Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 43:16-21; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians 3:8-14; Gospel According the Saint John 8:1-11
Holy Week is drawing nigh. In fact, just a week from today is Palm Sunday and the following Sunday is Easter.
Maybe for many or most of us the season of Lent has sped by very quickly, since, at least for me, it seems we just began, and are now moving toward the conclusion of this season of renewal, with extra prayer, fasting and almsgiving, putting our focus on what the Lord has done for us in taking on the sins of the world, so that we might be set free and enjoy the eternal life promised us by the risen Savior.
The first reading for Mass this Sunday is a beautiful text from the Prophet Isaiah, who lived eight centuries before the birth of Christ. The passage comes from the time of the Babylonian exile, when the people of God were deprived of their homeland. Isaiah wants the people to know that just as God worked wonders during the time of the Exodus from Egypt, some seven centuries earlier, so now God will work a new wonder by bring the captive people across the desert and back to the promised land.
The text explains that “something new” is about to take place, “springing forth” in the desert, where the people are currently dwelling. A way will be opened for them, permitting them to once again sing God’s praises in their own land. A new Exodus is about to take place and holds the promise of peace and prosperity, causing immense joy for those who look forward in faith to a new saving event. God is faithful, in other words, and will not disappoint.
As we draw closer to Holy Week and the recounting of the final events in the earthly life of Jesus, we await a profound renewal in our own lives as followers of the Lamb and members of God’s household. By our baptism into Christ, we are formed into God’s people, and called to declare by our lives great wonder and gratitude for God’s saving love as we have experienced it.
This Sunday’s second reading at Mass emphasizes Saint Paul’s desire to be “found in Christ,” that is, to be recognized by others as an authentic follower of Christ, not in order for others to admire Paul, but that they might desire to possess what he already possesses. Just as Paul wishes to give his faith and allegiance to Christ, in the hope of receiving the salvation, so he desires that many others may be drawn into the same circle of glory.
Put another way, Saint Paul wants more than anything else to be come “Christ-like,” sharing profoundly in the suffering and death of Christ, in the hope of sharing in his resurrection as well. This becoming “Christ-like” is a life-long process, a gradual conformity to Christ, beginning now, and fully realized after this life.
Like an athlete, Saint Paul says he “presses on” in the race, eagerly toward the finish line, where the prize in nothing less than “life on high in Christ Jesus.” That should be our goal as well!
The Gospel text for this final Lenten Sunday before Palm Sunday focuses on the power of God’s mercy to those who have strayed.
Scribes and Pharisees are eager to see the response of Jesus in the face of the sin of adultery, considered a cause for death by stoning according to the prevailing Law. Seeking a chance to trap Jesus in his response to the situation, the Lord refuses to pass any judgement. In fact, Jesus simply stoops down and starts writing with his finger in the ground. What did he write? We don’t know, but the gesture was a way of saying without words that Jesus was unwilling to discuss the matter with the accusers. The silence of Jesus in this instance becomes an outright condemnation of the hypocrisy of the faultfinders.
Jesus does speak some words to the accusers, though, well known to us now: “Let the man among you who has no sin be the first to cast a stone at her.” In response, the hypocritical audience drifts away one by one, until no one is left, only the woman and Jesus. Saint Augustine says of the scene: “There remained only two: the one in great misery and the one with great mercy.”
The woman did not make an escape when the others did, but stayed put, presumably because she would be further hounded by the accusers if she had left the rabble. By her stance, she opened up the possibility of experiencing the mercy she no doubt desired. Jesus utters no condemnation, but only a word of advice and encouragement: “You may go,” he says, “but from now on, avoid this sin.” By his response, Jesus not only saved the life of the woman, but also made her realize her true condition and the need for conversion.
We are all in need of such an encounter with the Lord, who can help us to become aware of our true condition as he gently draws us to himself.
Abbot Christian Leisy, OSB