Lent Five year C 25th March 2007

This is surely one of the most beautiful Gospel passes in all of Scripture. It is as if this one account of how Jesus actually treated this woman gives a clear picture of the whole meaning of the Gospel.

 

There is no doubt that the woman is guilty as charged. There is no doubt about what the law said to do with her. Jesus, however, puts the whole relationship of sin and punishment into a new light: mercy and compassion.

In God’s eyes, it is never just about the law and justice and how we have acted in relation to that…..  Jesus, time and time again has reminded us that we are whole human beings…..    and Jesus calls us to wholeness…..   so we do not do ourselves much good focusing on actions or even sins unless we see them in the broader context of who we are as humans created by God in love………….  Its also about love and mercy and compassion….

                                                  

Perhaps many of us believe that we also would like to live that mercy and compassion in our lives. Lent is the time to reflect on our own relationships with others. We no longer (in this country) …..stone people for breaking religious laws, but let’s face it…. There are other ways of striking people down for their mistakes and sins and weaknesses………..   we have probably all seen examples where a persons’ sin or weaknesses have been thrown back in their face by others…  even in situations where the sin or weakness is actually not relevant at all the issue at hand…….   A person’s fault and sins….are a powerful sword that is all-too-tempting for people to use against them.

 

Lent is a time to reflect on our own calling to live as Jesus Christ lived: with love and compassion for everyone and for all creation. What an enormous challenge!

Whenever we might be tempted to reject another person, we could benefit from thinking of this Gospel passage and realize that we actually condemn ourselves if we reject others. This kind of thinking clearly does not condone the sin. Just as Jesus is clear at the end of this Gospel passage: “Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” There is no sense that what the woman has done is acceptable— (although we often rightly ask….  Where is the other party… this situation is terribly unjust… the woman is being brought forward for punishment whilst the man is nowhere to be seen…….)……

 

In any case….the woman herself is a child of God and needs love and compassion.

How many situations today reflect the need for clear moral thinking. Today everyone is afraid to say out loud: “this or that action is immoral!” We are constrained by the cultural thinking of our present age. Our Catholic teaching, however, is clear. Some actions are objectively wrong and it would be not good to water that down……. Today, so many of us are ill at ease in speaking like this. We don’t want to reject anyone—and that basic instinct of not rejecting anyone is a good and sound instinct.

In the Gospel, Jesus is not afraid to call a sin what it is. Yet a clear idea of what is right and what is wrong…..   a clear sense of sin in no way leads to a rejection of the person……… Jesus does not reject this woman. We are challenged in Lent to find ways to speak clearly about immorality and immoral actions and yet not reject other people. This is not easy to accomplish.

 

In fact,  I have a little test I often ask myself……    if you can’t say it with love and positively….don’t say it at all… it will do no good…….   Can’t say I always follow my own advice…..  but it is a reminder of the message of this gospel…. There is more at stake than right and wrong… there is ultimately our relationship with a loving God and our relationshiop with others who are all loved by God as indeed we are ………..

 

In the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah, we could even say that learning to speak clearly and yet with compassion and mercy, is a way of announcing the praise of God.

If we look at the second reading from the Letter to the Philippians, we can honestly say that we must keep our eyes on the goal, which is living in Christ Jesus and living as He lived in every aspect of our life. We will encounter a cost and certainly a fair degree of pain,  for trying to live as Jesus lived, but we will also be transformed.

Let us pray today for a deepening of the gift of faith in our lives and for the gift of being able to give witness to our faith by speaking the truths of our faith, but always with compassion and mercy. May God help us! May we hear the and live the words of Jesus in our lives: “Neither do I condemn you.”

 

 

(Taken from the Abbot’s homily –with additions by myself) http://christdesert.org/)