St James Catholic Church

This Jubilee Year reminds us that we are pilgrims of hope. Our lives are a pilgrimage and the season of Lent is a concentration of that journey. This time of penitence, of sacrifice, and of suffering is our pilgrimage to the cross, the scene and sign of Jesus’ greatest sacrifice. But our faith tells us that neither the cross nor death is the end. Therefore, we can be pilgrims of hope, confident that our journeys through Lent will not end in death, but in new life. May our hope for salvation encourage us as we approach the holiest week of the year.

As the scribes and Pharisees point out, Jewish law demanded death to a woman caught in adultery. But Roman law forbade Jews from sentencing anyone to death, as we will hear next Sunday in the Passion. So Jesus is truly in a dilemma forced to break one law or the other. He succeeds in both thwarting their test and treating the sinner with mercy by refocusing the question of punishment on those who would carry it out. “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” When Pope Francis declared that the death penalty was morally inadmissible in every circumstance, he spoke not only of the fundamental dignity of the human person but also our belief that even the most heinous sinner can repent and change.

If we put ourselves into the position of one of the people in the crowd, we can appreciate Jesus’ words that not only deter us from condemning others, but also force us to look at our own failings. Our failings may not seem as great as those whom we condemn, but they still require God’s mercy and forgiveness to restore our relationship with God and with others. Our hopes are that no one from this crowd, now cognizant of their own sinfulness, are part of the crowd whom we will hear next Sunday calling for the death of Jesus.

Love, Peace, Joy,

Fr. Bob