5th Sunday of Lent

March 21, 2010

Is 43, 16-21
Phil 3,8-14
Jn 8, 1-11

Many years back I heard the late Cardinal Sin tell the following story. A man went to confession and somewhat nervously confessed that it was thirty years since his last confession. The irritated priest scolded him and asked him why he was away from the sacrament for so long. “Because,” said the man, “the last time I went to confession it was to a priest like you!” The Cardinal  would conclude the story with the exhortation, “Be kind, Fathers, always be kind!”

What strikes us in our Gospel for today is the total lack of compassion on the part of the scribes and Pharisees who brought the woman to Jesus. Kindness does not exist. To them the woman is a mere instrument to be used in their plotting against Jesus. The writing on the ground of Jesus has been interpreted in many ways. We are so curious to know what Jesus wrote. Some say maybe he wrote out the sins of the accusers of the woman. But another possibility is that Jesus wrote nothing legible at all. It was simply a dramatic gesture which enabled him to deal with the situation on his terms. His challenge as to who was sinless enough to dare to throw the first stone turned the whole situation around. Now the accusers were forced to look into their own inner selves rather than confront the woman. Clearly they did not like what they saw. As they shamefacedly went away one by one, Jesus could now focus all his attention on the unfortunate woman. Through his gentleness and compassion she could feel like a real human being again. There was no need for long sermons. She was well aware of the gravity of her sin. We can almost feel the joy in her heart as she walked away having experienced this overwhelming compassion of Jesus.

It is clear that Jesus in no way condoned  the sin of the woman of our story. Neither are we expected  to condone sin. In fact there are times when we must denounce evil very strongly, even at the cost of severe consequences for ourselves. But to do this with credibility we must examine our own motives and also be aware of our own fragility. We will also need to constantly ask God to help us to remain humble and compassionate. We should also be aware of the danger of our loud denunciations of the sins of others becoming a cover up for the same or worse evils that lie within us. This was the downfall of the Pharisees who were so confident in their denunciation of the woman they brought before Jesus. The Cardinal is right. There is need for accountability and judgment but we should also never overlook the need for kindness and compassion.

Fr. John O’Mahony, SVD
CKMS, Quezon City
The Word in Other Words