FIFTH
SUNDAY OF LENT
(Isaiah
43:16-21; Philippians 3:7-14; John 8:1-11)
Once a holy
man was traveling on foot through the forest. When he stopped for the night, an
assailant came upon him. The ruffian demanded the most valuable thing the holy
man was carrying. Without delay the holy man opened his bag, took out a diamond
as big as a grapefruit, and presented it to the assailant. The assailant took
the diamond and left. In a short time he returned to the holy man. He told him,
"Now give me the thing that made you part with this diamond." In the
second reading Saint Paul shows us such a valuable thing.
Paul has
had the experience of knowing Christ on several occasions. On the road to
Damascus Christ appeared to him asking why he was persecuting them. The Acts of
the Apostles recalls other meetings and also II Corinthians. We have similar
experiences in prayer. We can sense the presence of Jesus urging us to be less inclined
to anger and more kind and loving. He assures us that he will be with us come
what may.
The story
told in today’s gospel reinforces our trust in Jesus. He controls the situation
with all the skill of a surgeon in the operating room. He first outwits the
Pharisees who uses the adulteress to trap him. Their strategy is if Jesus says
that the woman should be stoned, he would be violating Roman law. But if he
says that she does not deserve death, he would be ignoring Jewish law. Jesus outsmarts
them with the demand that the sinless person cast the first stone.
His
treatment of the woman seems even more praiseworthy. Only the two remain, as
Saint Augustine says, "misery and mercy". Jesus does not condemn the
woman; neither does he scold her. He just corrects her. He tells her to go and
sin no more. She will be so grateful to Jesus that she cannot ignore his
mandate. He treats us the same way.
Not only
does Jesus forgive us; he also helps us to sin no more. He teaches us how to
live with our hearts set on the good of our neighbor, not on desire for his or
her belongings. In addition to teaching, he shares with us the Holy Spirit that
strengthens us spiritually. By receiving Holy Communion, we realize that we are
not alone in the struggle. Rather we are part of a great family that includes
the angels, the saints, even Christ as well as the other communicants.
Now we
should better understand the first reading. Through the prophet God says that
he is going to do something new. It will be as refreshing as a river in the
desert. The new, the refreshing thing is Jesus Christ. He has not come to judge
us but to justify us. He does not make excuses for our faults but corrects them.
We will live as upright as oak trees giving nuts to the squirrels and shelter
to the birds.
The
discovery of a "new" star was recently reported. In addition to not
being really "new," this star attracted attention because it does not
conform to astronomers' theories. It is so with Jesus. He lived two thousand
years ago, but to many, even us, he is new. He does not conform to the old
models of judging and scolding. He simply corrects us and justifies us. We will
see this process take place in the liturgies of the next two weeks.
