May 1st 2022.  Third Sunday of Easter

GOSPEL   John 21:1-19

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 21:1-19

At that time, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.
He revealed himself in this way.
Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus,
Nathanael from Cana in Galilee,
Zebedee's sons, and two others of his disciples.
Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing."
They said to him, "We also will come with you."
So they went out and got into the boat,
but that night they caught nothing.
When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore;
but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to them, "Children, have you caught anything to eat?"
They answered him, "No."
So he said to them, "Cast the net over the right side of the boat
and you will find something."
So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in
because of the number of fish.
So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord."
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord,
he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad,
and jumped into the sea.
The other disciples came in the boat,
for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards,
dragging the net with the fish.
When they climbed out on shore,
they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread.
Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you just caught."
So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore
full of one hundred fifty-three large fish.
Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them, "Come, have breakfast."
And none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?"
because they realized it was the Lord.
Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them,
and in like manner the fish.
This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples
after being raised from the dead.
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs."
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
"Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep."
Jesus said to him the third time,
"Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was distressed that Jesus had said to him a third time,
"Do you love me?" and he said to him,
"Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you."
Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go."
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me."

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

 

SUMMARY OF HOMILY

1. How does Peter, who denied Christ three times, now have the courage to witness to Christ to the extent of being brutally flogged?

In the first reading from Acts we encounter a Peter who stands up courageously to bear witness to Jesus. He then endures being flogged (a harrowing punishment in those times) and does it all with serenity, freedom and joy. How does it happen that Peter, who denied Jesus in front of a servant girl, now has the courage to bear witness to the extent of being flogged? The answer is splendidly given in the Gospel. There are many significant details in this story of the miraculous catch of fish. Afterwards they eat with Jesus and then the Lord asks Peter three times if he loves him. At the third time, Peter is saddened. The scene recalls the threefold denial, which happened in front of a charcoal fire. Now, in front of the fire that Jesus had prepared, after having eaten a new type of food, reinforced by the relationship with the risen Christ,  Jesus is healing that wound. The new life that we see in Peter in Acts 5 flows from that relationship with Christ. It is not a quality of Peter himself. Peter had claimed to be the greatest of the apostles, the one who would never abandon Jesus, but his true fragility and infidelity was revealed during the passion.

 

2. The sadness that Peter feels when he recalls his own poverty and misery is important. We must feel that sadness so that we will turn to God and abandon ourselves to him.

Peter felt sadness when he recalled his infidelity in front of Jesus. When he does his first preaching on Pentecost Sunday, the people who hear him are struck to the heart. This interior sadness is necessary, as it involves liberation from one’s ego. Peter, as the first among the apostles, was full of his own triumphal qualities, and needed to discover how poor and miserable he really was. At the washing of the feet, Peter did not want the Lord to cleanse him, but Jesus replied, “If I do not wash you, you can have no part in me”. What transforms Peter into the fearless man of Acts 5 is the fact of being loved and forgiven by Jesus.

 

3. At the denial, Peter was an immature person who followed his own desires. Now he has become a mature disciple, open to what the Lord ordains for him.

Jesus then says to Peter, “When you were young, you dressed as you wished and went wherever you wanted”. In other words, while Peter was still immature, he followed only his own whims; he made his own plans into absolutes. “But when you are older, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you and take you where you do not want to go”. This perfectly describes St Peter, who becomes obedient to wherever the will of God will lead him, right up to stretching out his hands in crucifixion. New life does not come from effort, or personal coherence! It comes from being pardoned! It comes from the shattering of the ego. St Peter no longer is under the illusion of his own greatness. We see in this Gospel that the mature adult is the one who submits to God, who places himself in front of the Lord as one who follows. Indeed, the last phrase of this passage is, “Follow me!” This was the first call of Christ to Peter, but now he can fulfil it. When God’s promises don’t seem to be getting fulfilled, we wonder why not? What is missing? It is we who are missing! We need to submit in trust because we have been loved, convinced that he will never abandon us.

 

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY

The disciples have gone back fishing but they are catching nothing. Isn’t this often true in the life of the Church? How often we seem to be doing nothing, having no results, going nowhere! Why does that happen? Because we take our eyes off the risen Lord! When Jesus appears and tells the disciples to throw the nets in a new direction, then a bountiful catch results. It is when we cease depending on our own egos and become attentive to the word of the Lord, that our lives become fruitful. But that is not all that happens in this Gospel. Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him. Thus he leads Peter through a process of correction and healing for the threefold denial at the Passion. In fact, at the beginning of this Gospel, Peter was behaving just as he had during the Passion! He said, “I’m going fishing!” It is the old impetuous Peter who is following his own will. Jesus calls Peter to stop relying on himself and instead allow himself to “stretch out his hands and be led where he does not want to go”. In fact, the last line of this passage is, “Follow me!” This lesson is for all Christians. It is only when we cease to rely on ourselves and follow the Lord that our lives begin to bear fruit.

