With spring just around the corner, we find ourselves yearning for the new life it brings. We watch for the first budding of trees, the flowering of the early daffodils, jonquils and crocuses, and we revel in the sound of birds newly arrived from the south. The air, filled with new life, reminds us to let go of the chill of winter. Today’s readings speak of new life. Isaiah assures us of God’s promise, “See, I am making something new. Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

God is creating something new in us during this Lenten season of springtime. As Jesus frees the woman taken in adultery from the condemnation of the law, He urges us, too, to let go of our past ways   of sinfulness and put on the heart of God:  to live lives of compassion, forgiveness and mercy.