St. Stanislaus, Bishop, Martyr (Commemoration)
By Lorenz S. Centino, Jr.
John 8: 1 - 11
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple; all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.
3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst
4 they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?"
6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."
8 And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
9 But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
10 Jesus looked up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again."
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:
A BLESSED MONDAY TO ALL!!!
CORRECTING someone who has done wrong is praiseworthy. It is a demand of friendship. A true friend cannot stand indifferent with a friend who committed some wrongdoing that could eventually put his friend in some danger. It is a very generous act of making someone realize the mistake being committed to open for a new start or detour to what is right. Such correction can be crucial if a friend is committing a very serious mistake. However, such generous act is also oftentimes a cause of misunderstanding and conflict among friends. Experience would prove that it is not easy to accept one’s mistakes. There is always the tendency to react negatively to corrections.
In our Catholic tradition we have what we call fraternal correction as part of the overall command of God to love our neighbors. Fraternal correction is understood as the act of rebuking someone to self-reformation and prevention from self-indulgence to sinful actuations, practices or vices. This kind of correction is usually done in PRIVATE so as to make the matter confidential and not embarrassing and humiliating to the one being corrected. This kind of correction, moreover, is an offshoot to the admonition of Jesus, "If your brother sins (against you), go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother" (Matthew 18:15). This admonition simply reveals to us that we are keepers of each other.
In the Gospel today, Jesus was confronted by the Scribes and Pharisees who caught a woman committing adultery. It happened when Jesus was teaching in the Temple area. The Scribes and Pharisees somehow disrupted Jesus by asking him about what he must do to the woman, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?" Certainly, they make it clear that the law of Moses is very clear on how to deal with such a sin. Adultery is punishable by stoning. The situation was very favorable for the scribes and Pharisees to find something to charge against Jesus. Jesus was in the temple and he was teaching a great number of people. For the scribes and Pharisees, the issue is not the adulterous woman but what Jesus might do to her. They could have anticipated that Jesus would do nothing as he was a friend to sinners. They could have anticipated that Jesus will simply forgive her for he claimed to have the authority to forgive. They could have anticipated that Jesus would favor the woman rather than the law of Moses. So they must be hoping to have something to charge against Jesus.
Knowing their evil intention, more evil than the sin of the woman, Jesus stood up to emphasize his answer and said, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” Jesus knew what is in their hearts. They are not concerned with CORRECTING the woman from her fault but PUNISHING her for her sin. Moreover, Jesus knew that they are there to trap him. Instead of entering into their trap, Jesus threw back at them the responsibility of what is to be done to the woman according to the law of Moses. It would appear that Jesus approved the punishment by leading the scribes and the Pharisees to throw stones at the guilty woman. But it was done for Jesus not to fall into their trap, but instead to put the scribes and the Pharisees into their own trap. Jesus used the law of Moses against the SELF-RIGHHTEOUS scribes and Pharisees by leading them to have a SELF-EXAMINATION before condemning the adulterous woman. Jesus strongly challenged them to look at themselves first before they will make their final judgment and condemnation on the woman. Jesus was CORRECTING them. Jesus led the self-righteous to confront their CONSCIENCE then make the personal discernment if the RIGHT way to deal with the woman is stoning her to death.
No single stone had been cast unto the woman. Her accuser, through Jesus, came to know themselves when they listen to their conscience. They realized that they have they their own sin that made them not in a position to bring the punishment to the woman. They left the woman alive and unharmed. This is how God loved us. He let us to be alive each day so that we can have all the chances to change and become better than what and who are we are a day ago. And so Jesus is challenging us to forgiving than being judgmental and condemning. We are our brother/sister’s keeper and so we have to correct them not by condemning and punishing them but by rebuking them of their faults and give them the support to change and start anew. Instead of throwing the stone of hatred and condemnation to a sinner, like Jesus, we shall say “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again."
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