5th Sunday of Lent, Year C
Today’s gospel reading emphasizes God’s love and merciful forgiveness as it clearly points out the importance loving our neighbor as ourselves with the words of Jesus, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” It also points out our lack of charity and urges us to imitate Jesus in being loving, kind, merciful and compassionate towards others, because we are all sinners and we all need the mercy and love of God.
Though Jesus’s words “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?, neither do I condemn you,” seems to be supportive of the woman caught in adultery, He was not in any way condoning her sin of adultery, but rather He was emphasizing the importance of God’s love and forgiveness, for He would soon give His life up on the cross for us because He loves us and wants to forgive us our sins. Hence, this gospel reading also teaches us the importance of repentance and not letting our pride and selfishness make it impossible for us to come back to God when we have sinned against Him, that was why Jesus told the woman, “Go, and from now on, do not sin any more.”
Since we know that the best way to repent of our sins and come back to God is by recognizing our sins, acknowledging them as wrong, being contrite and remorseful for them, confessing them in the sacrament of reconciliation, making amends for them, and sincerely renewing our spiritual lives, this gospel reading challenges us to learn how to forgive as readily as Jesus forgives the woman caught in adultery and to focus more on being loving, kind, merciful and compassionate towards others.
So how can we be loving towards others and forgive them as Jesus forgives us? We can forgive others by following Jesus’s example in today’s gospel reading, by:
- Stop judging people - which means don’t jump into conclusions about people before finding out the facts. It is better that we suspend critical judgments in our dealings with others, so as to avoid being prejudiced against them, stereotyping them, and being unjust to them. This was exactly was Jesus did when the scribes and the Pharisees brought the woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. Jesus did not judge her, rather He bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. And when they continued asking him what to do to her, He straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
- Learning to let go of the hurt we have experienced from others - that is by showing empathy and compassion to those who have hurt us because we do not know their story or state of mind and to be more understanding towards them.
- Trusting in God mercy, grace and love - which entails always letting go and letting God be in charge and in control of our lives, as we repent from our sins and reconcile ourselves with Him.
So my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us learn to be compassionate and forgiving as God is to us and as Jesus was to the woman caught in adultery in today’s gospel reading, by not judging people, by letting go of the hurt we have experienced from others; and by truly trusting in God’s mercy, grace and love, as we repent from our sins and reconcile ourselves with Him.
