I recently
experienced Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” I hope you
did, too. You
don’t just “see” this movie, you “experience” it.
If you haven’t
experienced “The Passion of the Christ,” I’d highly recommend that you
do for moral and spiritual reasons not for the purpose of being
entertained.
As I’ve said to many
people since experiencing
“The Passion of the
Christ,” I don’t
think I’ll ever be able to participate in Good Friday services without
recalling the pain, suffering, and agony Jesus endured. It’s one thing
to read about the Passion in scripture (which I have) and it’s another
thing to study about the tools of Roman torture in graduate
course in ancient history
(which I also have). But, it’s an entirely different matter to see
with one’s eyes and to experience in one’s soul what is, in my
estimation, a very credible, non-fictional accounting of the historical
facts surrounding the last twelve hours of Jesus’ life.
I’ve also remarked
to several priests with whom I’ve talked about Gibson’s movie that I
don’t think I’ll ever be able to celebrate “Mass” again without
consciously reflecting upon what we used to call “The Sacrifice
of the Mass.” Each Sunday, the celebration of the Eucharist should draw
us back to the awful reality Good Friday and draw us forward as well to
the awesome reality of Easter Sunday both of which made possible the
forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. Gibson's
“The Passion of the
Christ” was important, I believe, for restoring that sense of balance
which may have gotten lost in the typical post-Vatican II parish.
I introduced “The
Passion of the Christ” not because I fancy myself a movie critic but
because today’s gospel reminded me of one scene in that movie which was
a flashback to the moment capturing Jesus writing something into the
dirt as the woman caught in adultery stood between him and the religious
leaders. What I found particularly striking about this scene—especially
when I compare it to the explicit realism Mel Gibson used to depict
Jesus’ passion and death—is how highly sanitized this particular
flashback is, in much the same way our memories of Jesus’ passion are
highly sanitized if we just read the gospels or gaze upon the typical
crucifix found in most Catholic churches or homes. The gruesome reality
of these matters is much more grim than our minds can possibly conjure
up. And yet, the sight of what most likely is historically accurate, as
painful as it is to behold, teaches us not only what Jesus offered in
the sacrifice of the Cross but also what Jesus offers us in the
Sacrifice of the Mass.
Like Jesus’ cruel
torture and execution in “The Passion of the Christ,” we need to behold
the scene of the woman caught in adultery as it most likely unfolded in
all of its explicit detail.
For example, the
Jewish religious leaders—the Scribes and the Pharisees—quite likely had
sent some of their “thugs” to the house of a well-known adulteress. The
gospel texts relates what happened, but it doesn’t capture the
experience: “Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had
been caught in adultery and made here stand in the middle.” This wasn’t
a bunch of nice fellows who were sent to the woman’s house. No, they
were marauders and mercenaries, paid to do the bidding of the religious
authorities who were “too holy” to sully their hands in these and other
such matters. More than likely, these thugs had been instructed to pull
both the woman as well as someone else’s husband from her bed and, then,
to drag both of them to the place where the Scribes and Pharisees had
conspired to confront Jesus.
In addition, the
woman caught in the act of adultery had to be either completely naked or
just barely covered, in contrast to being fully clothed as Gibson’s
movie portrayed this scene. Having been caught in the sinful act, she
stood there both embarrassed and humiliated before the crowd of people
the Scribes and Pharisees had gathered to witness the event they were
orchestrating so that they could prove that Jesus was a fraud. Don’t
forget: the Scribes and the Pharisees didn’t give one whit about that
woman or her salvation; they were using her as a prop to advance their
political power and theological agenda.
Moreover, the
woman’s feelings of
embarrassment and
humiliation
probably had very little to do with her nakedness. No, more likely than
not, her feelings had very much to do with having been caught in
flagrante dictu (a very durable Latin phrase, meaning, “in the
flagrant act” or the more sanitized word “sin”). What probably proved
to be most embarrassing and humiliating for the woman was being exposed
in public as the adulteress she knew herself to be and, now, everyone
else knows her to be. All of us know that it’s one thing to know that
we’ve sinned; but, it’s quite another thing for us to expose our sin to
another person; yet, it’s an altogether different matter to have our sin
exposed in public for all to behold. Those of us who have been
embarrassed and humiliated when our sin has been made public know
first-hand the powerful emotions of embarrassment and humiliation that
certainly had to be coursing through the woman’s body as the truth of
her sin was made public.
