Introduction: Reminding us of God’s readiness to forgive sin, give the sinner a second chance, bind up broken lives, and restore people to His friendship, today’s readings challenge us to show the same mercy to the sinners around us and to live as forgiven people, actively seeking reconciliation with God and with one another. The central theme of all three readings is a merciful God’s steadfast love. The readings remind us that we should not be self-righteous and condemn the lives of others when God is calling them tenderly to conversion.
Scripture lessons summarized: Explaining how a merciful God forgives the sins of His chosen people and leads them back from the Babylonian exile, the first reading reminds us that we too are forgiven, and we are saved from our own sinfulness. In the second reading, Paul presents himself as a forgiven sinner who has been completely transformed by his Faith in Christ Jesus. His life is an example of the Gospel exhortation, “Sin no more.” Paul loves Christ so much he wants to share in His sufferings and even in His death so that he may share Christ’s Resurrection. The sinful woman’s story of sin committed, and sin forgiven in today’s Gospel, shows the inexhaustible mercy and compassion Jesus gives to repentant sinners. In addition, by making sinlessness the condition for throwing the first stone, Jesus forces the accusers to assess their own souls and to leave. Thus, He grants justice to the accusers and mercy to the sinful woman. In our own lives, we bear witness to the Justice of God by confessing our sinfulness and resolving to avoid sin, and we bear witness to God’s Mercy by accepting the forgiveness of our sins and promising to forgive those who have offended us.
Life messages: # 1: We need to become forgiving people, ready for reconciliation: Jesus has shown inexhaustible mercy and compassion to sinners by dying for our sins. But we are often self-righteous, like the Pharisees, and ready to spread scandal about others with a bit of spicy gossip. We are judgmental about the unmarried mother, the alcoholic, the drug addict and the shop-lifter, ignoring Jesus’ command: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Let us learn to acknowledge our sins, ask God’s forgiveness every day and extend the same forgiveness to our erring brothers and sisters. We need to learn to hate the sin but love the sinners, showing them mercy, compassion, sympathy and acceptance, leading them to Jesus’ ways by our own exemplary lives.
2) We have no right to judge others: We have no right to judge others because we often commit the very faults we condemn, we are often partial and prejudiced in our judgments, and we do not know the circumstances which have led someone to sin. Hence, let us leave the judgment to our merciful God Who does read people’s hearts. We should show mercy and compassion to those who sin because we ourselves are sinners in need of God’s forgiveness. The apostle Paul reminds us: “But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.” (1 Cor 11:31).
Lent V [C] Is 43:16-21; Phil 3:8-14; John 8:1-11
Homily starter anecdotes # 1: Divine mercy on Chuck Colson: Probably, Chuck Colson (Charles Chuck Wendell Colson, 1931-2012) got inspiration from John Profumo to make a similar served seven months in the Federal Prison, Maxwell, Alabama, for acting as President Nixon’s “hatchet man” in the Watergate Scandal. After his prison term, Colson became an Evangelical Christian leader who founded Prison Fellowship and Breakpoint. He was the founder and chairman of The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview, which is “a research, study, and networking center for growing in a Christian worldview.” While Colson lived, the Center’s work included Colson’s daily radio commentary, Break Point, which was heard in its original format on more than 1,400 outlets across the United States. Colson was a principal signer of the 1994 Evangelicals and Catholics Together ecumenical document. He was joined by leading Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholic leaders in the United States. Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus restored a sinful woman by lavishing on her his Divine mercy and forgiveness. She may have become Christ’s follower bearing witness to his mercy till her death.
