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Monday's readings were about justice and judgment. We have as our Old Testament story a tale that could have been ripped from today's Six O'clock News report. Susanna was a beautiful girl. Two dirty old men, politicians who held the power of life and death over the people of Israel, fell madly in lust with her. They waited until all of her servants had left the garden and the entered and closed the door so no one could see what was going on. They then made her an offer that she could not refuse. They told her that she had to make horizontal hokey pokey with them or else they would accuse her of adultery, which of course, carried the death penalty. She had been brought up to be a follower of the Law of Moses and she told them that she would rather die than to offend the Lord. Sure enough, they accused her of adultery and the crowd descended on her and was dragging her away to stone her. Daniel yelled for them to stop and he said it was not right to execute a person without proof. He proceeded to grill the two politicians, separately and got to the truth of the matter. The two old lecherous politicians got what the Law of Moses prescribed, they received the penalty they attempted to railroad Susanna into and were led away for execution.
Our Gospel story is of the woman caught in adultery. This woman was caught in the arms of her lover and righteous indignation infected the crowd. I always thought it took two to play the game, so I wonder where the offending man was hiding. Anyway, this all too human woman was being dragged out to meet the fate spelled out for those that committed this offense. Those that were out to get Jesus saw a way to trap Him into saying something that they could use against Him. They dragged the woman before Jesus and asked Him what should they do? They pointed out that the Law of Moses specifies death to be the award for this offense.
Now, Jesus was in a pickle here. If he said that she should be killed, He would have a hand in her death and all the talk about love, mercy, and forgiveness would sound like so much prattle. On the other hand, if He said to forgive her, well, then He is running counter to the Law of Moses and therefore would be proving Himself to be a charlatan and a fake. Jesus did not rush to judgment. He bent down and started writing in the dust. The suspense started to build. His enemies thought that they had Him now! He looked up from what he was doing and told them that the one that was without sin should cast the first stone. He bent back down and continued scribbling in the dirt. One by one, starting with the elders of the temple, they turned and walked away. Soon, it was just Jesus and the woman, alone. He stood her up and asked her where her accusers went? She told them they were all gone. Then Jesus smiled at the woman and told her to leave and to commit this sin no more. He had given her the forgiveness of God.
What great parables these two stories are. In both we see the power of the law and the law being tempered by God's mercy. Susanna was saved because she put not offending God at the top of her list of things to do while the woman caught in adultery was saved from her sins by the direct action of the mercy of God. Jesus did not gloss over her sin, rather, He made her confront it head on and deal with it but in the end, mercy triumphed over justice.
We live today in a time of mercy. Our Lord has announced through Sister Faustina that mercy is available to those that want it. The gentle hand of God calls us to His side. He wants us to tell Him what we need the most in our life. For me, I need His friendship and I need His forgiveness. I am not the twenty-something kid that ran roughshod over his laws. I grew a large crop of wild oats. As a Catholic, I have an opportunity to receive this forgiveness in the sacrament of confession. In this sacrament, we do not gloss over the symptoms of our illness. We get straight to the point and through the priest acting in persona Christi, we receive the forgiveness of God and of His Church.
If you haven't been to confession recently, think about going before we celebrate the joyous feast of Easter. If you go to confession often, make this one special. Pretend that you haven't been to confession in a while and spend some time making a full examination of your conscience. Bring it all to Jesus. Lay the burden down, it is too heavy for you to carry. Remember, today is the day of mercy. I do not mean to scare you but when Jesus comes, he will bring justice with Him.
Better mercy today than justice tomorrow.
Our Gospel story is of the woman caught in adultery. This woman was caught in the arms of her lover and righteous indignation infected the crowd. I always thought it took two to play the game, so I wonder where the offending man was hiding. Anyway, this all too human woman was being dragged out to meet the fate spelled out for those that committed this offense. Those that were out to get Jesus saw a way to trap Him into saying something that they could use against Him. They dragged the woman before Jesus and asked Him what should they do? They pointed out that the Law of Moses specifies death to be the award for this offense.
Now, Jesus was in a pickle here. If he said that she should be killed, He would have a hand in her death and all the talk about love, mercy, and forgiveness would sound like so much prattle. On the other hand, if He said to forgive her, well, then He is running counter to the Law of Moses and therefore would be proving Himself to be a charlatan and a fake. Jesus did not rush to judgment. He bent down and started writing in the dust. The suspense started to build. His enemies thought that they had Him now! He looked up from what he was doing and told them that the one that was without sin should cast the first stone. He bent back down and continued scribbling in the dirt. One by one, starting with the elders of the temple, they turned and walked away. Soon, it was just Jesus and the woman, alone. He stood her up and asked her where her accusers went? She told them they were all gone. Then Jesus smiled at the woman and told her to leave and to commit this sin no more. He had given her the forgiveness of God.
What great parables these two stories are. In both we see the power of the law and the law being tempered by God's mercy. Susanna was saved because she put not offending God at the top of her list of things to do while the woman caught in adultery was saved from her sins by the direct action of the mercy of God. Jesus did not gloss over her sin, rather, He made her confront it head on and deal with it but in the end, mercy triumphed over justice.
We live today in a time of mercy. Our Lord has announced through Sister Faustina that mercy is available to those that want it. The gentle hand of God calls us to His side. He wants us to tell Him what we need the most in our life. For me, I need His friendship and I need His forgiveness. I am not the twenty-something kid that ran roughshod over his laws. I grew a large crop of wild oats. As a Catholic, I have an opportunity to receive this forgiveness in the sacrament of confession. In this sacrament, we do not gloss over the symptoms of our illness. We get straight to the point and through the priest acting in persona Christi, we receive the forgiveness of God and of His Church.
If you haven't been to confession recently, think about going before we celebrate the joyous feast of Easter. If you go to confession often, make this one special. Pretend that you haven't been to confession in a while and spend some time making a full examination of your conscience. Bring it all to Jesus. Lay the burden down, it is too heavy for you to carry. Remember, today is the day of mercy. I do not mean to scare you but when Jesus comes, he will bring justice with Him.
Better mercy today than justice tomorrow.
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