LENTEN REFLECTION

Message

The scribes and pharisees bring the woman in order to test Jesus. If He agrees with them and she is stoned to death, His message of love  and mercy is undermined and His entire teaching becomes questionable, and unravels. If He  tells them not  to  stone her, He contradicts the law of Moses and appears to approve of adultery which is a sin according to the commandments. The response of our Lord Jesus Christ exposes their wicked plan: let the  one without sin kill her  for sinning. That would have been gross. On our  part, we know our  sin is always before us  (Ps  51:3),  and we  must never judge or  condemn; we should leave that to God who in His infinite mercy and love will do what is best.

Gospel Reading

John  8 [[1 (The each of them went home 7:53) while Jesus went to the  Mount of lives. 2 Early  in the  morning he  came again to the  temple. All the  people came to him  and he sat  down and began to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her  stand before all  of  them, 4 they said to  him, “Teacher, this woman was caught  in  the   very   act   of  committing adultery. 5 Now   in  the   law   Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with  his  finger on  the  ground. 7 When they kept  on questioning him, he  straightened up  and said to  them, “Let  anyone among you  who is without sin be  the  first  to throw a stone at her.” 8 And  once again he bent down and wrote on the  ground. 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by  one, beginning with  the  elders; and Jesus was left  alone with  the woman  standing   before  him. 10 Jesus  straightened   up   and  said  to   her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.  Go your way, and from now on do not  sin again.”]]

Leviticus 20 has various prohibitions and death penalties for violations of holiness; including “10  If  a  man commits adultery with   the  wife  of his neighbour, both the adulterer and the  adulteress shall be  put  to death” (20:10).  For idolatry, two  or more witnesses were required, and the  witness was to  cast the  first  stone, then others would join (Dt 17:6-7). But Jesus instead shifts the  duty to the  one who is without sin, and there is no one without sin. God’s name is mercy, as Pope Francis taught. We are to be merciful.

Jesus does not  condemn the woman. He tells her  not  to sin again. Perhaps the  best words ever uttered in the world are  heard at confession, when the  Priest says, “God, the Father of mercies, through the Death  and Resurrection of his Son,  has  reconciled the  world  to  himself and  poured out  the  Holy  Spirit  for  the  forgiveness of  sins; through the  ministry of the  Church, may  God  grant you  pardon and  peace. And  I absolve you  from your  sins,  in the  name of the  Father, and  of the  Son,  + and  of the Holy Spirit.” Confession heals. It gives peace. We  come face  to  face  with  God. We experience God’s love, His mercy. He does not  keep a score of our  sins. He simply loves and forgives. The initiative is God’s; He draws us to Himself and heals us.

Our  Lord  Jesus Christ teaches that “37  Do not  judge, and you  will not  be  judged; do not condemn, and you will not  be  condemned. Forgive, and you  will be  forgiven (Lk 6:37).  Mercy and love  are  hallmarks of our  Lord’s entire teaching, as we  see in the parables of the  lost  sheep and coin  and the  prodigal son (Luke 15), which we do well to read slowly and ponder, in gratitude for God’s mercy and love. In a self-description, Jesus refers to  Himself as gentle and humble of heart (Mt 11:29). We  too  are  to  be tender of heart.

As the  scribes and pharisees knew well,  and as we pray, in Psalm 103:8-14,

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not  always accuse, nor will he  keep his anger forever. 10 He does not  deal with  us according to our  sins, nor  repay us according to our  iniquities. 11 For as the  heavens are  high above the  earth, so great is his steadfast love  toward those who fear  him; 12 as far as the  east is from the west, so far he removes our  transgressions from us. 13 As a father has compassion for his children, so the  Lord has compassion for those who fear  him. 14 For he  knows how we were made; he remembers that we are  dust.

We can therefore present ourselves before our Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness and healing. We continue to pray Psalms 51 and 130 more fervently, for total conversion.