April 24th 2022.  Divine Mercy Sunday

GOSPEL  John 20: 19-31

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 20:19-31

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, "Peace be with you."
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained."
Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,
was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord."
But he said to them,
"Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands
and put my finger into the nail marks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."
Now a week later his disciples were again inside
and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked,
and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you."
Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe."
Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples
that are not written in this book.
But these are written that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

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

 

SUMMARY OF HOMILY

1. Thomas does not encounter the Lord because he was not with the brothers. It is when we are in communion with the Church that we encounter the Lord.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, as is traditionally the case, we read of the appearance of Jesus to the apostles on the evening of the first Easter Sunday. He breathes the Holy Spirit on them and gives them the most fundamental mission of the Church, that of the forgiveness of sins. Thomas is not present. We are told that his other name was “Didymus” which means “twin”. A twin remains always a twin, someone whose identity is marked (in a positive way) by the fact that he is a sibling. It is interesting that this “brother”, Thomas, is not with the other brothers when Christ appears. There is an important lesson here: we do not encounter the Lord as individuals but as part of the fraternity of the Church. None of the saints ever went to the Lord in an individual manner. Even St Paul, who had a direct revelation of Christ on the road to Damascus, was still welcomed into the Church by means of the action of the disciple Ananias.

 

2. Attendance at the Christian assembly for the commemoration of the day of the resurrection is the normal way to encounter the Lord.

Encountering the Lord requires this communion with the Church. In addition, this reading shows us how to achieve such communion. Thomas is present with the brothers eight days later. “Eight days later” is a Jewish expression for the passage of one week. We see therefore that the early Church was already settling into the rhythm of the weekly encounter with the whole assembly, the day on which the resurrection was celebrated. In this life of relationship with his brothers, there are appointments which are regular in nature. In fact, in the early centuries of the Church, the sense of the importance of Sunday was very strong, not least because it was something with solid Jewish foundations. The celebration of the Sabbath and the importance of repose on that day were essential to the Hebrew mind. The first Christians were all Jews and they maintained this sense of the Sabbath, but moved it by one day to the day of the Resurrection.

 

3. Salvation is not procured individually. If we wish to guide people to the Lord, let us encourage them to attend the Sunday assembly with the Lord.

Mercy is fundamental for our salvation, but it is not something received in an individual way. The nature of the faith involves the call to fraternal communion. As Scripture says, I cannot claim to love the God I cannot see if I do not love the brother that I do see. Mercy is not an automatic dispenser of grace whenever it suits me as an individual to present myself for it. As the prophet Isaiah says, “Seek the Lord while he is to be found, call upon him while he is near”. It is not up to us to decide when to approach God for mercy, the Lord himself has let us know where and when he is to be found. I might be under the impression that I can be redeemed in my own time on my own terms, but it doesn’t work that way. The Lord has given us the liturgical appointments. It is to these appointments with the Lord and his assembly that we must guide other people who seek faith.

 

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY

Too often the figure of Thomas is considered to be the classic model of doubt or unbelief. But this would be a superficial reading of the Gospel passage! In fact, Thomas expresses one of the highest professions of faith contained in the New Testament, “My Lord and my God”. Moreover, Thomas does not show greater unbelief than the rest of the disciples. They were all slow to believe when Mary Magdalene testified to the resurrection. What Thomas really demonstrates is something different than simple doubt or unbelief. The real reason that he does not believe at the same time as his brothers is because he was absent from the fraternal gathering when Jesus appeared. Eight days later - which is the Jewish way of sating “one week later” - he is present at the gathering and he too has an experience of the risen Lord. Our faith is not an individualistic thing! We come to have faith as a member of a community of brothers and sisters. And the goal of our faith is to enter into communion with our brothers and sisters! Thomas believes when he encounters Jesus along with the other disciples. This prepares them for the future time when they will no longer see Jesus in the flesh, but they will help others to see him by their testimonies - “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”.

April 17th 2022.  Easter Sunday

GOSPEL   John 20: 1-9

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 20:1-9

On the first day of the week,
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
For they did not yet understand the Scripture
that he had to rise from the dead.

