Isaiah 43:16-21; Psalm 126; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11
Then the Scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman…and made her stand in the middle.
Again this week, our merciful God surprises us with his overflowing goodness, shown in all the Mass readings, especially in Jesus’ mercy toward the adulterous woman in St. John’s Gospel. This mercy is the best news for each of us as we make our penitential way to the end of this year’s Lent.
We have wanted to make this Lent the best we could, as if it were the only Lent we will ever have made, but alas, we know that we have fallen short. Our Redeemer has paid the price, however. His blood poured out is the eternal currency that has bought each sinner’s freedom, for all time.
Let us turn to the guilty woman in the Gospel who now faces her accusers as well as Jesus. There might well have been family, friends, or acquaintances among the crowd. But with this anonymous woman, as with us, standing before the Lord in broad daylight, all earthly support falls away. The soul stands bare and empty before the all-seeing gaze of God. The recompense for her choices was in His loving hands, as it will be with us.
We can imagine the flood of emotions. The weight of guilt had never before hung so heavily around the neck of this accused woman. Now it threatened her very life. She could have been killed by stoning. Public shame is something we all dread, but at that moment the woman’s private sin could have cut off completely any possibility of change for the better.
What did Jesus do? The predictable response would have been sudden and severe, aimed at the woman. Instead, Jesus widened the circle of attention. He bent down and wrote something on the ground, and those present had to shift their gaze to the writing. Some think he wrote the names of sins that the spectators had committed.
What is our response when others’ faults are revealed? Do we join in the accusation or instead pray for those accused, whether guilty or not?
Jesus opened the circle even wider, which led to the woman’s release. He asked the onlookers to look into their own hearts, to answer for their own deeds. None could declare themselves innocent, as is true for all of us. At his question the bystanders departed, one by one. The Lord looks much wider than we do.
Won’t we answer to the Lord the way the woman did, face to His beautiful face, alone with Him? May we receive at that time the recompense of all our merciful thoughts, words, and actions. May we resist judging others while we are alive and well.
What about the other guilty party in the sin now exposed for the townspeople to know? The amazing and personal mercy of God that He showed to the woman, answers this. Other persons’ guilt should not concern us. Each of us imperfect people must present ourselves before the eyes of Truth, and that must be our priority.
In one of St Don Bosco’s unsettling dreams, he was shown that his students’ concern with human respect (the opinion of others) was actually leading them toward their eternal loss. Let us focus on what the Lord thinks of us, instead of how other people regard us. And let us try to think well of them.
How much this story has to teach us! Thank you, God, for your Good News. Help us to learn the lessons you wish to teach us.
Dear friends, may the Lenten journey we share bring us closer together and to the Lord.
“Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.”
“Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”
and then