Sunday’s Readings: Isaiah 43:16-21; Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11
……from the Pastor’s Desk
One in Great Misery and the One with Great Mercy
Holy Week is drawing nigh. In fact, a week from today is Palm Sunday and the following Sunday is Easter.
For many or most of us the season of Lent has sped by very quickly, since, at least for me, it seems we just began, and are now moving toward the conclusion of this season of renewal. With extra prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we put our focus on what the Lord has done for us in taking on the sins of the world, so that we might be set free and enjoy the eternal life promised us by the Risen Savior.
Just as it did for the previous four Sundays, the Gospel focuses on something as relevant now as it was 2000 years ago. Maybe even more so now. The Gospel text for this final Lenten Sunday before Palm Sunday focuses on the power of God’s mercy… to those who have strayed.
And so, the scene is cast. The Scribes and Pharisees are eager to see the response of Jesus in the face of someone breaking the 6th Commandment, considered a cause for death by stoning according to the prevailing Jewish Law. They were seeking a chance to trap Jesus in His response to the situation, but the Lord refused to pass any judgement. In fact, Jesus simply stoops down and starts writing with His finger in the ground. What did He write? We do not know, but the gesture was a way of saying without words that Jesus was unwilling to discuss the matter with the accusers. The silence of Jesus in this instance becomes an outright condemnation of the hypocrisy of the faultfinders.
Jesus does speak some words to the accusers, though, well known to us now: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” In response, the hypocritical audience drifts away one by one, until no one is left, only the woman and Jesus. Saint Augustine says of this scene: “There remained only two: the one in great misery and the one with great mercy.”
The woman did not try to escape when the others did, but stayed put, presumably because she would be further hounded by the accusers if she had left with the rabble. By staying, she opened the possibility of experiencing the mercy she no doubt desired. Jesus utters no condemnation, but only a word of advice and encouragement: “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” By his response, Jesus not only saved the life of the woman, but also made her realize her true condition and the need for conversion.
We are all in need of such an encounter with the Lord, who can help us to become aware of our true condition as He gently draws us nearer to Himself.
As we draw closer to Holy Week and the recounting of the final events in the earthly life of Jesus, we await a profound renewal in our own lives as followers of the Lamb and members of God’s household. By our baptism into Christ, we are formed into God’s people and called to declare by our lives great wonder and gratitude for God’s saving love as we have experienced it.
I pray you all have a’ Lenten Moment’ when you hear Jesus speaking directly to you – words of Mercy and Forgiveness.
Fr. Ron