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

 

SUMMARY OF HOMILY

1. Easter always involves God doing something that human beings consider impossible

When Mary Magdalene sees the empty tomb, she immediately thinks that somebody has taken Jesus away. Our first explanation for anything is always in terms of people and objects. This is the classic horizontal way of looking at things, a form of “existential Cluedo”. We always presume that someone is responsible for any given fact and we immediately ask ourselves who did it. Easter, by contrast, is always about God doing something that we consider impossible. At the original Passover, the people of Israel found themselves in an apparent dead end in front of the Red Sea, pursued by an enemy that wished to massacre them, but then they discover the way of God. The last line of the Gospel passage says, “For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead”. In the narrative, in fact, it is the beloved disciple who arrives at the tomb before Peter. The Fathers of the Church understood this to signify that love arrives quicker than reason. Peter and the beloved disciple also appear in a later post-resurrection scene on the Sea of Galilee when John recognizes Christ on the shore before Peter does. It was John also who managed to get Peter into the courtyard during the questioning of Jesus on the occasion when Peter denied his master three times. Encounter with Christ is never a private  affair, it always involves fraternity, an ecclesial elaboration.  If  the resurrection of Christ does not illuminate the fraternal relations we have with others, then it serves nothing. It leads to love. That is why it is the one who loves that recognizes and understands Christ.

 

2. The life of the resurrection involves leaving behind old habits and also old categories of thinking

When they enter the tomb, they discover the burial cloths folded up. Once we enter into baptismal life, we leave behind us the old man and vest ourselves in Christ. The garment of the risen body is not the garment of death. Whenever one encounters the resurrection of Christ, one changes “habit” in the sense of habits of life. The tradition was that newly baptised adults would wear a white garment for the first week after baptism, then they would deposit this garment on the tomb of a martyr. It was worn for one week only to signify passage from a habit (in the sense of a garment) to a habitual way of life. When one encounters new life, one leaves behind the old habits and objects that no longer serve. Then Peter too enters, sees and believes. Finally he is opened to the work of God and realizes that this is not the end but the beginning. Up to now, the apostles understood using their own categories of thought, but now it will be the Scriptures that will give them the categories for understanding what has happened.

 

3. The Scriptures revel that God offers us life by means of a pathway that is not ours

How often during life we discover that something that appeared to be a way of death is actually a way of life. Following Christ is not about adopting a moral or ethical system but about entering into a new way of existence. It is God alone who can bring life from death. This is the mystery unveiled by the Scriptures – that God offers us life by means of a pathway that is not ours. Let us open ourselves to the surprise of Easter and let us be willing to live it. Let us abandon ourselves to the power of God, trusting that he can find a means of escape from the dead ends that confront us. This means of escape does not follow the ways of this world – in fact, it leaves them aside, as the garments of burial were deposited in the tomb. This new way of life becomes a marvellous way of existence, the way of life of the resurrection.

 

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY

The passage from the Gospel for Sunday’s Mass doesn’t mention an apparition of Jesus. Instead we have an empty tomb and the search for a missing body. Wouldn’t it have been better if we had read of an appearance of the risen Lord? But the passage is important for us because it shows us the very moment in which the bewilderment of the disciples turns into faith in the risen Lord. We see how the comprehension of what they had not previously understood finally dawns on them. The fact is that none of us "understands" the way God chooses for us, his solution to things. God does not save us in the way that we expect him to. Christian life is based on the power of a God who resolves our questions, not with mathematical logic, but according to an Easter strategy. This is the sort of strategy that opens a way through the Red Sea and makes a teenage boy defeat the giant Goliath. The Lord does not resolve the question of dying by avoiding death, but by passing through the middle. Someone once said that God does not save us from the night, but saves us in the night. Jesus does not protect us from problems, but transforms problems into meeting places with him. Problems, difficulties and tombs become wombs that generate new life and transform us into new creatures. This is what Easter of the Lord does.

April 10th 2022.  Palm Sunday

GOSPEL Luke 22:14 – 23:56

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 Luke 22:14 – 23:56

A link to the Gospel can be found here

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

 

SUMMARY OF HOMILY

1. Let us consider the passion narrative from the point of view of the three sayings of Jesus that are exclusive to Luke.

The Gospels all have their own perspectives on the passion of Jesus. This year we consider Luke’s account. It is not possible here to offer a unified reading of the entire narrative, so we will focus on those elements that are particular to Luke. We can look at the entire passion of Jesus from the point of view of his death. During these final hours, Jesus said seven different things, three of which are exclusive to Luke.

