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.