Homily for the week of March 21, 2010

5th Sunday of Lent, Year C 2010

Bible References:

Isaiah 43: 16-21

Phil 3:8-14

John 8:1-11

Jesus has told us many times: Judge not and you shall not be judged. Yet it is part of human nature to point out the faults and sins of other people, as if we did not have enough of them ourselves. Most people do no want to be caught red handed in a sinful act. That is why robbers and those who set out to kill others or commit other crimes like child abuse will camouflage themselves so that they will not be caught. These persons try to avoid the spotlight.

In the Gospel today the case seems clear-cut. A woman is caught in the very act of adultery. The evidence is indisputable, and the Jewish law is clear. It is just a matter of carrying it out. Jesus’ opponents are not interested in the circumstances that led to the woman’s actions—and one must wonder how her partner escaped judgement when both were caught in the act! The scribes and Pharisees are intent on being able to charge Jesus with transgressing the law. They quote the law of Moses to Jesus and press him for his judgement. While they wait for an answer, Jesus bends down and begins to write on the ground with his finger.

Much ink has been spilled by commentators who speculate on what Jesus wrote. Much has been made of this, and many have speculated about what Jesus wrote. The real probability is that Jesus wrote nothing. It was not what He wrote that silenced the crowd, it was how He did it. It is thought, and it is still observable in Middle Eastern men today, that the common gesture made when annoyed by other people was to squat on the ground and doodle in the dirt with a finger or a stick.

In the Old Testament God wrote the 10 commandments on a tablet, and then gave them to Moses. In today’s Gospel it is Jesus’ action of writing with his finger, replicating God’s action in the giving of the 10 Commandments, that helps us understand that Jesus’ interpretation of the law is in line with God’s intent. The law was never intended as an instrument of condemnation but was to guide believers in a godly way of life. I wonder how many of us are like the Scribes and Pharisees in the Gospel how Jesus could let a terrible sinner off without punishment.

Jesus came to save us, not judge, not condemn. Jesus certainly could have judged and condemned, and one day Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats, but not yet. We must take our cue from Jesus. The Christian's role is not to judge anyone. We cannot possibly know another person's heart. We do not know who the woman was or how she happened to be caught in the very act of adultery. We also know that there was a double standard at the time of Jesus. Men could not be accused of adultery. It is clear that the man was not brought out to be stoned!

The worst part of this scene is not the sin of the woman. The worst part is the sin of the crowd. The crowd had no concern for the woman. She was simply a pawn to be used to catch Jesus in a mistake that would discredit Him. Unlike us, Jesus does know human hearts, and Jesus knew that the crowd was guilty of the greater sin.

Jesus held nothing against the woman. He did not excuse her behavior, but he did not hold it against her either. He gave her a chance to start over again and return to what she should be doing as a Jewish woman. He gave her a future.

The challenge of the Gospel is not whether we can see ourselves as the woman who is caught in adultery, but see ourselves as the man who is caught up in forgiveness. We come to church to be formed in Jesus’ mercy so that we don’t judge others as sinners. The gospel is a reminder that we must be careful about labelling people or deciding how they stand before God. Wrong and bad actions must be condemned, but people are complex. The Christian is called to remember repentance and conversion are possible through God's grace. All too often we find it too good to be true that it is God who loved us first. We find it hard to believe that we don’t have to earn God’s love. Can we forgive as quickly as Jesus forgives? Can we forgive and leave it?

Lent is a time for us to be reconciled with God. As Catholics who go to Church we have the opportunity at the beginning of each Mass to let Jesus forgive us. We can also talk about our faults to another in the sacrament of confession. We ask God to forgive us for the hurts we have caused. It is nice to know that he gives us a chance to start over again and again and again. Likewise, just as Jesus forgives and accepts, let us try in our daily lives to forgive and to accept those who annoy us.