New Testament, John, Chapter 8

During my journey through the New Testament, I have grown more spiritually than all my Catholic Church experiences. Growing up Catholic, I have always questioned things that the church did, but since getting married, I question the ways of the Church even more. My husband was married once before and did not get an annulment before we got married. At that time he wasn’t as involved in the Church as he is now. We have a daughter, and during my pregnancy I attended classes to become confirmed in the Catholic Church. I attended these classes for six months only to find out a few days before Confirmation that I would be unable to become a full member of the Church because my husband has not had his previous marriage annulled. My husband’s previous marriage shouldn’t dictate my beliefs of allowing God to guide me though my life. I decided at that point I didn’t need the Catholic Church to tell me what to believe, but rather I can accept Jesus into my life and read his word on my own. My husband is also not able to receive communion at Mass because of his previous marriage. In my readings of the New Testament, I don’t think Jesus would turn my husband away from breaking bread with him because of a past wrong doing. Jesus forgives, but for some reason the Church refuses. This just doesn’t seem very Christian to me.

A good example I found in the New Testament is in John, Chapter 8. In this chapter, Jesus is at the Mount of Olives where a woman is brought in front of him. This woman had been caught in the act of adultery. The locals wanted to stone the woman for what she had done, but Jesus said to them, “All right, stone her. But let those who have never sinned throw the first stones!” With this statement the crowd dispersed and Jesus was able to speak to the woman. Jesus told her that he did not condemn her and told her to sin no more. Most of the people I know today are very critical of people around them, yet they ignore aspects of their own lives that need to be improved. As a result of this class I want to be more open and accepting of people’s differences, and try to understand