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Despite what God tells the prophet Isaiah to tell the Israelites (“Remember
not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not;
see, I am doing something new!”),
there are a
lot of people who spend an inordinate amount of their time feeling
guilty about their past sins. They wonder if, how, and when
God could ever forgive them. To all of these people, St. Paul
offers the following advice:
Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to
what lies ahead…continue pursuing toward the goal, the prize of
God’s upward calling in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3: 8-13)
It matters not to God what happened in the past. No what
matters is what happens today because this is the day for us to make
the decision to put the past solidly into the past and to pursue the
goal of the prize of God’s upward calling in Christ Jesus. If
not, we will never experience how
God
is “doing something new” because we will be looking backwards rather
than forwards, locking ourselves into the past rather than the
future, and feeling guilty rather than joyful.
Previous to his conversion to Christianity, St. Paul did not only
persecute his religious opponents but also was notorious for
executing them. Think about his past and what many Christians
thought about him and were quite likely to remind him about whenever
he talked about God’s
mercy and his “call” to be an apostle!
Perhaps it was for this reason that the apostles Peter and James
decided to have St. Paul leave Jerusalem behind—to
put Paul’s history into the past—and
to be the
“apostle to the Gentiles”—where God would be doing something new.
And, indeed, God was doing something new, as the Church in Jerusalem
did not survive long after Paul left.
For those who feel guilty about their past sins, St. Paul tells the
Philippians, “Forget what lies behind.” But, notice what St. Paul
adds, “...strain forward to what lies ahead.” This is no admonition
simply to forget the past and let bygones be bygones, but to put all
of that completely behind by pursuing the better future where God is
doing something new. How does St. Paul tell the Philippians to
accomplish this? They are to strain to achieve not worldly goals—what
he calls “so much rubbish”—but
a spiritual goal, namely, “the prize of God’s upward calling in
Christ Jesus.” That’s
all that’s required.
What does St. Paul mean by this? How is it possible to relegate to
the past the burden of guilt that is the consequence of sin and to
strain toward the prize of God’s upward calling in Christ Jesus?
Today’s gospel provides a most interesting answer to this important
question having to do with our spiritual health.
Enclosed by a circle of
Jewish religious authorities, an
unnamed, naked woman stands accused of having been caught in the act
of committing adultery. Rather embarrassing, no? But, the
accusation isn’t based upon rumor, gossip, or speculation. It’s
fact.
While some commentators have called this woman a “prostitute,” the
text says that she committed the act of adultery, suggesting that
she engaged in sexual relations with a married man or was herself
married and engaged in sexual relations with either a married or an
unmarried man. Irrespective of the specific facts surrounding the
situation in which the woman was caught, Jewish religious law
required that she be stoned to death for her sin of violating the
Decalogue’s sixth commandment, “Thou shall not commit adultery.”
When the Jewish religious authorities bring this woman to Jesus and
confront him about her sin (which actually put Jesus into a rather
difficult spot requiring that he either deny Jewish religious law or
Roman civil law), rather than reiterate what the religious
authorities already knew concerning what the law required, Jesus
said to them: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first
to throw a stone at her.” Astonishingly, those who were so
impetuous to kill the woman, believing her murder righteous in God’s
eyes, turned away and slowly began to walk away one by one, the most
senior of the religious authorities taking leave first.
Why did they turn and walk away?
Jewish religious law did not require the man engaging in adultery to
be stoned to death. What the law did specify was that only someone
who had not engaged in the same or similar sin had the right to cast
the first stone. By walking way, each of the religious authorities
tacitly admitted that he was guilty of the same sin (and, I might
add, worthy of the same penalty). Everyone one of them was an
adulterer; hence, no one could cast the first stone!
This astonishing fact—among all of the Jewish religious leaders who
had gathered there, all had violated the sixth commandment of the
Decalogue—introduces an interesting twist into this gospel passage.
The religious leaders who believed themselves righteous in
condemning the woman to death end up condemning themselves (had they
engaged in sexual relations with her making her a prostitute? we do
not know). This adds further clarity to what St. Paul was
teaching the Philippians.
Jesus asked the woman, “Woman where are they? Has no one condemned
you?” She answered that no one had. “Neither do I condemn you.”
But, Jesus adds this statement, “Go, and from now on do not sin any
more.”
Yes, the woman caught in adultery remains guilty of her sin. She
did what she did and couldn’t deny her past. Furthermore,
people could certainly remind this woman of her past transgressions
as well as malign and marginalize her because of her past. But,
despite what others may say and how others may act, this woman is no
longer weighed down by the burden of guilt because her sin is now
“in the past.” Freed from this burden, the woman is able to
proclaim the generosity of God’s love and mercy which has liberated
her to find her true happiness not in her former “downward calling”
but in “God’s upward calling in Christ Jesus”!
How blest it would be for this woman, having put her sin behind and
living freed of the burden of guilt, to strive instead for “the
prize of God’s upward calling in Christ Jesus.” She couldn’t deny
her past and people could certainly remind her of her past. But,
now freed from the weight of guilt, she is able to proclaim the
generosity of God’s mercy and forgiveness that freed her to find her
true happiness no longer in a “downward calling” but in “God’s
upward calling in Christ Jesus”!