2) Second chance: Dr. A.J. Cronin was a great Christian physician in England. One night he assigned a young nurse to a little boy who had been brought to the hospital suffering from diphtheria and given only a slight chance to live. A tube was inserted into the boy’s throat to help him breathe. It was the nurse’s job periodically to clean out the tube. As the nurse sat beside the boy’s bed, she accidentally dozed off. She awakened to find that the tube had become blocked. Instead of following instructions, she was immobilized by panic. Hysterically she called the doctor from his home. By the time he got to the boy, he was dead. Dr. Cronin was angry beyond expression. That night Dr. Cronin went to his office and wrote his recommendation to the board demanding the immediate expulsion of the nurse. He called her in and read it, his voice trembling with anger. She stood there in pitiful silence, a tall, thin, gawky Welsh girl. She nearly fainted with shame and remorse. “Well,” asked Dr. Cronin in a harsh voice, “have you nothing to say for yourself?” There was more silence. Then she uttered this pitiful plea, “…please give me another chance.” Dr. Cronin sent her away. But he could not sleep that night. He kept hearing some words from the dark distance: “Forgive us our trespasses.” The next morning Dr. Cronin went to his desk and tore up the report. In the years that followed he watched as this slim, nervous girl became the head of a large hospital and one of the more honored nurses in England. Thank God for a second chance, and a third chance, and fourth chance! Do you need to encounter God’s forgiveness? He died on a cross to make it available
# 3: How to Clean Practically Anything — except sin! Consumers Report put out a little book entitled, How to Clean Practically Anything. The book tells you what solvent to use for nearly every kind of stain. Here are a few. Glycerin will remove the stain from a ball point pen. Boiling water will remove berry stains. Vinegar will remove crayon stains. To remove a rust stain from your cotton work clothes, moisten the spot with some full-strength vinegar and then rub in a bit of salt. Ammonia will remove blood stains. Alcohol will remove grass stains. Hydrogen peroxide is good for magic marker stains. Mix a teaspoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide with a little cream of tartar or a dab of non-gel toothpaste. Rub the paste on the stain with a soft cloth. Rinse. The stain, whatever it was, should be gone. Try a little meat tenderizer to remove protein-based stains like milk, chocolate, and blood from clothes. Use bleach on mildew stains. Lemon juice works well on rust stains. But you know what? The book lists absolutely nothing for the stain of sin. And the reason it doesn’t is because there is only One Person Who can do that. Only Jesus Christ, the Incarnation of Divine Mercy, as described in today’s Gospel, can forgive us our sins when we repent, confess our sins, and ask God’s pardon and forgiveness.
# 4: Mother Teresa on the sacrament of Divine Mercy: While Mother Teresa is certainly famous for the charity with which she poured herself out in love for Christ in the distressing disguise of lepers, AIDS victims, the dying, and the untouchables, she was likewise a great “Missionary of Mercy” in calling everyone to receive Jesus’ forgiving love in the Sacrament of Confession, a Sacrament she received at least once a week. She would counsel others, “One thing is necessary for us: Confession. Confession is nothing but humility in action. We call it Penance, but really it is a Sacrament of Love, a Sacrament of forgiveness. It is a place where I allow Jesus to take away from me everything that divides, that destroys. Confession is a beautiful act of great love. Only in confession can we go in as sinners with sin and come out as sinners without sin. … There’s no need for us to despair, no need for us to commit suicide, no need for us to be discouraged, if we have understood the tenderness of God’s love.” She said elsewhere, very simply, “Confession is Jesus and I, and nobody else.” And then she told us, “Remember this for life.”
Introduction: Reminding us of God’s readiness to forgive sin and to restore people to His friendship, today’s readings challenge us to show the same mercy to the sinners around us and to live as forgiven people, actively seeking reconciliation. Mercy and pardon are the hallmark of the Christian. The central theme of all three readings is a merciful God’s steadfast love. Both the verses of the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 126) and the reading from Paul invite us to respond to such Divine graciousness with joy and gratitude. The readings also encourage us to reflect seriously on the ultimate example of God’s compassionate love for us. They remind us that we cannot stand by self-righteously and condemn the lives of others when God is calling them tenderly to conversion. Repentance is not something we do. Rather, repentance is allowing the forgiving power of God to touch our lives and lead us along new paths. Explaining how a merciful God forgives the sins of His chosen people and leads them back from the Babylonian exile, the first reading reminds us that we too are forgiven, and that we are saved from our own sinfulness. In the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 126), the Psalmist reminds us of the joy God’s Mercy brings us when we ask for and receive His pardon. In the second reading, Paul presents himself as a forgiven sinner who has been completely transformed by his Faith in Christ Jesus. His life is an example of obedience to the Gospel exhortation, “Sin no more.” Paul loves Christ so much that he wants to share in His sufferings and even in His death so that he may share in Christ’s Resurrection. The sinful woman’s story of sin committed, and sin forgiven in today’s Gospel also shows the inexhaustible mercy and compassion Jesus grants to sinners. It invites us to recognize and experience in our lives both God’s Justice and His Mercy. We bear witness to the Justice of God by confessing our sinfulness and determining to avoid sin, and we bear witness to God’s Mercy by accepting the forgiveness of our sins and by determining to forgive those who have offended us.