“Let the one among
you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her,” Jesus said
in response not to the Jewish religious leaders’
political power and theological agenda but, instead, as Jesus addressed
their more sinister motives. In effect, Jesus challenged each of those
pointing the finger of blame at the woman to look very carefully within
themselves in order to make sure that they weren’t condemning themselves
at the same time they were condemning her. After all, maybe some of the
Scribes and Pharisees had themselves been with this woman! They
may have known that they were as guilty of adultery as she was. Be that
as it may. What we do know is that slowly, with their own
consciences condemning them, the religious leaders—to a man—turn and
leave, one by one, beginning with the elders. Turning to the woman,
Jesus said: “Woman where are they? Has no one condemned you?” And she
replied, “No one, sir.”
Reflecting upon this
exchange almost four hundred years following these events, St. Augustine
cautioned his congregation to take heed of Jesus’ words. St. Augustine
was speaking to those in his congregation who might excessively hope in
the idea of God’s mercy but forget the truth by which God will judge
them. St. Augustine was also speaking to those in his congregation who
excessively despair because of their sinfulness yet belittle or forget
the idea of God’s mercy.
First: about those
who hope excessively in the idea of God’s mercy.
These people are
correct in believing that, yes, God is merciful, God is good, and God is
kind. Unfortunately, their excessive hope allows these people to dupe
themselves into believing they can do what they desire to do whenever
they please. People who follow along this pathway are in grave
spiritual danger, St. Augustine notes, because their exaggerated hope in
God’s mercy leads them to become forgetful of the fact that God’s love
is balanced by His truth. By overestimating the power of God’s love,
these people mistakenly take comfort in the idea they can always change
and amend their ways…tomorrow. Then, with the dawn of each new
day, people who possess an exaggerated hope in God’s mercy are more
grateful for the delay of God’s judgment than they are for the new day’s
opportunity to convert from sin and to amend their ways.
About these people
in his congregation, St. Augustine warned:
The Lord is gentle, the
Lord is long-suffering, the Lord is pitiful; but the Lord is also just,
the Lord is also true. He bestows on you time for correction; but you
love the delay of judgment more than amending your ways. Have you been
bad yesterday? So you think: “I’ll be good tomorrow.” Have you
continued to sin today? So you continue to think: “I can change
tomorrow.” And so it goes, day in and day out. You are always
expecting, and from God’s mercy you make exceedingly great promises to
yourself. In your mind, it is as if God, who has promised you pardon
through repentance has also promised you a longer life. How do you know
what tomorrow will bring? Rightly you say in your heart: “When I will
have corrected my ways, God will put away all of my sins.” I cannot
deny that God has promised pardon to anyone who amends his ways and
converts from sin. But, even if every prophet has told us of God’s
promise to pardon anyone who amends, there is no prophet who has told us
that God has promised any one of us a longer life. (Tractate on the
Gospel of John, XXXIII:7)
Yes, God is
merciful, God is good, and God is kind. God bears with sinners in order
that they will convert from sin and amend their ways…today. However,
sinners who neglect to remember God’s truth and put off converting from
sin and amending their ways do so in their false belief that there will
always be a tomorrow. But, Augustine argues, when those who hope
excessively in God’s love are exposed to the light of truth on the day
of judgment, these persons will—like the woman caught in adultery—not
only be embarrassed and humiliated. They will also have earned the
righteous judgment of God Who will render to each of them according to
their deeds.
Second, there are
those whose excessive despair in the truth of their sinfulness leads
them to forget the idea of God’s mercy. Having fallen into grievous
sin, these people believe that God cannot possibly pardon them, even if
they are to repent. Convinced they are doomed to condemnation, these
people think to themselves: “Since I’m already destined to be condemned,
why not just go ahead and do as I please?”
These people are
also in grave spiritual danger, St. Augustine notes, because their
exaggerated emphasis upon God’s truth hardens their hearts to the power
of God’s love. Lacking inner peace, the fear of God’s truth makes them
desperate to avoid being exposed to the light of truth when they will
be—like the woman caught in adultery—both embarrassed and humiliated.
