Guided meditation for Lent (Year C)
Note: Sr Wendy Beckett has a beautiful image with a short reflection in her book “The Gaze
of Love: Meditations on Art (p18). The image is available at this web address:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GuercinoAdultress1621Dulwich.jpg and you might like to
use it as a focal point for the meditation below.
As you read the meditation below, take your time and use the … to pause and allow people
time to reflect on what they have just heard.
Our meditation today is based on the Gospel account of a meeting between Jesus and a
woman taken in adultery. This was ranked almost alongside murder and the penalty was
death – so this was an extremely serious situation. What is also interesting is that not all
manuscripts included it – and you will find in some bibles that the account is put in brackets.
There is some doubt about whether John himself wrote this but it is a very powerful
example of just what John said about God – the God who is love… and his Son, Jesus, who
was sent into the world not to condemn but to save… It is a gospel that affirms the
possibility of repentance and forgiveness and that anyone and everyone can respond to a
call to holiness.
As we begin our meditation, spend a moment making sure that you are comfortable – so
that you can be still for about 10 minutes and not be distracted by an ache or pressure in
uncomfortable places.
It is helpful to sit comfortably – with your back straight and supported but not rigid or
tense… let your hands rest in your lap… both feet on the floor.
It can also help to close your eyes – or you might like to gaze at the picture… do whichever
suits you – and this may change during the meditation so just go with the flow of what is
given to you.
As part of your preparations for the prayer, begin to focus on your breathing – the breath of
life… You breathe countless times a day – but we rarely notice it so just for a minute or so,
feel the coolness of the air as you breathe in – and the warmth as you breathe out. With
each breath, gently breathe in a little more deeply – and then, on the out-breath, let the
tensions and anxieties go.
Allow yourself to become relaxed but attentive to what God might offer you …
We invite the Holy Spirit to come upon us – to guide our reflections… to take us into the
gospel account… and to hear God’s Word speaking deeply to our hearts.
Just to remind ourselves of the story, we will listen to it read and then enter the
meditation…
Early in the morning Jesus came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat
down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had
been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, ‘Teacher,
this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses
commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They said this to test him, so
that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his
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finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to
them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And
once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away,
one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing
before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one
condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your
way, and from now on do not sin again.’
John 8: 1-11 (NRSV)
So – John tells us that it is early morning and Jesus has been making his way from the Mount
of Olives to the Temple…
Begin by creating a scene in your soul’s eye of an early morning… just getting light… perhaps
a sunrise and the figure of Jesus walking into the city… perhaps walking amidst traders …
women coming back from the well… children playing
And then entering the Temple – looking around – and then finding a place to pray for a few
moments… before people come to greet him and he starts talking to them…
But then there is a disturbance… a small crowd is coming towards him…. angry… full of
righteous indignation… affronted… disgusted by the act they have witnessed… In your
mind’s eye, look around at the crowd as they approach Jesus – the expressions on people’s
faces ... the way they are moving… what words you might overhear…
And then look at Jesus – what is his reaction?
As you watch, the crowd parts and a woman is pushed into the centre – standing alone…
What do you see and hear from the other people...as they make their case condemning the
woman to death by stoning?
And what is Jesus doing? Looking at them? Looking at the woman?
As the accusations die away, what happen to Jesus – to the woman – to the crowd?
Then hear Jesus’ words: Let anyone among you who is without sin cast the first stone…. and
watch as he bends down… starting to write in the sand… what is his expression as he does
this? Simply watch as he writes…
Then look around at the crowd… what is happening to them?
Watch as they move away until Jesus and the woman are left… the woman standing – Jesus
at her feet – looking up from his writing… asking where everyone is… perhaps looking deep
into her eyes – into her soul…
And the question: So who is left to condemn you?...
And her response: No one sir…
Allow that exchange to play in your mind and heart for a few moments – perhaps repeat a
few times it to allow it to go deeper into your heart…
How does it echo times in your own life?
How does it leave you feeling?
And then hear Jesus’ words – Neither do I condemn you… go and sin no more…
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Neither do I condemn you… go and sin no more…
And as the woman goes, allow Jesus to turn to you…what might you want to say… to do…?
Perhaps tell him of times when you have been in a similar position to the woman?
Or times when you have been one of those who condemned…
Allow yourself time to share something with Jesus … and to hear his response to you…
(Give a couple of minutes quiet here)
And, in your own time, gently allow the scene to fade – perhaps leaving the Temple
yourself… (do you meet people on the way?)… or watch as Jesus moves away to continue his
prayer and preaching…
What feelings are you left with from this time with Jesus…
What have you learned about the woman – the accusers – about yourself?
In your own words, thank God for this time of prayer … ask for the grace to act on anything
that came up in the prayer…
And we will close by giving praise to God who calls us all to repentance and to holiness:
Glory be to the Father…
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