Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent
(Daniel 13:1-9.15-17.19-30.33-62; John 8:12-20)
The woman whom Jesus confronts Jesus in today’s Gospel has committed
a grave sin. Although adultery is not the worst of sins, its effects can be
disastrous. It can destroy marriages and will undermine the upbringing of
children. Furthermore, it leads other couples to suspicion and distrust. But
this woman is not the only sinner in the Temple area this day. Jesus' challenge
to the Pharisees reveals that they too have sinned.
Jesus offers the woman an opportunity to repent. As he will
say in the next chapter of the Gospel according to John, he came not to
"judge" (that is, to condemn), but to save. The woman, once forgiven
by Jesus, has an open future. Jesus encourages her to follow the path of
holiness.
C.S. Lewis is cited as having said that violating chastity
is not a worse sin than pride. Although they
may have greater social repercussions, sins against chastity normally do not bring
sinners to think of themselves as greater than God. In sins of pride, on the other hand, perpetrators
often see themselves as having greater authority than God. Although they would
be loathed to admit it, the Pharisees of the gospel come close to making that
claim. They would have the woman stoned
so that their supposed enemy, Jesus, might lose prominence among the
people. Temptations to both these kinds
of sins are prominent in the world today.
As Jesus prompts the woman and the Pharisees, we also want to avoid both
kinds of sin.
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