{"id":2837,"date":"2019-04-07T12:12:18","date_gmt":"2019-04-07T16:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2837"},"modified":"2019-04-07T12:17:40","modified_gmt":"2019-04-07T16:17:40","slug":"5th-sunday-of-lent-year-c-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/5th-sunday-of-lent-year-c-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"5th Sunday of Lent, Year C – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

5<\/a>th<\/a><\/sup> Sunday of Lent, Year C<\/a>
Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6(3)
Philippians 3:8-14
John 8:1-11
April 7, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Paul writes to the Philippians he tells them, \u201cI consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul has come to realize the worldly\nthings are not important, hence seeing \u201ceverything\nas a loss<\/em>.\u201d  How did he come to\nrealize that worldly things are not important? \nIt is through his encounter with the risen Jesus and everything since\nthen that he has come to see Jesus as the \u201csupreme\ngood.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a Jew and a Pharisee, Paul had put his\ntrust in following the Mosaic Law.  Now,\nhe realizes that it is not the Law itself that saves but Jesus.  He has come to realize that he cannot save\nhimself but Jesus can save us.  Jesus is\nthe one who, through his death on the Cross, brings us back from our \u201ccaptivity\nto sin\u201d.  It is through his forgiveness\nin the Sacrament of Reconciliation that the Lord restores our spiritual\nfortunes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is the Law (centering on the Ten\nCommandments) good?  Absolutely!  It came from the Lord.  Yet, Jesus opens a way for us to fulfill the\nLaw in a new way.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see this way in the way Jesus responds when\nthe scribes and the Pharisees bring to him a woman who was caught in the very\nact of adultery.  They speak of how the\nMosaic Law prescribed stoning in cases of adultery.  They ask Jesus what He thinks.  They really don\u2019t care what He says.  They are just looking for something to charge\nhim with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus is not concerned.  He uses the opportunity to teach about\nforgiveness.  His reply is simple, \u201cLet the one among you who is without sin be\nthe first to throw a stone at her.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They thought of themselves as holy.  One might think they would go ahead and cast\nstones but they don\u2019t.  Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As this is going on, Jesus is writing\nsomething on the ground.  We are never\ntold what He writes but some scholars suggest that perhaps He was writing their\nsins\u2026greed\u2026theft\u2026envy\u2026coveting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you were standing there and Jesus wrote\nyour sins on the ground what would you think? \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of them say anything.  Rather, \u201cin\nresponse, they went away one by one<\/em>.\u201d \nJesus had said the one without sin could cast the first stone.  While they never name their sins out loud,\ninside they know their sins.  Thus, they\nleave in silence, no one throwing a single stone, only Jesus and the woman\ncaught in adultery remain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus\u2019 words to the woman are simple, \u201cNeither do I condemn you.  Go, and from now on do not any more<\/strong>.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah speak of the Lord as the one \u201cwho opens a way<\/em>.\u201d  It is a way of forgiveness.  It is a way that calls us to \u201cremember not the events of the past.<\/em>\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We cannot change the past.  We can change what we do in the future.  We need to let go of the past.  However, this doesn\u2019t mean the past is okay.  Jesus is not calling us to ignore the\npast.  He is calling us to let go of the\npast.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we are the ones who sinned, then we\nneed to admit our sins, we need to confess our sins, to hand them over to God\nwho takes them away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus never says there is no sin.  Sin is real. \nHe does not excuse the woman\u2019s sin of adultery.  The last two words of Jesus to the woman are\nessential.  When He tells her to go, He\ntells her \u201cdo not sin ANY MORE<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d  That means she has sinned but He does not\ncondemn for her sin.  He forgives her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus wants to forgive our sins.  To be forgiven we need to admit our sins,\nmeaning we need to confess them to allow Jesus to forgive us.  We do a penance for our sins to show we are\nsorry.  We make amends where we can but\nultimately we need to go of the past whether we are the sinner or a\nvictim.  If the latter, we need to\nforgive.  If the former, we need to be\nforgiven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God wants to forgive us.  That\u2019s why Jesus died for us.  That\u2019s why we have the Sacrament of\nReconciliation.  Pope Francis once said,\n\u201cThe confessional is not a torture chamber, but the place in which the Lord\u2019s\nmercy motivates us to do better.\u201d  The\nmotivation is not based on fear but God\u2019s love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

5th Sunday of Lent, Year CIsaiah 43:16-21Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6(3)Philippians 3:8-14John 8:1-11April 7, 2019 As Paul writes to the Philippians he tells them, \u201cI consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.\u201d Paul has come to realize the worldly things are not important, hence seeing \u201ceverything …<\/p>\n

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