Fifth Sunday of Lent
My first thoughts are of the story of the woman caught in adultery. Jesus reacted to the situation compassionately toward the woman. My first thoughts were of the sin the woman committed. It was a very serious crime in the Mosaic community. The punishment was also rather horrid. Jesus reacts by stooping to the ground and writing in the sand. Nobody knows what was written. When I was in grammar school we were told it was the sins of the accusers. In any case one by one they left the scene, and Jesus on rising ask the woman if any one was left to accuse her. When she replied, He said that he would not accuse her either and told her to sin no more. I think this section of the Gospel reflects several things placed where it is in the liturgical readings. There is an echo of the Easter resurrection. Jesus rises from the ground to forgive the woman. It also gives us a time to reflect on our own wrong doings and seeking forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance before Easter. I also thought about the second reading of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. In the gospel we are never told of the woman’s reaction. I can’t imagine that it is anything less than Paul’s saying, "I consider everything as loss because of the supreme good of of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." If you read the whole reading, I can’t imagine that the woman’s reaction was any different than Paul’s saying, "Just one thing forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead. I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus."
Brother Etienne Jaeckel, O.S.F.Franciscan Brother of Brooklyn
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