Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent

 Lectionary: 251

Then Jesus straightened up and said to her,
“Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?”
She replied, “No one, sir.”
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

How can anyone not love this story of Jesus mocking his enemies by playing in the dust, and saving a woman from death with the same silly gesture? It is comical, instructive, and inspiring. 

"He is My Savior!" we might shout, as we watch the street gang drop their stones and melt away. A simple inoffensive suggestion -- "“Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” -- sends them running for cover. 

We know as he knows that the outcome will be different when the city officials and Roman authorities get involved. The same gang will regroup and scream at him from behind the Roman soldiers. On that occasion he will remain silent, saying nothing in self-defense, for he knows and they sense that the hour has  come. The comedy will be over; the tragedy will begin; the glory will appear in its time. 

In the hour of our salvation we will stand silently with him. We will take our places on Calvary with Mary, the Beloved Disciple, and the Penitent Mary Magdalene. We will behold our salvation breaking into history; as unexpectedly to the authorities as his suggestion to the street gang.

 

Who can believe what we have heard?

A hanged man died and deified;

Isn’t this story a bit absurd?

The whole world saw him crucified.

The hanged man died and deified

Belonged to us as one of our own;

The whole world saw him crucified.

A man as common as a stone

Belonged to us as one of our own.

Bore dignity beyond the skies,

This man as common as a stone.

We could not see through his disguise

His dignity beyond the skies.

Enmeshed, begrimed in politics,

We could not see by his disguise

An excellence that would bollix

The powers meshed in politics.

The holy struggle to revive

An excellence that should bollix

those who rule and now deprive

The holy struggling to revive.

They'll stand at last to fill their lungs.

Those who rule will be deprived

but will praise God with splintered tongues.

They'll also stand and fill their lungs.

And no one dares call it absurd;

Their praising God with splintered tongues.

Who would believe what we have heard?

                    Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Conv.