FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT "C"

FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

Cycle “C” John 8, 1 – 11: The woman caught in adultery.

The compassion and depth of today’s Gospel carry the authority of God’s Word. In what must have been a trap, a wretched woman is dragged out and paraded before Jesus. Only the woman; the male partner is conspicuous by his absence. There was a perverse sickness in the orchestration of this fiasco. Exposing a human being to such indignity and humiliation, using a woman as a human shield behind which they sheltered their own sins; this was cruel and evil. They appealed to the authority of Moses. That appeal was suspect and flawed The Mosaic Law did not prescribe a method of execution unless the accused was betrothed (Deut. 22). Allied to this, the law stated that both the man and the woman should be executed (Lev. 20; Deut 22). They were confident they had Jesus backed into a corner. For instance, if he gave the signal for execution, he would contravene Roman law whereby only the Roman authority could carry out the death penalty. So Jesus would have been arraigned for sedition. On the other hand, if Jesus counselled mercy, he would have denied the authority of Moses and condoned immorality. Jesus’ response to this dilemma demolished the Pharisees’ arrogance and self-righteousness. Confronted with compassionless legalism, Jesus makes no plea for mercy towards the woman but instead enters into a legal tactic. “All right, if the law calls for here to be stoned, let the law be carried out….but…” And with the authority which he consciously owns, he adds one more regulation, admirable in its sense of proportion. The law recognised the responsibility of the witnesses for the fate of the accused (Deut. 17,7). Jesus confronts them with the need to examine their own behaviour.  The one who is without sin is the one who is empowered to begin the legal execution. They skulk away, these people who came with stones in the hands and rocks in their heads.

Jesus transforms a situation of near tragedy into one of ironic justice. The only one who is qualified to punish is not interested in punishing. And he completes this dramatic epiphany of the divine logic by saying to the woman who is legally innocent: “Don’t sin again.”

The teaching of Jesus is that we are children of the same Abba. But we have become disoriented along the way. We may still nod to God the Father, but we too easily displace him with the idol of ourselves. We may give lip service to a common paternity, but we are beset with rivalry. Fraternity should be our posture, but jealousy is our action. we have a vested interest in the subtle inferiority of others. Generosity is the last thing we want because it equalises everything. It takes away our privileges, our basis for being better. We fear we’ll lose our importance if everybody is treated equally. Our anger is the symptom of our competitiveness and envy. We want to desirable, not merely with perfume or money, but also by seeking goodness. If money makes us lovable, then we must keep the others poor. If fame makes us lovable, then we must keep the others out of the limelight. If talent makes us lovable, then we must rejoice at others’ lack of it. If beauty makes us lovable, then we must be pleased with others’ ugliness. And if goodness makes us lovable, then we have a vested interest in other people’s sins. These are subtle temptations.

Those male dinosaurs who picked up stones were only showing what kind of hearts they had. They also proved that they had suppressed the feminine principle within them. That is why they could not reach across to the woman. Jesus showed them what fools they were. Rudyard Kipling said, and I end with him: “Any woman can manage a clever man; but it requires a rather clever woman to manage a fool.”

Let me pray the prayer of St. Catherine of Siena, woman Doctor of the Church, and Patroness of Italy:

O God, it was by your mercy that we were created, and by your mercy that you redeemed us by sending your Son. Your mercy is the light in which sinners find you and good people come back to you. Your mercy is everywhere, even in the depths of hell where you offer to forgive the tortured souls. Your justice is constantly tempered with your mercy, so you refuse to punish us as we deserve. O mad lover ! It was not enough for you to take on our humanity. You had to die for us as well.