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_{FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT
March 25, 2007}

       Lent is drawing to a close and it is time for conscientious Catholics to plan to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation if they haven’t done so already.  The liturgical Scripture readings of this Sunday, only two weeks before Easter, help us to understand the disposition we should bring to the sacrament.

        The dramatic scene of this Sunday's Gospel is the familiar one in which the scribes and Pharisees led before Jesus a woman who had been caught in adultery.  The situation has given an expression to our language:  "Don't be the first to throw a stone."  We might well conclude, then, that the message of the Gospel is that we should not be quick to judge others.  That is indeed a valid application and often a necessary one.  I know that in my life it has become somewhat of a mantra.  Every time I catch myself even thinking about judging someone else, I quickly remind myself that I, too, am a sinner and have no right picking up a stone to throw at another!

        On the other hand, this story tells us something very important about Jesus, our Savior.  The scribes and the Pharisees thought they could trap Jesus in a dilemma.  If he agreed that the woman should be stoned, they could accuse him of cruelty.  If he declared that the woman should go free, they could accuse him of violating the law of Moses. 

       When they asked, "So what do you say?"  Jesus as usual refused to answer the question.  Instead he first dismissed their stance as meaningless; he appeared bored as he scribbled in the sand with his finger.  When they persisted in their questioning, he uttered his challenge:  "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."

        Of course they all walked away.  Jesus, who could have met his own challenge, preferred to offer the opportunity for conversion.  He did not condone the sin the woman had committed.  He granted her pardon, but he did instruct her, "Go, and from now on do not sin any more."  Jesus did not throw a stone at the woman, and he does not throw stones at us.  God does not will the death of sinners but only that their hearts be converted and live. 

       The vivid imagery of Isaiah in this Sunday's first reading is readily applied to Jesus:  "…the Lord, who opens a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters."  In his compassion for us, Jesus always opens a way amid the sea of sin and shapes a path through the mighty waters of doubt and confusion.  He is always eager to offer us forgiveness, as long as we try to follow his exhortation:  "From now on do not sin any more."  We must do the best we can! 

       What could have turned the woman away from adultery?  What can turn us away from our sins, whatever they may be?  St. Paul gives us his answer in his Letter to the Philippians today:

 "For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him…."  Christ is rich in mercy; that is the wealth which can be ours through repentance.

        On the First Sunday of Lent we saw the devil tempting Jesus to turn stones into bread.  Stones do not interest Jesus, but bread does.  In every Mass he transforms bread into His Body and wine into His Blood.  Jesus does not offer us stones, but he does offer His Body given up for us and His Blood poured out for us, so that sins may be forgiven.  

The Holy Eucharist is the sign that we need never fear to stand before Christ and acknowledge our sinfulness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  For your own spiritual health and well-being between now and Easter, if you haven't done so already this Lent, receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation with a spirit of repentance and an awe of God’s infinite forgiveness, mercy, and love!  Remember Jesus Christ casts no stones!

Let me close by paraphrasing an ancient prayer.  It sums up the message of today’s readings in a poetic, biblical way:  "Jesus, my feet are dusty and dirty.  Pour water into your basin and wash them, as you washed the feet of the Apostles.  I realize that I am bold in asking this.  But if you do not wash my feet, I cannot have companionship with you.  So wash my feet, because I want your companionship more than anything else in the world!"  AMEN.