Neither do I condemn you... I am the light of the world

Book of Isaiah 43:16-21. 
Thus says the LORD, who opens a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters, 
Who leads out chariots and horsemen, a powerful army, Till they lie prostrate together, never to rise, snuffed out and quenched like a wick. 
Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; 
See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers. 
Wild beasts honor me, jackals and ostriches, For I put water in the desert and rivers in the wasteland for my chosen people to drink, 
The people whom I formed for myself, that they might announce my praise. 



Psalms 126(125):1-2ab.2cd-3.4-5.6. 
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion, 
we were like men dreaming. 
Then our mouth was filled with laughter, 
and our tongue with rejoicing. 

Then they said among the nations, 
"the LORD has done great things for them." 
The LORD has done great things for us; 
we are glad indeed. 

Restore our fortunes, O LORD, 
like the torrents in the southern desert. 
Those that sow in tears 
shall reap rejoicing. 

Although they go forth weeping, 
carrying the seed to be sown, 
they shall come back rejoicing, 
carrying their sheaves. 




Letter to the Philippians 3:8-14. 
Brothers and sisters: I consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ 
and be found in him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, depending on faith 
to know him and the power of his resurrection and (the) sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, 
if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 
It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ (Jesus). 
Brothers, I for my part do not consider myself to have taken possession. Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, 
I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God's upward calling, in Christ Jesus. 



Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 8:1-11. 
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 
But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. 
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. 
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. So what do you say?"
They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."
Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 
And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. 
Then Jesus straightened up and 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) from now on do not sin any more." 

“Neither do I condemn you... I am the light of the world” (Jn 8,11-12)

O my God, my Creator, who love to forgive,
Make the brightness of your inaccessible light grow greater over me
To fill my heart with joy.
Be not angry; do not forsake me!
But make my soul radiant with your light,
For your light, O my God, is you…

I have gone aside from your straight road, the divine road,
And have fallen lamentably from the glory that had been given me.
I have been stripped of the shining robe, the divine robe,
And fallen into the darkness; now I lie in darkness
And do not realize I am deprived of light…
For if you have shone from on high, if you have appeared in the shadows,
If you have come into the world, O Merciful One,
If you have desired to live with men
In our human condition, for love of humankind,
If… you are said to be the light of the world (Jn 8:12)
And we do not even see you,
Is this not because we are completely blind
And more unfortunate than the blind, O my Christ?...

As for you, who are all good things, you give them unceasingly
to your servants, to those who see your light…
Whoever possesses you, truly possesses in you all other things.
May I not be deprived of you, O Lord! May I not be deprived of you, Creator!
May I not be deprived of you, O Merciful One, I, the humble stranger…
I beg you, set me with you,
Even if I have multiplied sins more than everyone else.
Receive my prayer like that of the publican (Lk 18:13)
Or like that of the sinful woman, Lord, even though I weep not as she did (Lk 7:38)…
Are you not the source of pity, the spring of mercy and river of goodness?
Therefore, on this account have pity on me!
Ah yes, you who had hands and feet nailed to the cross
And your side pierced with the lance, you the All-Compassionate,
Have pity on me and snatch me away from the eternal burning…
That on that day I may stand before you without condemnation
To be welcomed into your wedding chamber
In which I shall share your happiness, good Master,
In inexpressible joy throughout the ages. Amen.

A Song of Praise (Isaiah 26)

26 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

We have a strong city;
    God makes salvation
    its walls and ramparts.
2 Open the gates
    that the righteous nation may enter,
    the nation that keeps faith.
3 You will keep in perfect peace
    those whose minds are steadfast,
    because they trust in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
    for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
5 He humbles those who dwell on high,
    he lays the lofty city low;
he levels it to the ground
    and casts it down to the dust.
6 Feet trample it down—
    the feet of the oppressed,
    the footsteps of the poor.

7 The path of the righteous is level;
    you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.
8 Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,[a]
    we wait for you;
your name and renown
    are the desire of our hearts.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night;
    in the morning my spirit longs for you.
When your judgments come upon the earth,
    the people of the world learn righteousness.
10 But when grace is shown to the wicked,
    they do not learn righteousness;
even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil
    and do not regard the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, your hand is lifted high,
    but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame;
    let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them.

12 Lord, you establish peace for us;
    all that we have accomplished you have done for us.
13 Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us,
    but your name alone do we honor.
14 They are now dead, they live no more;
    their spirits do not rise.
You punished them and brought them to ruin;
    you wiped out all memory of them.
15 You have enlarged the nation, Lord;
    you have enlarged the nation.
You have gained glory for yourself;
    you have extended all the borders of the land.

16 Lord, they came to you in their distress;
    when you disciplined them,
    they could barely whisper a prayer.[b]
17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth
    writhes and cries out in her pain,
    so were we in your presence, Lord.
18 We were with child, we writhed in labor,
    but we gave birth to wind.
We have not brought salvation to the earth,
    and the people of the world have not come to life.

19 But your dead will live, Lord;
    their bodies will rise—
let those who dwell in the dust
    wake up and shout for joy—
your dew is like the dew of the morning;
    the earth will give birth to her dead.

20 Go, my people, enter your rooms
    and shut the doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
    until his wrath has passed by.
21 See, the Lord is coming out of his dwelling
    to punish the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood shed on it;
    the earth will conceal its slain no longer.

Promise of forgiveness for repentant sinners (Isaiah 57,14-21)

And it will be said:

“Build up, build up, prepare the road!
    Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”
 For this is what the high and exalted One says—
    he who lives forever, whose name is holy:
“I live in a high and holy place,
    but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly
    and to revive the heart of the contrite.
I will not accuse them forever,
    nor will I always be angry,
for then they would faint away because of me—
    the very people I have created.
 I was enraged by their sinful greed;
    I punished them, and hid my face in anger,
    yet they kept on in their willful ways.
 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them;
    I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners,
     creating praise on their lips.
Peace, peace, to those far and near,”
    says the Lord. “And I will heal them.”
 But the wicked are like the tossing sea,
    which cannot rest,
    whose waves cast up mire and mud.
 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

Isaías 53,5-6

The Annunciation of the Lord. Book of Isaiah 7:10-14.8:10b.

The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying: 
Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky! 
But Ahaz answered, "I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!" 
Then he said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God? 
Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. 
Form a plan, and it shall be thwarted; make a resolve, and it shall not be carried out, for "With us is God!" 



Psalms 40(39):7-8a.8b-9.10.11. 


Sacrifice or oblation you wished not, 
but ears open to obedience you gave me. 
Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not; 
then said I, “Behold I come.” 

“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me, 
To do your will, O my God, is my delight, 
and your law is within my heart!” 

I announced your justice in the vast assembly; 
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know. 

Your justice I kept not hid within my heart; 
your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of; 
I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth 
in the vast assembly. 

True Fasting (Isaiah 58:1-9)

1“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

The Glory of Zion (Isaiah 60:1-6 )

“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
² See, darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
    and his glory appears over you.
³ Nations will come to your light,
    and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

⁴ “Lift up your eyes and look about you:
    All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
    and your daughters are carried on the hip.
⁵ Then you will look and be radiant,
    your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
    to you the riches of the nations will come.
⁶ Herds of camels will cover your land,
    young camels of Midian and Ephah.
And all from Sheba will come,
    bearing gold and incense
    and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.