Today, the gospel text is that of the Woman caught in Adultery.
The text is found in the gospel of John (John 8:1-11).
This scene offers a unique perspective on Jesus’ attitude to those in need of forgiveness.
In the following video, Jeannie Calavrias personifies the woman in a very meaningful way.
On this Monday of the 5th week of Lent, the gospel text offers us a scene that is familiar to us.
We are given to meet with the one known as: ‘The Woman Caught in Adultery. »
Jeannie Calavrias, who personifies her, tells us of her personal experience.
Our days are filled with messages sent and received on many platforms –
computers, cell phones, tablets – these tools are available at our fingertips, literally.
The more traditional media – books, magazines, periodicals – are still in use to contact people.
But have you ever received a message written on… sand?
This is surely not the usual mode of communication nowadays!
Amazingly, we see this in today’s gospel (John 8:1-11) – we see Jesus writing in the sand.
What did he write? What was the message he wanted to make known?
No one can say…
Did the Pharisees read it? Did they realize that the words were meant for them?
Impossible to assert…
Did the woman make out the characters traced by Jesus’ finger?
Did this give her courage, hope to be spared the stoning prescribed by the Jewish Law?
This, too, is unknown.
It is after the question voiced by the religious leaders, that Jesus bent down to write in the sand.
Their question was:
“Now what do you say?”
Obviously, the leaders were more concerned with condemning Jesus than condemning the woman!
The gospel writer adds immediately:
“They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.”
The answer of Jesus is framed in silence and… in the sand – there is no need for more.
This answer has all the power that compassion can offer.
The leaders leave, and the woman is forgiven.
And… the same can happen today…
Note: A video presents this gospel scene where Jeannie Calavrias personifies the Woman caught in adultery; it can be found at: https://youtu.be/lH5ZJSjSItI
And another reflection, on a different theme, is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/5e-dimanche-du-careme-annee-c-2022/
The past… OUR past…
We can live in the past, with nostalgia…
We can cling to the past traditions and customs…
We can try to bury the past in forgetfulness…
We can try not to face the past because of it being too shameful or painful…
The 1st and the 2nd readings of this 5th Sunday of Lent (year C) speak about the past.
Through his prophet, Isaiah (Is.43:16-21), God tells us: “No need to recall the past, no need to think about what was done before. See I am doing a new deed.”
And Paul, writing to the Philippians (Ph.3:8-14), says about himself: “I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is yet to come.”
Why should we not cling to the past, or try avoiding it, or take refuge in it? Simply because God wants something new for us. And not only does he want it, but he makes it for us.
The gospel shows him doing exactly that (Jn.8:1-11). There, we meet a woman dragged before Jesus because of a past deed – shameful, sinful, yes. The Pharisees have brought her to the Master and their eyes accuse her as much as their words.
Jesus, for his part, does not even look at her. Not to shame her, he looks down to the ground and… writes in the sand! Then, it is to her accusers that he speaks. Soon, they have disappeared because they know well that from being the accusers they have become, silently, the accused…
Addressing the woman, Jesus does not say that what she did was not wrong but he helps her to go beyond the bad action. He helps her to forget the past and to look to the future. “Woman, has no one condemned you? Neither do I condemn you; go away and don’t sin any more.”Jesus forgets and forgives her past. This is how God is. God looks at our past to forgive it, if only we are sorry for what we have done. And he directs our eyes and our hearts to the future, to what he is preparing for us.
Today’s Psalm (Ps.126:1-2,3-6) says it beautifully: “When the Lord delivered (us), it seemed like a dream.”