What these persons should fear is the unimaginable grief they will
experience not for having sinned but for having underestimated and
turned their backs on the power of God’s love.
Those two types of
people continue to be present in congregations like ours just as they
were present in St. Augustine’s congregation almost sixteen hundred
years ago. Undoubtedly, times change but people don’t. As the Romans
used to say, “Nihil novum sub soli” (“Nothing’s new under the
sun”).
“How then does the
Lord treat those who are in danger from both of these maladies?” St.
Augustine rhetorically asked his congregation. His response was:
To those who are in
danger from hope, the Lord says, “Be not slow to be converted, neither
put it off from day to day; for suddenly His truth will come, and in the
day of judgment, will utterly destroy you.” To those who are in danger
from despair, what does He say? “No matter what the day you are
converted, I will forget all of your sins.” Accordingly, for the sake
of those who are in danger by despair, the Lord has offered us a refuge
of pardon; and because of those who are in danger by hope, and are
deluded by delays, He has made the day of death uncertain. Are you
ungrateful because you have today during which you may improve? (Tractate
on the Gospel of John, XXXIII:8)
Turning to the
woman, Jesus said: “Woman where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
And she replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn
you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” The power of God’s
love has blotted out the past deeds of the woman caught in adultery.
God is merciful, God is good, and God is kind. However, at the same
time, Jesus reminds the woman caught in adultery to keep God’s truth
always before her so that, when her days end, she will experience the
fulfillment of all that God has promised.
These are the words
St. Augustine wanted the members of his congregation to contemplate and
these are words we should contemplate as well. This scene is not just
about the woman caught in sin but is also about all of us who sin.
But, at the same
time, we must not deceive ourselves by overemphasizing our hope in God’s
mercy or fear of God’s truth. Each of today’s scripture readings beat
this message over our heads time and again by reminding us that God has
given us today to repent from our sins and to amend our ways. “Remember
not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I
am doing something new!” is what God told the prophet Isaiah to announce
to the people of ancient Israel. And, in today’s epistle, St. Paul
reminds us: “Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but [strain]
forward to what lies ahead….” And, as Jesus said to the woman caught in
the act of adultery: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do
not sin any more.” On Easter Sunday morning, when we celebrate the
forgiveness of sins and gift of eternal life that Jesus won for us
through his passion, death, and resurrection, we will say with the
Psalmist, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice in it and
be glad.” The fears associated with yesterday no longer count; hope for
tomorrow doesn’t matter.
That we are guilty
of sin, not one of us can deny. Perhaps we first sinned because we
wanted to be happy. However, all of our ensuing choices have conflicted
with God’s law as well as that of our conscience. And, our concessions
to sin and our failure to convert from sin and amend our ways have left
us either too hopeful or too fearful to pursue the pathway God has
created us and called us to pursue. So, our desire to be happy and the
compromises we’ve made have eroded our self-respect. Now, we find
ourselves lacking the inner peace we so deeply desire. And, that is
what bothers us. But, when we overemphasize the power of God’s love, we
put off what we know we should do...today. And, when we
overemphasize the fear of God’s truth, we delude ourselves into denying
the power of God’s love because of what we did...yesterday.
As we heard in
today’s gospel, when Jesus straightens himself up and looks at sinners
like these, he will say: “Where are the people? Has no one condemned
you?” Amazingly, no one will because all of us have sinned. So, we
also will reply like the woman caught in adultery, “No one, sir” and
Jesus will say to us, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do
not sin any more.”
When the crowds
leave and we find ourselves standing there before Jesus—just as the
woman caught in the act of adultery stood before Jesus—our lives will
also be changed. Who we truly are and what we have done in the past
will no longer be hidden. Yes, we will be both embarrassed and
humiliated. But, at the same time, we will experience the power of
God’s love forgiving our sins. All of those yesterdays won’t matter.
Then, armed with hope in the power of God’s love as well as fear of His
truth, we will turn from sin. And, instead of loving ourselves to
death, we will choose to love God and neighbor as we love the person God
has created each of us and called us to be…both today and into eternal
life. No longer will we need to hope in tomorrow. “Today is the day
the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad.” |