 

2. Humanity does not know itself and does not know what it is doing, hence the sin and violence of our existence.

The first is said at the moment that they were actually crucifying him: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”. This is rendered in the Greek in a form known as the “verbal aspect”, which is like the present continuous. Luke was writing to a Greek readership and he does not use this tense casually. It is as if Christ is constantly repeating – while the nails are being driven into his flesh -  “Father forgive them for they know not what they do, Father forgive them for they know not what they do”. It is a prayer, a litany, that accompanies the violence of humanity through the ages. But what is Jesus saying, that we commit these acts of aggression not knowing who he is? No, this phrase is much more profound and illuminates our real condition. We have planks in our eyes and do not know what we are doing. Like the prodigal son, we have need to re-enter into ourselves, in order to make contact with our hearts. How often we embark on wrong courses of action, filled with certainty that what we are doing is right. The truth is that we cannot add a minute to our lifespan, yet we presume to know everything. Even our laboured psychological analyses often do not deliver an authentic knowledge of ourselves. Man does not know what he is doing because he fails to comprehend his own inner mystery. Sometimes when we lose control and commit violence we say, “I was outside of myself”. We do not know ourselves and fail to appreciate how patient God is with us.

 

3. Jesus reveals that paradise is not a place but a relationship with him

In Luke’s narrative, there is only one person who admits that he is in the wrong. The good thief accepts that he deserves his fate. He is the only one in this whole scene who knows how to speak to Christ. “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom”. With this prayer the thief enters into relationship with Christ through the door of his own littleness, acknowledging his guilt and asking for help. He is asking Jesus for a place in his heart and Jesus responds that the place is assured. This exchange reveals that Paradise is not a place but a relationship, that of being with Christ. Dying, the thief finally steals the one right thing, a place in heaven!  With his sincerity and his honesty he manages to attain something that he could never have expected. Paradise is not something that we deserve. We cannot earn it. It is a happy and joyful robbery and the Lord allows us to have it because he loves us and remembers us.

 

4. The tearing of the veil reveals the hidden life of God and that hidden life is the manner in which the Son entrusts himself to the Father

The last words in Luke’s narrative from Jesus are “Father into your hands I commend my spirit”. This is a glimpse into the life of Christ, which is a life of abandonment to the Father. Jesus is not on the cross because he is doing a heroic act, but because he is following the will of the Father. Interestingly, these words are said just after the veil of the Temple is torn in two. The veil covered the most sacred part of the Temple, where the high priest proclaimed the name of God on a single day of the year. Behind that veil was the inaccessible presence of God. Now that the veil is torn, we are given access to what is hidden there: the life of the Son who entrusts himself to the Father. At the moment when Christ seemed to have least motivation for entrusting himself to the Father, he commends himself entirely. This is the interior life of God – love, trust, abandonment, self-giving.

 

5. At the moment when everything is being taken from him, Christ gives everything

Christ in this narrative gives humanity pardon, opens the gates of paradise, and commends his spirit to the Father. At the moment of his death, when everything is being taken away from him, Jesus gives everything. Let us open ourselves to this passion narrative with the attitude of the good thief, aware of our poverty and smallness, allowing the Lord to love us and give us his gifts, allowing him to introduce us to the new life of sonship, the life of one who entrusts himself to the Father. This is a new kind of life, the kind of life that is risen and eternal.

 

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY

In his account of the Passion, Luke records three saying of Jesus from the cross that are not recorded elsewhere. The first is to ask his Father to forgive us for we do not know what we are doing. How arrogant we are! How often we think we know what we are doing, when in fact we are doing grave wrong, but have no idea of its gravity. The good thief alone recognizes his guilt and discovers how to pray: “Remember me when you come into your kingdom!” Jesus then utters his second phrase, “This day you will be with me in paradise”. How great is God’s mercy! The first person to enter paradise with the Lord is a thief! The third phrase is said as Jesus dies: “Father into your hands I commend my Spirit”. At this very moment the veil of the temple is torn in two. Behind the veil in the temple, the high priest alone was permitted to say the unpronounceable name of God. The tearing of the veil at the very moment of Jesus’s last words shows us that the Lord intends these words to be a revelation of the name of God, and we discover that his name is “Father”. This tortured and dying man - rather than sinking into the anguish of his horrific situation - surrenders and abandons himself to his Father. And his surrender will not be in vain. The Father will raise that flesh, revealing that the way out of anguish is not strength, is not intelligence, is not possessions, but consists in a relationship between Son and Father that endures through abandonment in the worst of moments.  In the end what does the Lord Jesus do on the cross? Whilst we are stripping him of life, he is bestowing gifts. He forgives us our sins, he grants us to be with him in Paradise, he entrusts his Spirit to the Father.