First reading: Is 43: 16-21, explained: Today’s Old Testament passage comes from the part of the Book of Isaiah that celebrates the permission from Cyrus the Great (538 BC), for Israel to return to Jerusalem from its exile in Babylon. After blaming the people, through His prophet Isaiah, for the unfaithfulness that had led to their exile, the Lord God assures the Babylonian exiles that He is going to end their prophesied 70 years’ exile in Babylon. By having Isaiah remind them of how God had liberated their ancestors from their slavery in Egypt eight centuries earlier, (miraculously destroying the army of the Pharaoh and providing their food and water in the desert), the Lord God assures the exiles that He has forgiven their sins. The prophet exhorted his fellow Jews to look to the past and to remember the wondrous acts of their God all through the stages of their development as a people. He tells them He will provide for their return journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, giving them food, water and protection from wild animals in the desert. The reading gives us the message that we, too, are forgiven, and we are, with His grace, walking His Way of Salvation away from our own sinfulness and toward Heaven.
Second reading: Phil 3: 8-14, explained: Saint Paul had tried all his life to earn God’s favor by carefully keeping the Law of Moses and by zealously doing what he thought God wanted. Paul enjoyed Roman citizenship and, in addition to his knowledge of the Greek language, culture and philosophies, he had also been schooled in his Jewish heritage under an eminent rabbi (Acts 22:3). His conversion to Christ made him re-evaluate all that “as loss” and “rubbish.” Thus, Paul expresses his deep regret and repentance for having persecuted Jesus in His Church and for his own futile attempts at earning righteousness by strict observance of the Mosaic Law before his conversion. Now he understands that the only real way to righteousness is to accept it as an undeserved gift of God’s grace. Faith here means belief that Jesus Christ has won this righteousness for us. Faith also means making the honest admission that we, by ourselves, cannot keep any law well enough to earn righteousness, with the confidence that God is good enough to give it to us anyway. Paul does not renounce the moral law, but he sees the righteousness that comes through Faith in Christ as the righteousness from God. As a result, he loves Christ so much he wants to share in His sufferings, even in His death, so that he may share in Christ’s Resurrection. Just as, in the first reading, Judah is invited by a forgiving God to forget its past sins and their dreadful consequences, Paul acknowledges that the merciful Lord has unconditionally pardoned his sins against Christians. Paul regards himself as having “been taken possession of by Christ Jesus,” and as constantly striving to be ever more conformed to the pattern set by Christ.
Gospel exegesis: Text omitted by ancient manuscripts: This powerful narrative of Jesus and the accused woman is not found in the earliest and best manuscripts of John, but appears in other important manuscripts after Lk 21:38. Almost all scholars today recognize that this text was not originally part of John’s Gospel—but it was obviously such an important story from the life of Jesus that the early Christians wanted to ensure it was not lost, even if they weren’t entirely sure of where to place it. It seems to have much more in common with Luke’s Gospel, and it is very possible that it is a fragment from one of Luke’s sources. This account is undeniably rich in theological and moral significance, and in psychological and human drama. Still, early Church authors, such as Papias (ca. A.D. 120) and the author of the Syriac “Teaching of the Twelve Apostles” (3rd cent.), knew of such an incident, and Jerome included it in his translation. For these reasons the story is judged canonical by Catholics. It might have been omitted in some early rigorist traditions because the early Church, in its struggle to maintain strict penitential discipline, perhaps could not deal with the ease with which Jesus forgave the woman. In this episode Jesus seemed too “soft” on sin. Perhaps for this reason, the story was temporarily set aside by the early Church and was only later granted canonical approbation.
