Fr. Vincent Munari, SX
FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT
The company of Jesus is strange: tax collectors, sinners (prostitutes etc), flock to Jesus in great number (Luke 15, 1 says “all”!!). Pharisees, doctors of the Law, scribes, elders of the people are on the opposite side. If they draw near to Jesus it is only to trap him and have ground to do away with him. They are his enemies.
But is Jesus not exaggerating? The Pharisees and their scribes, for instance, keep very strictly the Law of Moses, they pray, fast… Yes, there is something strange in the Lord’s behaviour, or perhaps I am not able to understand the message he wants to put across.
When a woman is caught early in the morning in an adulterous situation, here in the western area of Sierra Leone, there are loud shouting and horrific cries all around and in the street (“woman palava” the security tells me). Many thoughts come to my mind: for instance, why is it that the man is never caught? Is it only the woman who must be faithful to her man?
In today’s Gospel Jesus starts from a different point of view: we are all sinners and we cannot condemn. The Father sent him to us with this message: love, forgiveness, not violence will save all of us; we all have to be merciful like the Father.
Twice Jesus bends down to write with his finger on the ground, perhaps my and your sins, and twice he stands up to give his judgment: “The one without fault, let him throw the stone first”. Let him start the violence that kills the sinner, but not the sin.
We all have to admit we are not in the condition of condemning anybody. Jesus continues to write; and so all quietly disappear starting from the seniors.
The second time when Jesus stands is after all the accusers have gone. Now he gives his verdict to the woman. He starts by asking: “Where are they?”. The only one who can throw the stone at the woman is Jesus, but his sentence is not linked to the Old Testament. “Nor I condemn you”, but since you have experienced the mercy of God, it is logical to enter into the real love the Father has revealed in his Son and so your life will change (“Do not sin again”).
What about the accusers, so sure of their righteousness? They cannot enter into this circle of agape: feeling loved and being taken care of by this merciful, wonderful Father; they were not ready to accept the words of mercy and forgiveness addressed by Jesus to a woman one early morning in the Temple, and till now they are not.
What about us? Are we fully ready to accept this message?
FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT
The company of Jesus is strange: tax collectors, sinners (prostitutes etc), flock to Jesus in great number (Luke 15, 1 says “all”!!). Pharisees, doctors of the Law, scribes, elders of the people are on the opposite side. If they draw near to Jesus it is only to trap him and have ground to do away with him. They are his enemies.
But is Jesus not exaggerating? The Pharisees and their scribes, for instance, keep very strictly the Law of Moses, they pray, fast… Yes, there is something strange in the Lord’s behaviour, or perhaps I am not able to understand the message he wants to put across.
When a woman is caught early in the morning in an adulterous situation, here in the western area of Sierra Leone, there are loud shouting and horrific cries all around and in the street (“woman palava” the security tells me). Many thoughts come to my mind: for instance, why is it that the man is never caught? Is it only the woman who must be faithful to her man?
In today’s Gospel Jesus starts from a different point of view: we are all sinners and we cannot condemn. The Father sent him to us with this message: love, forgiveness, not violence will save all of us; we all have to be merciful like the Father.
Twice Jesus bends down to write with his finger on the ground, perhaps my and your sins, and twice he stands up to give his judgment: “The one without fault, let him throw the stone first”. Let him start the violence that kills the sinner, but not the sin.
We all have to admit we are not in the condition of condemning anybody. Jesus continues to write; and so all quietly disappear starting from the seniors.
The second time when Jesus stands is after all the accusers have gone. Now he gives his verdict to the woman. He starts by asking: “Where are they?”. The only one who can throw the stone at the woman is Jesus, but his sentence is not linked to the Old Testament. “Nor I condemn you”, but since you have experienced the mercy of God, it is logical to enter into the real love the Father has revealed in his Son and so your life will change (“Do not sin again”).
What about the accusers, so sure of their righteousness? They cannot enter into this circle of agape: feeling loved and being taken care of by this merciful, wonderful Father; they were not ready to accept the words of mercy and forgiveness addressed by Jesus to a woman one early morning in the Temple, and till now they are not.
What about us? Are we fully ready to accept this message?