"Remember not the events of the past...see, I am doing something new!" (Is 3) In today's Gospel we see a woman about to be stoned to death for having broken the law of Moses. She reminds me of a news story a few years ago when a woman in one African country with similar laws was going to be stoned and the story said the method would be to bury her with only her head exposed so the stones would surely hit their mark! -- and, I believe, this was scheduled to happen after she had weaned her baby. Who can imagine such horror. We think of our Gospel woman's shame, fear, confusion, having just been brought to the temple area and placed in the midst of male accusers. Of course for them, it's not about her, it's about their desire to trap Jesus. They sense they have him caught and they're going to make the most of it. They don't see the woman as a person, but Jesus does. Sometimes we get caught up asking what Jesus may have written in the sand but that doesn't really matter. What matters is what's happening in the hearts the people present in this scene. First, there is the heart of the woman -- what could her past have done to her heart? There are the hardened hearts of the accusers, so set on making a point, so full of judgment and self-assurance.. Then there is the heart of Jesus who sees before him a beloved child of God, a woman who has sinned or who has been sinned against -- we don't know the circumstances of her adultery. Jesus, who knows so well the heart of his Abba, sees in this woman, a person who needs to be freed and to hear Isaiah's words, "see, I am doing something new." Jesus also sees the self-assured accusers as children of God needing to be freed. Faced with Truth incarnate, the accusers slither away. Left alone with the woman, Jesus speaks directly to her heart and frees her, empowers her with the words, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on do not sin any more." ... Go and do something new, daughter of God. This week's gospel as well as last week's story of the prodigal father who loves so lavishly are strong reminders of our God who looks at the sinner, the one who wanders off, who misses the mark -- at each of us -- only with compassion and love, always desiring to draw us to something new. As we were recently reminded by Hosea 14, faced with people's defection, God responds, "I will love them freely" and this love is what leads us to freedom and newness of life. Both of these recent Sunday gospels serve also as strong reminders of how easily we can fall into judging people around us as if we knew their hearts and had a right to judge them. Some of us even judge ourselves so harshly that we are unable to let go of our past transgressions and believe that we have been shut out from God's love. Many years ago during her final illness, my mother told me that, after the Ash Wednesday homily during which the priest had said it was a day to reflect on our past sins, she went to him and said, "Don't be telling us to think about our past sins, they have been forgiven." God, give each of us the grace to know your heart so well and trust in your love. As we move into Holy Week and see Jesus' arms stretched wide in love on the cross, let us "Remember not the events of the past" but, trusting in the mercy of God, look forward to the "something new" God is doing in our hearts and in our world.
-Sister Marian Baumler
.
Sisters of St. Mary of Namur . 241 Lafayette Avenue . Buffalo, New York 14213 . (716) 884-8221