The context and the trap: The incident happened in Jerusalem, in the precincts of the Temple where Jesus had been teaching. (“The scribes and the Pharisees” is often a stock phrase in the Gospels for “those Jews who disagreed with Jesus and opposed him.” The scribes were a group of people with particular training in Scripture and in the interpretation of Jewish law. The Pharisees were members of a lay movement that sought to extend God’s reign into every aspect of a person’s day). The scribes and Pharisees brought forward a woman caught in the act of adultery. It was a pitiful, heart-wrenching scenario, calculated to cause her ultimate shame. The Mosaic penalty for such an offense was death by stoning, although there is no evidence that this ever took place, certainly not in Roman times. Besides, Moses commanded that both partners in adultery should be stoned, not only the woman. (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22). Stoning was mostly done in cases of blasphemy; such was the case with Stephen, whom we read about in the book of Acts. The Jewish civil and criminal code considered three grave sins as punishable by death, namely idolatry, murder and adultery. Deuteronomy prescribes death by strangulation for a married woman caught in adultery. If the guilty woman is betrothed, she has to be stoned. In both cases they have violated God’s sixth commandment and have destroyed the fidelity and unity of marriage. “It is a terrible thing for a sinner to fall into the hands of his fellow sinners.” (F. B. Meyer). His opponents wanted to use the occasion to embarrass Jesus, because he had the reputation of proclaiming God’s mercy toward sinners. If he insisted on following the Law exactly, his reputation as a prophet of God’s mercy would be open to question. Besides, if Jesus consented to her death by strangulation or stoning, he would be violating the Roman law, which forbade killing by private citizens. If he took the side of the adulterous woman, he was open to the charge of ignoring God’s Law and God’s Justice as given by Moses. This was the ingenious trap they had set for Jesus.
Jesus’ fair verdict: Initially, Jesus showed his lack of interest in the case by simply writing on the ground. But he was the only one in the group who could rightly judge the woman. The woman waited to hear Jesus’ verdict. She knew that she was guilty. She had passed the judgment on herself, and she accepted Jesus’ right to do the same. Perfectly understanding the secret intentions of her self-righteous accusers and the helplessness of the repentant sinner, Jesus gave his verdict: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Thus, Jesus turned the accusers’ attention back on themselves and made them realize that they, too, were sinners. St. Augustine puts Jesus’ stand as follows: “Let this woman be punished, but not by sinners; let the law be applied, but not by its transgressors.” Thus, Jesus ingeniously escaped from the trap by leaving the judgment to the consciences of the accusers. This reduced the accusers to silence, prompting them to leave in shame. According to Jewish custom, the eldest should have begun the stoning. But the accusers melted away, beginning with the elders, who, like the elders in the story of Susannah (Daniel 13), had probably brought the charge. Since the elders left scene first followed by youngsters the case against the woman was dismissed. By appealing to the Justice of God and the injustice of humans, Jesus upheld God’s mercy. The moral of the story is not that sin is of no importance, or that God does not punish sin, but that God extends mercy to repentant sinners in order that they may turn from their sins.
Judgment with a stern warning: Since Jesus knew that her sin was a violation of the sixth commandment, “You shall not commit adultery,” he gave the woman the strong warning, “Go, and from now on, do not sin anymore.” Jesus did not shrink from calling her deed a sin, inappropriate and offensive to the Justice of God. He forgave the sinner, but he upheld the Justice of God by not excusing or explaining away the sin. Without minimizing her sinfulness, Jesus showed the sinner the respect she deserved as a human being, treating her with compassion. Clearly, he valued repentance and conversion more than simple reprisal. Not only did Jesus not condemn the woman, he even gave her hope for the future. Jesus is thus portrayed as a living expression of the Divine Mercy, a wise and kind judge, more concerned with forgiveness and rehabilitation than with punishment and death. St. Augustine captures this scene with his apt remark: relicti sunt duo miseria et misericordia (“There are but two left: misery and mercy”). Her story of sin committed, and sin forgiven is an example of the inexhaustible mercy and compassion shown by Jesus to sinners. When we repent and express sorrow for our sins Jesus will say “Neither will I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” Jesus’ answer is somewhat ambiguous, and it is perhaps because it was considered “soft” on sexual immorality that some Christian communities might have hesitated to incorporate this particular story into their New Testaments. But Jesus does tell her “not to sin again,” which certainly implies that her behavior was, in fact, sinful; He does not excuse the fact of the sin, or deny its wrongness, but He chooses not to dwell on it, knowing that the entire experience has been more than traumatic enough.
