March 13^th 2016.  Fifth Sunday of Lent

GOSPEL: John 8:1-11

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: John 8:1-11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them.

The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in full view of everybody, they said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you to say?’ They asked him this as a test, looking for something to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question, he looked up and said, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Then be bent down and wrote on the ground again. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there. He looked up and said, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’

‘No one, Sir’ she replied.

‘Neither do I condemn you,’ said Jesus ‘Go away, and don’t sin any more.’

 The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In the first reading, the Lord tells us not to look to the events of the past but to reflect on the marvellous novelty that he is bringing about in our lives right now. In the Gospel, a woman caught in adultery is hauled before Jesus. The people want to stone her to death, according to the stipulations of the law. But Jesus says, “Whoever among you has no sin, cast the first stone”. Everyone soon disperses and Jesus is left alone with the woman. He tells her to go on her way and sin no more. As in the first reading, Jesus is telling the woman that what is important is not the saga of the past but the new life that God is calling us to live from this moment onwards. Jesus did not come to make an exhaustive list of our sins and focus on the evil that is in our hearts! He came so that we might leave our sinfulness behind us and begin to walk in communion with him. What must we do if a relationship is broken? Analyse in a tortuous fashion all the wrongs that were done in that relationship? Or mend the relationship and walk together in unity? Sure, if we sin, then we must ask forgiveness and seek to remedy the wrongs we have done to others. But the point is that it is useless to torment ourselves about the errors of the past. Jesus wants us to move forward, living from this moment onwards in a new manner.

The pardon of Jesus is not simply directed to our past sins. It gives us new life and directs us towards something new.

The Gospel this Sunday tells of the adulteress who is saved from recrimination by Jesus. His defence of the woman consists simply in the words, “Whoever among you is without sin, cast the first stone”. Let us consider the Gospel story in the light of the first reading. The prophet Isaiah speaks of the flight from Egypt across the Red Sea. In speaking of this liberation, the prophet says, “Consider no longer the things of the past. There is no need to think about what was done before”. These things of the past are the beautiful epic events of the Passover. They are at the core of the identity of the Jewish people – their liberation from slavery and oppression. But the prophet exhorts the people not to think back on the events of long ago. “Look,” the Lord says. “I am doing a new thing”. Then we hear the description of the novel things that the Lord is working among them. At the end of the Gospel, there is a similar phrase that Jesus utters to the woman caught in adultery: “From now on . . .” With the Lord, there is a new beginning. This is true whether the past is filled with glorious things, as was the case with the history of Israel, or even if we are speaking about a negative event, such as this fact of the woman being caught in sin, leading to a complete loss of honour and social status. With the Lord we call always say, “From this moment on . .” This is at the heart of the message from this Sunday’s Gospel.

What is more important: to analyse and chronicle the wrongs that have been done? Or to remedy those wrongs, mend broken relationships and walk together in communion?

The story recounts a woman caught in sin, but also tells of those bystanders who ferociously call for justice. There are two options open to humanity in the effort to confront sin. We can either go down the road of punishment, expiation and working out the consequences of deviant behaviour; or we can seek to begin again, to be born again. Which is more important, to point out the errors of others, or to begin again to walk together in real unity? We can focus on punishment or focus on restoring communion and broken relationships, rediscovering what really matters. Jesus did not come to make a list of the ways in which we go wrong; he came to help us to start anew, to wipe the slate clean and assist us in living “from this moment onwards”. Conversion is a movement towards something good, not simply a movement away from something. Lent is the time of conversion and beginning again. Let us not torture ourselves with our past errors! What is important is not to err again and to pick up the thread of the good in our lives. It is a useless practice to torment ourselves with analysis of our wrongs. Certainly, we must ask for forgiveness and seek to remedy the wrongs we have done, but this is all part of the process of making a new beginning, the process of “from this moment onwards”. We are talking about looking forward and doing new things.

In the story, Jesus begins writing on the ground. His hand, the hand of God, is always active; he is always seeking to rewrite our lives, renewing us and enabling us to life in the fullest sense

In the Gospel story, Jesus begins writing on the ground. It is a remarkable description, for when do we hear of God writing on the ground in Scripture? The finger of God refers to his action in the world, especially in creation. The Ten Commandments were written by the hand of God in stone. This act of Jesus writing in the dust evokes many different things, but we think also of the action of God in history, making all things new. Jesus is enabling this woman to begin a new life. The power of God in Jesus is not directed towards exacting severe punishment for the woman’s undoubted crimes. Rather, Jesus’ action is directed towards her rebirth. The only thing that matters is to begin to live again, to build up, not to recriminate. How many people are weighed down by sin but are uninterested in the real solution to sin. How good we are at pointing out the evils in the world, but how illiterate we are when it comes to beginning again! What is essential is to walk once more with Christ, turn the page and live in an authentic manner.