Homily for March 28, 2004
Year C - Cycle II
5th Sunday of Lent
by Fr. John Carney
Topic:  Forgiveness
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Gospel Reading: 
John 8:1-11

"Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them.  Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle.  They said to him, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.  Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.  So what do you say?'  They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him.  Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.  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.  So he was left alone with the woman before him.  Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, 'Woman, where are they?  Has no one condemned you?'  She replied, 'No one, sir.'  Then Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you.  Go, and from now on do not sin any more.'"

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You might recall about three weeks ago I was talking about the structure of Lent.  There are two parts to it.  During the first half of Lent the focus is on us – our imperfections and our weaknesses.  Then during the second part of Lent, the focus changes.  The spotlight goes on the person of Jesus Christ, and on his mercy, his love and his goodness. That’s where we are today and that’s where we were last week.   Last week we heard the wonderful story of the prodigal son and the loving father. This week we hear the familiar story of the woman who was caught in adultery. Both stories are about God’s mercy, and both stories should give us hope.  This is a great story today.  It is full of drama and mystery.  You want to know what is coming next, what did he write, what’s going on here.  Of course the Pharisees, as the Scriptures tell us, were trying to trick Jesus.  They had done this to him before.

You know the story where they ask Jesus if it is lawful to pay taxes to the emperor.  They asked him this because in Jewish beliefs, it is only lawful to pay taxes to God - the temple tax.  If you paid a tax to anyone else then it would be blasphemy.  So if Jesus agreed with them, then he would be in trouble with the Romans, and the Romans were more difficult on tax evasion than the IRS.  They crucified those who were found guilty.  Conversely, had he said to them, “No, you must pay your taxes to the emperor,” he would have been accused of blasphemy.  You remember what he did.  He asked for a coin and said, “Whose image is on this coin?” They said, "Caesar’s.”  And he said to them, “Give to God what is God’s, and give to Caesar what is Caesar’s”.  What a lawyer.  How would you like him for your defense attorney?  You’ll get him. You got him.  Think about that.  Jesus is your defender.  He is your advocate.  On the Day of Judgment, he will be on your side.  Johnny Cochran, move over!  Same initials, but I’ll take the Lord.  It’s true.  You can tell that to the greatest sinner in the world and he’ll say, “Really, Jesus?  What’s his fee?”  It’s already paid.

Today, the Pharisees tried to trick him again with the woman caught in adultery.  Under the Law of Moses, that offense required capital punishment; she was to be stoned to death.  So if Jesus said, “We’ll that’s the law, stone her to death,” his whole teaching on mercy would be out the window.  Conversely, if he said, “No, forgive her,” he would have gone against the teaching of Moses. Had he agreed to have her killed, he would have been against the emperor because the Romans did not permit the Jews to carry out capital punishment.  So he was in big trouble.  So he said nothing.  He just wrote in the sand, whatever he wrote, no one knows.  But one by one, the accusers, the hypocrites, the Pharisees, the scribes, one by one dropped the stones they had in their hands.  There are lots of lessons we can take from this story.  Let me propose just three of them today. 

First of all, Jesus is teaching us in this story how we should forgive. Notice he doesn’t use any harsh words to the woman.  By the same token, he doesn’t criticize the law.  He doesn’t criticize the law, yet he doesn’t condone the sin.  He says “Go and commit this sin no more.”  He doesn’t even criticize her accusers.  He just forgives her.  He overcame evil with good.  He saw misery and wiped it out with mercy. And because of his mercy, her dignity, her human dignity, her sacred dignity as a person, was restored.  That’s how we are to forgive, just like that.

Secondly, Jesus, in this teaching, teaches us that we must accept forgiveness and move on.  Many of us do not accept God’s forgiveness.  Believe me, I know this; you know this, many of you.  Even after the sin is forgiven, even after the words are spoken, I see people carrying around the shame and guilt of their sin for the rest of their lives.  If you do this, you have no confidence in God’s mercy.  You’re saying, “I'm a bigger sinner than you are a Savior.”  A Russian philosopher said, “Those who live in constant terror of their own sins are powerless to accomplish anything in the world.”  That’s so true; they are paralyzed with their memories.  Sometimes I hear a parent say, “I can’t correct my child because I did the same thing.”  That’s nonsense.  Correct the child because you did it.  What was the effect of sin in your life?  It hurt you, and it will hurt your child.  The fact that you did the same sin when you were young is no excuse not to confront your child.  We must accept forgiveness and then move on with our lives.  St. Francis de Sales said, “One form of gentleness that we should practice is gentleness towards ourselves.  It is reasonable to be displeased and sorry when we commit sin, but not stressful or spiteful of ourselves.”  Take it easy on yourself.  God loves you.  He made you in his image. 

Finally, the third point Jesus teaches us is to look at others with compassion and mercy,  not with judgment.  We are to see people as Jesus sees them, with patience and compassion.  But we don’t do that very well, especially in the little things.  You know if we can get the little things right, the big things will fall into place.  We all know that’s true.  In spring training, every coach is saying, “Let’s just do the little things right.  If we do every little part right, then the big things will take care of themselves.”  Teachers know that.  It’s elementary education:  learn the elements and everything else will fall into place. But we are so petty, small-minded, and mean.  Hypercritical.  How can we be agents of God’s mercy if we can't forgive the little things?  Some examples.  Have you ever been upset by someone who cut you off in traffic?  Actually, I no longer get upset about that.  When someone cuts me off I say, "God bless you, I love you."  Imagine being upset about some young woman who cut you off.  If you knew her, you’d know she had just put in a ten-hour shift at work and she's a single mom with two kids, and she is rushing home to get them dinner, to clean their clothes, to try and spend some time with them.  She’s had a hectic, crazy day. 

Do you ever get mad about someone driving ten miles below the speed limit on that road to Española?  Um-hum.  Maybe he's driving slow because he has tears in his eyes because he just earned his mom died.  And there you are.  Ever get a little annoyed at the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change at the Sonic.  I know.  Some of the weird things they put through their body. God doesn't see those things. He sees that young man.  He sees him and he loves him, he doesn’t judge him.  (I don't think he likes all the jewelry…I'll have to ask Him.) 

And how about the street person?  One of the things we lack in Los Alamos is street people.  So often we judge them:  He could get a job; he looks healthy enough.  In our worst dreams, we couldn't imagine the pain of addiction that man lives with.  He is hurting so badly he is living in hell. 

Or how about the old couple in front of you in Smith's blocking the aisle when you're in a hurry?  Maybe she just got the results of a biopsy and maybe that's the last time they're going to shop together, and they're savoring every moment.  It’s true isn’t it?  We profess to want to be like Christ, but we are so petty.  We let little things upset us and anger us.  We need to change.  Today is a good day to change.  We need to start.

If you would bow your heads, I would ask you to pray.

Heavenly father, your greatest gift is love.  It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear.  Open our hearts to all humanity.  Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive.  Lord, make me a channel of your peace.  Where there is hatred, let me so love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. We ask this through Christ our Lord.   Amen.