Homily (Reflection) for the Fifth Sunday of
Lent (C) (13th March, 2016) on the Gospel
Is 43:16-21; OR Ezek
37:12-14;
Ps 125. (R.v.3); Ps 129. (R.v. 7);Phil 3:8-14; Rom 8:8-11;
Jn 8:1-11. Jn 11:1-45 or 3-7.17.20-27.33-45.
A pious man is desperate. Once again, he has committed a
grave sin the same one he has been struggling to overcome for many years.
Discouraged he decides to impose a
penalty on himself. “From now on,” he says, “I will pull ten strand of hair
from my head each time I sin. When not a single strand of hair is left on my
head, I will kill myself.”
After a month, the man is almost
bald. He continues to pull ten strands of hair whenever he commits a sin. (He
really has difficulty avoiding sin).
“Indeed, there is no more hope for
me! I will kill myself!” exclaims the pious man upon seeing his bald head in
the mirror.
With that, he takes a gun and aims
it at his head. Before he can pull the trigger, however, an angel comes
floating into his room, saying, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself!”
“But I must” the man answers “I
made an oath to kill myself when my hair is all gone.”
“That’s why I am here,” the angel
says. “God wants you to have this.”
The angel hands the man a package
and the sinner hastens to open it.
Topic: He/she is worse.
In today’s gospel, Jesus returned
to the temple where He was in yesterday’s gospel early in the morning from the
Mount of Olives. He was teaching when the scribes and the Pharisees brought a
woman to Him, made her stood before all and asked Him, “Teacher, this woman was
caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded
us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” Jesus bent down and wrote on the
ground with His finger. After pestering Him for some time He said to them, “Let
anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” After
that He continued writing on the ground. And when He raised His head again, they
had all gone starting from the eldest. Jesus finally discharged the woman saying,
“Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”
The gospel captured their intention very well: “They said
this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him”. Otherwise
some questions beg for answers: Since these men caught her in the very act, where
was her partner? Or was it a replica of what happened to Susanna in Daniel chapter 13? Again, why their unexpected
disappearance when Jesus said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin
be the first to throw a stone at her”? Not even the youngest among them could
stand the test. Or could it be that adultery is the worst sin someone could
commit?
These men only tried to use Moses’ name to cover their evil
intention. What Moses commanded them in law is, “If a man commits adultery with
the wife of his neighbour, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put
to death” (Lev 20:10). So if they were
acting according to law, once again where was the woman’s partner? The law also
reads, “You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the
poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your
neighbour” (Lev 19:15). Again, “You
shall not be partial in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike;
you shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's...” (Deut 1:17).
In the Law, the emphasis is clear, “keep all my statutes and
all my ordinances, and do them” (Lev
20:22). And in the book of Deuteronomy, we also read, “You shall therefore
keep all the commandment which I command you this day, that you may be strong”
(Deut 11:8; cf. Deut 27:1; 30:8; cf. 1Kg
6:12). So, why did they single out adultery? Your opinion I suppose is as
good as mine. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside
of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You
fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?” (Lk 11:39-40). The same God who forbids that
sin others do which you consider as worse also forbids those ones you do.
God expects us all to keep all the commandments and not some.
Calculating those one is better off is just engaging in a bad consolation
theology that will not lead one to anywhere. Hence, Jesus teaches “Whoever then
relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be
called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them
shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:19). Again, Saint James writes, “whoever keeps the whole law
but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” (Jas 2:10). One must therefore finish with the debris in his/her own
house before looking for those to stone because of cobwebs. Again, God is a
merciful God (Deut 4:31). Like the
pious man we saw in our introductory story, just as one should not kill another
because he/she is a sinner, it is not good to kill oneself because of sin. God
always has packages as long as life remains. Let us continue to struggle
because our brothers and sisters all over the world are in the same battle, cf.
1Pt 5:9. Judgement without mercy
awaits all who judge others without mercy, cf. Jas 2:13. But we must take God’s package very fast before it
becomes too late.
Bible Reading: Lk 11:37-54; Jas 2:1-13; 1Pt 5:1-11.
Thought for today:
We need to help one another towards God.
Let us pray: God we are aware of our sinfulness. Help
us in our efforts towards you – Amen.
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[1]
Sagayanathan, A. (2009). Launching
pad: Stories for Sunday homilies – A, B & C. Bangalore: Asian
Trading Corporation, pp. 267-268.
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