God's power is especially evident in his mercy.  There are no sins that he can't forgive and his mercy waits upon the smallest opening of repentance and sorrow for sin.  Receiving God's mercy is also the result of being merciful ourselves.  Forgiving others is a condition for being forgiven.  Our own forgiveness and mercy make us like our Father God: constant in love and invincible in goodness. 

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At the Easter Vigil, the Exultet tells us to rejoice with the joy of Christ's Victory.  Easter Joy is triumphant.  Christ is a victor and conqueror of sin and death.  We share in this victory in the sacraments and in charity.  Living a sincere Christian life, we become the resurrection for the world.

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How do we make the most of these Holy Days?  Keep Jesus company in his passion and death.  To get the most out of Easter, let's try to stay with Jesus from the Last Supper through his death, burial and Resurrection.  

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At the Last Supper Jesus opens his heart to the apostles and to us.  St. John shares Jesus' own description of the Father's love for us: it is the same love that he has for his only Son, Jesus.  If and when we truly believe this, it changes everything and serves as the foundation of our Christian life. 

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In today's Gospel Jesus saves the woman caught in adultery from a terrible fate.  We can imagine her joy, relief, and love after Jesus's intervention.  As sinners saved by Jesus, we are all in the same position.  Deep sorrow for sin precedes the great joy of forgiveness in Christ. 

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Almsgiving (charity) is one of the three traditional practices of Lent.  When preaching about almsgiving, Jesus focuses on purity of intention.  We should love others for their sake and for the glory of God.  St. Paul paints a portrait of the Christian heart in his letter to the Ephesians.  Christian charity is especially imbued with understanding of others and selflessness in service. 

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Moses encounters God on Mount Horeb in the burning bush.  We do so in our Lenten prayer and penance.  The time for conversion, for correspondence to Christ's offer of mercy, is limited.  Like the fig tree given just one year more to produce fruit, our life and our Lenten season are passing by. 

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Lent is a time of self-denial.  The higher, better part of ourselves strives to deny and to master our lower nature.  This interior struggle is a necessary condition for Christian life.  In emptying ourselves out, especially of our pride, we invite God to enter in. 

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David composes Psalm 51 as an extended act of contrition.  This follows his being convicted of his sin by the Prophet Nathan.  The "Miserere Psalm" can help us enter into Lent well, focussed on bravely recognizing and humbly repenting of our sinful deeds and state. 

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"Spes non confudit" -- with these words from St. Paul, Pope Francis invited the Church to celebrate the Jubilee year of 2025.   Living Christian hope, firmly based on God's love for us, we can become beacons of hope for many others.