“Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Fifth Sunday of Lent – Year C 

Collect 

By your help, we beseech you, Lord our God, may we walk eagerly in that same charity with which, out of love for the world, your Son handed himself over to death. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

First Reading
Is 43:16-21

See, I am doing something new and I give my people drink.

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah

Thus says the LORD,
   who opens a way in the sea
   and a path in the mighty waters,
who leads out chariots and horsemen,
   a powerful army,
till they lie prostrate together, never to rise,
   snuffed out and quenched like a wick.
Remember not the events of the past,
   the things of long ago consider not;
see, I am doing something new!
   Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
In the desert I make a way,
   in the wasteland, rivers.
Wild beasts honor me,
   jackals and ostriches,
for I put water in the desert
   and rivers in the wasteland
   for my chosen people to drink,
the people whom I formed for myself,
   that they might announce my praise.

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6

R. :

℟. (3) The Lord had done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
   we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
   and our tongue with rejoicing.

℟. The Lord had done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

They said among the nations,
   “The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
   we are glad indeed.

℟. The Lord had done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
   like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
   shall reap rejoicing.

℟. The Lord had done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Although they go forth weeping,
   carrying the seed to be sown,
they shall come back rejoicing,
   carrying their sheaves.

℟. The Lord had done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Second Reading
Phil 3:8-14

Because of Christ, I consider everything as a loss, being conformed to his death.

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians

Brothers and sisters,
I consider everything as a loss
   because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things
   and I consider them so much rubbish,
   that I may gain Christ
   and be found in him,
   not having any righteousness of my own based on the law
   but that which comes through faith in Christ,
   the righteousness from God,
   depending on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection
   and the sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death,
   if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

It is not that I have already taken hold of it
   or have already attained perfect maturity,
   but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it,
   since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, I for my part
   do not consider myself to have taken possession.
Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind
   but straining forward to what lies ahead,
I continue my pursuit toward the goal,
   the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.

The word of the Lord.

Acclamation before the Gospel
Jl 2:12-13

Even now, says the Lord,
return to me with your whole heart;
for I am gracious and merciful.

Gospel
Jn 8:1-11

Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area,
   and all the people started coming to him,
   and he sat down and taught them.
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman
   who had been caught in adultery
   and made her stand in the middle.
They said to him,
   “Teacher, this woman was caught
   in the very act of committing adultery.
Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
So what do you say?”
They said this to test him,
   so that they could have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
But when they continued asking him,
   he straightened up and said to them,
   “Let the one among you who is without sin
   be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
And in response, they went away one by one,
   beginning with the elders.
So he was left alone with the woman before him.
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.”

At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:

The Gospel of the Lord.

All reply:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Reflection 

The Gospel presented to us by the Church for the Fifth Sunday of Lent invites us to acknowledge that we are all sinners loved by a merciful God.  

“Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (v. 7). Sin is always sin, those committed in public as well as those committed in private. The Scribes and Pharisees yielded to the temptation to use this woman caught in the act of adultery to test Jesus before the people (v. 2), “so that they could bring a charge against him” (v. 6). They tried to ensnare Jesus by creating a conflictive situation between His teaching and the Law given to them by Moses: “What do you have to say?” (v. 5). Jesus did not enter a debate with them: silence was His response. After a period of deafening silence, He shone a light upon them so they could recognise what was hidden in their hearts: “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (v. 7).  

Who amongst us is without sin? How many times have we believed ourselves to be, if not better than others, then at least no worse? How many times have we stood with stone in hand, ready to throw it at others? 

At the beginning of this account, all the people gathered around Jesus (v. 2), they were later joined by the Scribes and Pharisees who brought before Jesus the woman caught in adultery. The Evangelist tells us that at Jesus’ conditional statement: “they went away one by one, beginning with the elders, until Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him” (v. 9). St Augustine tells us: The two were left alone, the wretched woman and Mercy—“misera et Misericordia” (In Iohannis evangelium tractatus, 33.5). Jesus enters into dialogue with the woman and restores her dignity. Jesus also, through His love and mercy, wipes out her sins and offers her a new life: “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” “Neither do I condemn you,” Jesus said. “Go on your way, and sin no more” (v. 10-11). 

If we want to be truthful with ourselves, we must admit that we are all sinners. This Lent will truly be a time of grace if we let go of the stone in our hand and, instead of focusing on the sins of others, we place ourselves in Jesus’ presence and allow Him to enlighten our conscience. Jesus wants to free us from our misery that we may live in His peace and love: “Go on your way, and sin no more” (v. 11). 

Prayer  

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; 
O Lord, hear my voice. 
Let your ears be attentive 
to my cries of supplication.  
If you, O Lord, kept a record of our sins, 
O Lord, who could stand upright? 
But with you there is forgiveness 
so that you may be revered.  
I wait for the Lord in anxious expectation; 
I place my hope in his word. 

 Psalm 130: 1-5 

 

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