This weekend we will hear in the gospel from John (8:1-11) the story of the woman caught in adultery and the response from Jesus to the Pharisees who brought to Him this "sinner" and their desire to entrap Jesus so that they could kill Him.
First, let me note that the ancient law of the Jewish people held a punishment for both the woman and the man caught in this adulterous act.
Second, the meaning of this gospel is all about the mercy and forgiveness of God—and how His love and forgiveness for us is beyond anything we can understand. It is a love that does not wish to simply say, "I told you so! I was right, you are wrong and now I shall punish you…Nah, nah, nah!" Rather, God’s love and mercy says "How can I lead you to the most excellent truth, and in that truth transform you into the person I created you to be."
I would like to include in this weekend’s thoughts a reflection on this gospel from Father Romanus Cessario, O.P., my professor of Moral Theology at St. John Seminary in Boston:
"Secret sins cause even the devout Christians alarm. ‘What if this person knew what I did?’ When the person before whom we fear being shamed is someone who highly regards us, our fear of shame intensifies. This reaction signals a healthy personality, not a neurotic one. Discretion accompanies an honorable sense of shame.
Pagan philosophers even recognized virtue in those who observed discretion about shameful deeds. They named this virtuous characteristic verecundia. Before the coming of Jesus Christ, verecundia afforded the only remedy for shameful behavior. One lived alone with his sins, unless he was caught and punished.
When the religious leaders bring the adulterous woman to Jesus, they want to test Him. Jesus outwits them. We do not know what He wrote on the ground with His finger. We do know, however, that His writing caused the woman’s accusers to withdraw. She was very fortunate. Her accusers brought her before the one Person who removes shame with forgiveness.
This same forgiveness remains available in the Church. In order to receive forgiveness for our sins, someone, that is, the priest, must know what we did. Christ provides for our personal disclosure in the Sacrament of Penance. There the penitent Christian finds absolution for shameful actions committed, though with assurance of full discretion. The forgiven person never again needs to fret over the question, "What if…" Fr. Cessario, O.P.
In today’s gospel message we learn that mercy is forgiveness and the return to the Truth (Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore"). This is the love of God our Father. God’s love is not: "I told you so!" And in this we must find the Joy that we heard about last Sunday—Laetare Sunday—and know that God is reaching out to us and is always calling us home to Him. Every day. Every second. Every time…we fail, stumble and sin. He is a God of Love and of Hope and of Eternal Salvation. He just wants you and me to be who He created us to be. Happy Lent!