John 8: 1-11
Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Responding as Jesus Did
In this challenging reading, Jesus is addressing a mob ready to stone a woman. His peaceful response is a reminder to us all in an age of ever-present social media reactions. “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.” While hopefully none of us is ready to stone anyone, we see often in the media how consistently people dismiss or cancel someone because of a mistake they made or a sin they committed. How might we respond today as Jesus did?
Jesus loved and spent time with sinners, aggravating the Pharisees and others. They neglected the golden rule: to love others as they would like to be loved. Of course, this can be challenging, especially when people sin against us. Praying for the strength to forgive, while recognizing our own failings, may help us — just like it helped those who were ready to stone the woman in the Gospel today.
—Tom Cattapan is the Associate Director of the Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House in Barrington, IL, and is a graduate of Marquette University.
Prayer
Lord Jesus,
You chose to be called the friend of sinners.
By your saving death and resurrection
free me from my sins.
May your peace take root in my heart
and bring forth a harvest of love, holiness, and truth.
—Act of Contrition from the Rite of Penance