:38)