5th Sunday Lent C - Homily 3

Homily 3 - 2013

I find today's Gospel quite thought-provoking.  A catch, of course, is that I'm too used to it, and I know how it ends.  Here we are again: Pharisees trying to test Jesus, wanting to rub his nose in the dirt.  And he deftly turns the tables on them, and rubs their noses in the dirt. Or does he?

When I hear the story, instinctively I give three cheers for Jesus and boo the Pharisees.  And the woman? Well, I frown at her sin, but large-heartedly don't demand her barbarous punishment.  Is that why the Gospel included the incident? to confirm us in our enlightened ways? I wonder.

For me, when I get beyond the instinctive reactions, the story raises a whole series of questions. What if, instead of the woman, it was a man caught sexually abusing a child – a young boy? or a young girl?

And who are today's equivalents of the Pharisees? People seem to love to buy the newspapers or follow the TV news that headline the sexual abuse of minors by Church personnel. Why? Because they don't like us? And if that is the case, why don't they like us? Do a lot of people react to us - to our bishops, to us priests, perhaps even to you as Catholics - in much the same way that we react to the Pharisees of Jesus' day? Do they see us as smug and self-righteous? as a powerful lobby group putting pressure on politicians to pass or block legislation? If they do, are they right? or half-right?

Jesus had been quite clear about adultery, and about a lot of other things as well.  Just read the Sermon on the Mount.  Yet he never seems to have come across to anyone as smug and self-righteous.  In fact, he was condemned in certain quarters because he mixed with tax-collecting extortioners and prostitutes – and even enjoyed eating with them.  And that seems, in fact, to have been the case.  Apparently, tax-collectors and prostitutes enjoyed eating with him, too.

Was he a hypocrite, saying one thing and doing another? And if not, How come? What was his secret?

Today's episode is interesting.  The conspicuous thing about it is the silence.  Just silence, first – no answer.  Then, his comment: If there is one of you who has not sinned, be the first to throw a stone.  And then, more silence.  And, not just silence – no eye-contact: He bent down and wrote on the ground.  What went on in the silence? What went on in the woman? What went on in Jesus? What went on in the Pharisees? The Gospel remains silent.

All sorts of things can go on in the silence – all sorts of questions arise, and insights can happen, and compassion can grow.  What is going on in you, now? What is going on in me?

I shall tell you some of what goes on in me.  One thing is the need to keep prioritising silence and building room for it in my life.  Another thing I want to cultivate is not quite silence, but is half there: to learn to listen before speaking.

When Jesus had his meals with the tax-collectors and the prostitutes, what did they talk about? Who did most of the talking? Who among them listened best? Sometimes, listening is the most effective way to love.  And perhaps, too, silence is up there with it.