But, what about all of those religious authorities?
As I already have noted, by turning and walking away, each has
tacitly admitted his sin of adultery. Unlike the woman—and
worse yet for each of the religious authorities—rather
than being freed of the weight of guilt for their sin through the
power of God’s
love and mercy,
each has condemned himself to live in the past with its burden of
guilt. Weighed down by knowing the truth about who they are and
what they have done, not one of them is able to look forward to the
future and to strive for “the prize of God’s upward calling in
Christ Jesus” because he cannot, in St. Paul’s words, “forget what
lies behind.” Not only that, each of the religious authorities will
continue to sin as he promotes himself and his place in Jewish
society as one whose life exemplifies God’s,
all the while being fully aware of his hypocrisy and weighted down
even more by his burden of guilt. None of these Jewish
religious leaders can experience his “upward calling in Christ
Jesus.” Turning away from Jesus and returning to his sin, each of
the accusers leaves the circle as the accused!
So what about us?
All of us have had someone remind us of our past sins and felt that
hopeless sinking feeling of having been stripped naked for other
people to judge and condemn, like the woman caught in adultery.
None of us can change any of that! All of us have also seen
other people sin and have been all too ready to step forward and to
condemn them, as the religious authorities did. But, each one
of us can change that! Not having first-hand knowledge of what
others have done but listening to what others have to say about
these individuals, all of us have formed negative opinions about
people accused of serious crimes and the penalties merited for those
actions, as the religious authorities did. Each one of us can
change that.
In contrast to us, however, Jesus offered no opinion concerning the
guilt or innocence of this woman. Instead, Jesus asked her
accusers to search their own lives for their need to repent of past
sins. Moreover, Jesus did not condemn this woman according to the
letter of Jewish law but liberated her to strive for her “upward
calling in Christ Jesus.” How else would she be able to evaluate
all of that stuff as
“so
much rubbish” and “to see, I am doing something new!”
Despite our sinful past, God continues to love us. All that God
requires is that we
“Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago
consider not.” Instead, like the woman caught in adultery, God
desires that we look to the future “to see, I am doing something
new!” This good news
should give all of us hope this Lenten season, hope that we can
translate into our daily lives as we “Go, and from now on do not sin
any more” by “straining forward to what lies ahead…[and] continue
pursuing toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling in
Christ Jesus.”
And, now, the
Annual Top 10 Lenten Penances:
The 2010 edition...
These penances are arranged in order from those fellow parishioners
have identified as “least demanding” to those they’ve identified as
“most demanding.” Those who want to practice a more “muscular” form
of Catholicism during the season of Lent should try performing as
many penances from the most difficult (“easier”) penances to the
least difficult (“very difficult”) penances as is possible.
(easier penances)
10. Immediately upon
waking up, begin each day by making a very slow and thoughtful Sign
of the Cross. Be sure to press you hand against your forehead
(mind), your stomach (source of emotions), and shoulders (heart and
lungs) so that you feel your body as you say the words. And, before
going to bed, do the same.
9. Abstain from meat
on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent and give up something
you enjoy—like second helpings, candy, or desserts—for forty days.
8. Attend daily Mass
and participate in the Stations of the Cross on the Fridays of Lent.
7. Each day, pick out
and offer to complete an undesirable chore assigned to someone else
at home, school, or at work.
(more difficult penances)
6. Abstain from all
foul language, filthy jokes, gossip, and sarcastic or demeaning
language each day of Lent.
5. Turn off the
computer except for absolutely essential work. That means: no
Internet chatrooms, IMs (instant messaging), non-essential emails,
and absolutely no websurfing for forty days.
4. (a choice)
[especially for retired persons] Spend one hour each week of Lent in
Eucharistic adoration. Don’t bring anything but yourself. Sit
there in silence and contemplate the gift of the Eucharist.
[especially for married couples] Spend one hour one night each week
looking at your wedding albums and discuss what your hopes and
dreams were. Ask each other: What do I need to do so that we can
fulfill our hopes and desires? [especially for kids] Ask you Mom or
Dad what one thing you need to do to improve yourself during Lent
and do it.
(very difficult penances)
3. Say the rosary
every day. But, do so by offering the rosary sincerely from your
heart for someone you are having difficulties with, like your
in-laws, brother or sister, etc. Or, in a private space each day,
stand up, stretch out your arms as if you are placing yourself on
the Cross, and envision your sins nailing Jesus to the Cross. Feel
the pain that sin causes.
2. Turn off the
television, radio, IPod, Playstation, etc., for forty days. “What
am I going to do?” you may wonder. (especially for single adults
and older couples) Try reading the Sunday Scriptures each day of the
week or a section from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
each day. (especially for teenagers) Along with your parents, read
Pope John Paul II’s encyclical, On The Family (Familiaris
Consortio). It’s free and available on the web. Read one
section each day and discuss it after dinner as a family. If you
don’t understand something, ask your parents to explain what the
Pope means.
1. Each day, sit down
in absolute silence. Think about yourself and your life for about
five minutes. Then, write down a sin or character flaw you know you
need to improve upon. When you think you’ve completed your list, go
to Church and make a good confession.
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HOMILY