Story of Divine mercy: God imposed the death penalty in the Old Testament for all types of serious sins: for idolatry, murder, blasphemy, using the Lord’s name in vain, profaning the Sabbath, cursing or striking father and mother, kidnapping, and several sexual sins (see Exodus 19, 21, 22, 31, 35 and Leviticus 20). The Church still teaches that there is still a “death penalty,” an eternal death penalty, associated with such grave sins. That is why we call this type of sin “mortal,” or “deadly.” When we commit such an act with knowledge and deliberate consent, we die spiritually, we commit spiritual suicide, and we cause definitive self-separation from God. When we understand why the death penalty is just for such sins, we will appreciate in its depth God’s merciful love on the Cross. Besides, God Himself revealed, especially through the Prophets Jeremiah, Isaiah, Hosea, and Ezekiel that every sin is an act of adultery because it is being unfaithful to the spousal covenant of love we have entered into with God (see Jer 3:20, Is 1:21, Is 57:8, Hos 2:2-5, Hos 3:1-5, Hos 9:1, Ez 16:30). Hence, the story of the woman caught in adultery helps us recognize and receive the immensity of God’s mercy. That is why Pope Francis in his first Sunday homily as Pope declared: “God never tires of forgiving us…. It’s we who tire of asking for forgiveness.” Then he prayed, “May we never tire of asking for what God never tires to give!”
Life messages: # 1: We need to become forgiving people, ready for reconciliation: Jesus has shown inexhaustible mercy and compassion to sinners by dying for our sins. But we are often self-righteous like the Pharisees, and ready to spread scandal about others with a bit of spicy gossip. We are judgmental about the unmarried mother, the alcoholic, the drug addict and the shop-lifter, ignoring Jesus’ command: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Let us learn to acknowledge our sins, ask God’s forgiveness every day and extend the same forgiveness to our erring brothers and sisters. We too should learn to hate the sin and love the sinners showing them mercy, compassion, sympathy and acceptance, leading them to Jesus’ ways by our own exemplary lives.
2) We have no right to judge others: We have no right to judge others because we often commit the very faults we condemn, we are often partial and prejudiced in our judgment and we do not know the circumstances which have led someone to sin. Hence, let us leave the judgment to our just and merciful God who reads people’s hearts. We should show mercy and compassion to those who sin because we ourselves are sinners in need of God’s forgiveness. The apostle Paul reminds us: “But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.” (1 Cor 11:31).
JOKE OF THE WEEK: Mary’s stone: Here is an old but funny story. The Pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery before Jesus for judgment and Jesus says, “Let anyone who is without sin cast the first stone at her.” There is a sudden silence. But then all at once a small stone comes flying from the back of the crowd aimed at the head of the woman, and Jesus promptly catches it. Looking at the lady standing in the crowd Jesus said, “Mother! Really! I was trying to make a point, here.” The assumption is that Jesus’ mother, Mary, was immaculately conceived and hence sinless and so she was eligible to throw a stone. But if Jesus himself did not condemn the woman, why should his mother do so?
2)Pastor and Farmer: “Do you smoke, drink or curse?” The pastor asked the old farmer. It was a hesitant, “Well, every once in a while.” “You know, John, I don’t smoke, drink, or cuss…” “Yessuh, pastor, but you don’t farm either…!”
3)Gary Dearing told a story about his Air Force Colonel, who served as inspector general of his command, and paid particular attention to how personnel wore their uniforms. “On one occasion the Colonel spotted a junior airman with a violation. ‘Airman,’ he bellowed, ‘What do you do when a shirt pocket is unbuttoned?’ The startled airman replied, ‘Button it, sir!’ The Colonel looked him in the eye and said, ‘Well?’ At that, the airman nervously reached over and buttoned the Colonel’s shirt pocket.”
Prepared by: Rev. Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604.