March 13, 2016

March 13, 2016  5th Sunday of Lent C Isaiah 43: 16-21; Philippians 3: 8-14; John 8: 1-11 One week from today is Palm Sunday…Jesus enters Jerusalem ‘in glory’. The people acclaim Him as special…hopefully their Messiah. They have been waiting for God to intervene in their ‘horrible, persecuted life’. Their ‘Promised Land’ has been taken over for centuries by hostile powers. Today it is Rome. Rome cares only for itself and what they can ‘get’ from their enslaved territories. Do they care about the people? No! They care about their own pockets…their own dominance among world powers… they care about their pleasurable lives and more and more of this. God doesn’t matter….Does God even exist for them? Who cares! The first reading from Isaiah looks back at an earlier day when the Israelites impending return from their exile in Babylon is being looked at as a ‘New Exodus.’ The “…things of long ago…” was the first Exodus. “…see, I am doing something new”…is the return from their present exile. The strong prophecy is that what they had experienced was God’s total care for them. But that was ‘nothing’ as compared to what was going to happen. Isaiah talks about these ‘new things’ … this is the promise of the Messiah, who will die and rise and provide for His people the helps, the sacraments of the new covenant. This will totally overshadow their memory of the Exodus. Now all the promises of God will be present and they will discover the God who is ‘totally in love with them’ and will lead them to the Promised Land of heaven. The crossing of the Dead Sea… surviving the forty years wandering in the desert…these were wonderful miracles…but ‘they haven’t seen anything yet.’ There will be plenty of reason to sing God’s praises and the Responsorial Psalm sets the joyous mood: “The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.” Paul is looking at what has happened and he is not dwelling on that because what lies ahead is of utmost importance. Alice Camille in Exploring the Sunday Readings shares her insight into Paul’s letter today: “Paul says he cheerfully lost everything for Jesus. He tossed his perfect track record and threw himself on the mercy of the cross. He viewed his former righteousness as rubbish, which is not something we might wish to say about the seasons (however few) when we actually fulfilled all our religious obligations to the letter. We’re proud of logging those faithful Sundays, those meticulous Lenten observances. Paul advises us to forget all that. The goal ahead deserves our focus. Christ Jesus, and He alone, saves.” And this leads me to a very important reflection, ‘What does Jesus think of me?’ If we look at Jesus’ constant interaction with people, we have to conclude that everything is based on love. So I continue does Jesus love me when I am good? Yes! Does Jesus love me when I am thinking of Him? Yes! Does Jesus love me when I am sinning? Yes! That’s what today’s Gospel is telling us. Here we have a woman who is brought…probably dragged to Jesus was more accurate. So many different groups, especially the Pharisees had it in for Jesus. They wanted Him out of the picture. To them, He was not the Messiah…He was a rebel, an upstart. They were the religious experts. They had judged this woman as one who Moses had said was to be put to death by stoning because of her sin…no pardon…no mercy…she was a sinner! NOW this woman could be their ‘ULTIMATE PROOF’ in showing the people Jesus was no way a Messiah…just a charlatan at best. So we look at the scene in John’s Gospel…this woman was brought in front of Jesus and she was GUILTY…she was “caught in adultery.” NOTICE…Jesus never asked her if she did this. Isn’t that interesting to reflect on: As Alice Camille says, “To Jesus, what this woman did or failed to do, what the extenuating circumstances may have been that led her to be taken or mistaken for an adulteress, are beside the point. What consumes His attention is the morality lesson being enacted all around her, with her alleged sin as the bait and her life in the balance. Self-righteous men are judging her, salivating at the thought of her condemnation. The crowds around Jesus are here for the spectacle. Stone her, free her, makes no difference. Once Jesus makes His decision, either way, scandal will result. Then the self-righteous ones will immediately begin judging and condemning Jesus.” Why is this important? Why is this important for me? How many times ‘I have been caught’ guilty. My parents…teachers…friends…co-workers…asked, ‘Did you do this?’ I have said ‘NO’ too many times. When this happened I continued in my ‘lies’ to try and get out of the situations. Did I…no not really. The times this didn’t happen, I was filled with my own self-deprecation. ‘I’m no good…why do I continue to ‘use’ people? Why do I hurt people important to me? Why am I concerned with myself? Why can’t I be a person of love as Jesus continually shows me?’ AND SO I ASK, ‘What does Jesus think of me?’ Today He answers me…! “Jesus, bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger.” John continues immediately: “But when they continued asking Him, He straightened up and said to them, ‘Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Again He bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders.” This ‘writing on the ground’ always interested me. Was Jesus writing their sins….Or writing something about the ones trying to trap Him? While I was on Sabbatical at Notre Dame University in the early 90’s I was privileged to have some great scripture scholars as teachers. I asked one ‘what did Jesus write’. He smiled and said…the ‘original word used is very interesting…I believe from all my study that the word means ‘doodle’…Jesus doodled in the dirt. ‘Doodled, I asked…what does this mean? He smiled again and said, ‘Jesus was totally concerned with the woman. She needed love…she needed compassion…she needed to know that God loves her and wants her with Him for all eternity in heaven…she needed to know that God is best at His mercy. God forgives…when we ask for it!’ He cares that much about this woman and me, I asked? He said, Yes! Jesus treated this woman in such a way that it made her want to reform her life. Jesus treats me the same. She came before Jesus, guilty…she left the presence of Jesus innocent. So I reflect on: • Do I realize I am ALWAYS in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness? • Do I realize that God always loves me? • Do I realize that God always is leading me closer to Himself? • Do I realize that none of my sins are ‘too big’ for God…He is waiting and wanting to love me and forgive me? • WHY AM I HESITANT TO GO TO GOD? Sacred Space 2016: “Where do I stand in this scene? Like the woman standing before he accusers? Like a silent sympathizer hoping that something will happen to save her? Like the skulking male adulterer who got her into this trouble? Like the bystanders already collecting the best stones with a view to a killing? Like one of the elders who slinks away, unable to cast the first stone? What goes though my head as Jesus is doodling in the sand? Sometimes we are overwhelmed by a sense of our own guilt. The voices of accusation roar in our ears Frozen with fear, we wait for condemnation. Lord, like the woman in the reading, may we hear the damning voices fade until there is only Your voice left, telling us to move on and sin no more.” You love me that much!