April 3rd 2022.  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.
But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area,
and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them.
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman
who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle.
They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught
in the very act of committing adultery.
Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
So what do you say?” They said this to test him,
so that they could have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
But when they continued asking him,
he straightened up and said to them,
“Let the one among you who is without sin
be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders.
So he was left alone with the woman before him.
Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?”
She replied, “No one, sir.”
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”

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

 

SUMMARY OF HOMILY

1. The liturgy of the word is all about turning the page and beginning a new way of life.

The liturgy of the word this Sunday has a unified theme: that of passing from what is old to what is new. The first reading from Isaiah 43 recalls the things God has done in the past but declares that he is about to do something new. This is a prophecy about the return of Israel from exile. In the second reading from the letter to the Philippians, St Paul says: “Brothers and sisters, I for my part do not consider myself to have taken possession. Forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus”. Here we see the attitude of making a leap towards living according to the works of God. St Paul was educated as a Pharisee but in this letter he says that he considers everything to be so much rubbish compared to what he has found in Christ Jesus.

 

2. Each one of us is adulterous in that we reject the love and fidelity of God, but Christ alone enables us to turn the page and live a new life of fidelity.

In the Gospel, the woman found in adultery is placed by the religious leaders in front of Jesus. It is a trap but Jesus inverts the question and places the accusers in the dock, “He who is without sin, cast the first stone”. However, the most important phrase of this passage comes at the end: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” In Christ alone are we truly given the possibility of turning the page! Only in him do we find an escape from the continuous cycle of destructive acts and sin, from the mechanism of death that is so strong in us. The truth is that each one of us engages in many acts of betrayal and adultery, for the greatest act of adultery is the way we respond to the mercy of God with distrust and pursuit of idols. This Gospel encourages us to open ourselves to the work of God in our lives. As such, it is an ideal preparation for Easter. Jesus is the redeemer who liberates us from the prison of sin.

 

3. The Lord chastises us for our infidelities in order to draw us to himself.

The Jewish people had to endure the suffering of the exile so that the Lord could begin again to draw them to himself. On the road to Damascus, Paul endures the shock of being thrown to the ground and becoming blind. He recognizes that he previously understood nothing and is now liberated from the real darkness that once enveloped him. The woman caught in adultery represents each one of us, for we have all betrayed the Lord with our infidelities towards him. Like her, we discover the mercy of God. As St Paul says in the letter to the Romans, “there is no condemnation for he who is in Christ Jesus”. When we appreciate the heart that God has before our sins, the look of love with which he beholds us despite our faults,  This is the passage to new life. God is telling us that our sins are not the central truth about us but are deceptions. Let us hear what he says to each one of us in this Gospel: “Go, do not sin anymore, turn the page, and walk in the path of life”.

 

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY

In the Gospel, a woman is publicly accused of adultery. Her accusers are many. But, by the end of the story, only she has been freed from her guilt, while all of her accusers still bear the guilt of their own sins! They could not stone her because Jesus said, “Let him who is without sin, cast the first stone”, and so they walk away, still in their sin. But the real shock of this text is Jesus instruction, “Go and sin no more”. How can we stop sinning? Sin is separation from God and disordered union with things and persons. At the background of all sin is a basic mistrust in the goodness of God. We turn away from God and turn inwards on ourselves in individualistic, self-directed actions. How can we stop doing this? The Gospel shows us how. All the accusers leave and the woman is alone with Jesus. It is an intimate and loving relationship with God that is the only authentic substitute for the disordered behaviour that is sin. Only when this relationship becomes the foundation of our lives does it become possible for us not to sin. If ethical codes and moral prescriptions were sufficient to stop us from sinning, then Jesus would not have needed to become incarnate. But Jesus became incarnate and assumed the isolated condition of man, willingly enduring the complete separation from God on the cross. By so doing, he introduced into the world the alternative to sin, which is a relationship of intimacy and love with God. When Jesus says, "Do not sin anymore", he is not saying, "Here is a list of things that cannot be done and adultery is one of these". Rather, Jesus is opening a way of life different from sin, which is simply intimacy with Him. The life of sin for this woman ends after she remains alone with Christ. She no longer needs to look for intimacy elsewhere.