Fifth Sunday of Lent (Year C)

Fifth Sunday of Lent Year C  (April 03, 2022)

Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11

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A member of a monastic order once committed a fault. A council was called to determine the punishment, but when the monks assembled it was noticed that Father Joseph was not among them. The superior sent someone to say to him, “Come, for everyone is waiting for you.”  So Father Joseph got up and went. He took a leaking jug, filled it with water, and carried it with him. When the others saw this they asked, “What is this, father?” The old man said to them, “My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I am coming to judge the error of another?”

In today’s first reading, we heard the prophetic Words of the Lord God speaking to the prophet Isaiah. Yahweh begins by identifying Himself. He says that it was He who created Israel. It was He who led the Exodus of His people under the leadership of Moses. It was He who divided the Red Sea and who destroyed the great army of the Pharaoh of Egypt. It was He who quenched the life out of the enemies of His people. Yet he tells them to look ahead and not look back into the past.  The past always closes our minds does not allow us to see things of the present as they are.  Therefore the Lord promises to the people "I am about to do a new thing."  In other words, at every moment he creates new things for us. He adds further to say “For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth, and former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.” The Prophet also says that God promising to make a way in the wilderness or the desert, to put rivers in the desert and that would make the wild animals honour Him.

We have a tendency within us to find fault in others and condemn them. Again, we maintain our long memories of the hurts and forgiveness does not come so easily.  During the Eucharist we ask repeatedly forgiveness from the Lord and yet we hold back so much of grudge in our hearts. As we approach the end of the Lenten season, we are reminded of the great opportunity to cooperate with God’s special graces.

The theme that pervades through the readings is that God makes all things new. The Gospel of today presents us a sharp contrast between the cruelty and wickedness of the scribes and Pharisees and the compassion of Jesus. The scribes and Pharisees had no regard for the woman caught in adultery and brought her to the master.  They were only interested in using her to try to trap Jesus. They had no regard for the fact that she may not have initiated the sin; she may have been led into it by their own men. But Jesus is full of compassion.

Self-righteousness is a sin all people are guilty of but often oblivious to in their own selves. Along with other important lessons, Jesus’ encounter with the woman caught in adultery exposes this pharisaical, hypocritical tendency in us all.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the story of the woman caught in adultery is how skillfully it illustrates the harmony of justice and mercy in Christ’s salvation. God pronounces judgment on sin but provides a way to escape condemnation (Romans 3:23; 8:1). Jesus does not encourage the sin, but He loves the sinner. The Lord silences the critics of this world while healing hearts that are burdened with guilt and shame. God never treats sin casually but calls sinners to turn away from their old, corrupt way of life (Ephesians 4:17–24).

The incident of the woman caught in adultery shines light into each of our own hearts and exposes the widespread existence of sin. After Jesus prompted the accusers to consider their own lives, all of them dropped their stones and walked away, knowing they, too, deserved the same punishment.

when we read the story, identifying ourselves not with the Pharisees but with the woman herself, then we begin to see the story for the good news that it really is. Like the woman, we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Like her we all deserve death, for the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23). But when Jesus comes into the picture, he overturns our death sentence. He sets us free with his words of absolution: "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again" (John 8:11). The story shows how Jesus stands up for sinners before the law. In so doing he draws upon himself the hostility of the hard line officials who will eventually arrest him and give him a taste of their justice. The church puts this story before us today so that we can see ourselves in this sinner woman whom Jesus saves from sure death at the risk of attracting death to himself.

Happy Sunday