5th Sunday of Lent Look to yourself! “She was caught in the very act”!!! Don’t you just love the way scandal mongers act scandalised? If there wasn’t scandal in the first place, they would have nothing to act outraged about, and wouldn’t they be disappointed. For example, how much interest has been shown in the Bingle/Clarke drama by people who aren’t the least bit interested in cricket, or modelling for that matter? For an outsider it can all look very silly, if it wasn’t so destructive. In this Sunday’s Gospel, we see the religious leaders of Jesus’ time dragging a woman before Jesus. She has been “caught in the very act of committing adultery” and they wanted to use her to destroy Jesus. If he condemned her, he wasn’t compassionate, if he forgave her, he rejected God’s Law – they didn’t care about the woman or the Law. But Jesus changed the focus of the drama. Rather than argue with them, he did an action and asked a question that forced the men to consider their own actions, their own sins, their own hearts. And they slunk away embarrassed. Quite simply, Jesus’ teaching is that we are rarely in a position where we can condemn another person.
Sr Kym Harris OSB |