EXPOSURE

EXPOSURE – 5th Sunday of Lent, Year C

It’s bad enough to sin and be in sin, but to have one’s sins become public, so that everyone knows them, has to be a horrible experience. Daily in the news we see people having their sins made public and being put on trial. They are a pitiable site. The shame, embarrassment, fear and humiliation has to be an agony.

            This was the experience of the woman “…caught in adultery…” She was brought before Jesus by the Scribes and Pharisees, the leading citizens. They “…made her stand in the middle” of everyone. Today she might have been put on national television and made to stand before the whole nation. They didn’t have a lot of concern for her feelings, dignity, or what may have lead her into the sin. They were also using her to harm Jesus, whom they wanted to put on trial as a religious heretic, who violated the Mosaic Law. This was a critical moment for the woman, and for Jesus soon to be tried for blasphemy by the Sanhedrin.

            The atmosphere was one of a stoning mob, condemnation, punishment and accusation. Jesus diffused the atmosphere by writing on the ground. We are not told what He wrote. There has been speculation. Some possibilities were He wrote out the law of God, some Scriptures on the mercy of God, or perhaps the sins of her accusers and their motivations. Jesus shifted their attention away from the woman and Himself to their own lives. When Jesus confronted them directly, the stoning mob dispersed. His words disqualified them for her judgment and execution. “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” They walked away, from the greater sinners of the elders to the youngest, as they became aware of sin.

            There was only the woman and Jesus remaining. The atmosphere changed to one of calm, truth, peace, dignity, and dealing with the sin. The woman confessed her sin to Jesus. She didn’t deny the sin. He forgave her sin and told her to avoid the sin from that time on. She was restored in her self-esteem and dignity, and freed from the sin. Just as the Lord had opened “…a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters…” and “…put water in the desert and rivers in the wasteland…” for His chosen people, so too He had provided for the woman’s deliverance and liberation from sin, condemnation and punishing judgment.

            This is the kind of atmosphere that is present in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Lord is present and acts through the sacrament to bring us healing, freedom from sin, and health. The sacrament of Reconciliation is especially necessary for freedom and healing from serious sins to peace, and union with the Lord and the members of the Church. The graces and powers of the death and resurrection of Jesus flow through the Body of Christ bringing us liberation from sin and to life with Christ.

            The sacraments are special veins carrying Christ’s power to us. In the sacraments, we meet the same Lord the woman in the Gospel met. He is now the Risen Lord present by the Spirit. He is represented by the priest who speaks the Lord’s forgiving and freeing words. He is represented in this sacrament as He is in all the sacraments of the Church, which bring us His life-giving life and power that flow from His death and resurrection. The woman especially needed mercy and forgiveness, peace and liberation. This is the special grace and gift of the Lord to us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

            Without the presence of Christ to her in forgiveness and in setting her free, we can only imagine what would have happened to her. Probably the same thing that happens to people today who commit sin and don’t confess it and receive forgiveness. She would never have regained her peace, dignity and freedom from sin. She would have gone through her life under the oppressive burden of condemnation and judgment. This would have come from herself if not from others. If we are loaded down with unforgiven, un-repented, unconfessed sin, we can’t be free in our spirits to live the life of a disciple of Christ. The Lord wants to say to us what He said to the woman. “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more”. Accept it!

Divine Mercy Reflection #283

“Let no soul, even the most miserable, fall prey to doubt; for, as long as one is alive, each one can become a great saint, so great is the power of God’s grace. It remains only for us not to oppose God’s action.”