The theme of last Sunday’s Gospel is repentance and conversion. Throughout the Scriptures we see that God gives sinners a second chance.
In the first reading the Israelites had been punished by God for their infidelity. At the time of Isaiah’s writing the people were in exile and living as second-class citizens in pagan Babylon. But God now offers them a second chance. He will bring them back from exile into the Promised Land, even though they don’t really deserve it.
In last Sunday’s Gospel Jesus also gives a second chance to a woman who was about to be stoned to death for adultery. This was one of the three sins punishable by death by stoning according to Jewish Law. The other two sins were murder and idolatry. The second chance God offers us is called mercy or real love in a sinful world. The woman in her misery meets mercy in the Person of Jesus, and it leads to repentance and conversion.
The movie: The Passion of the Christ illustrates the power of God’s mercy. Mel Gibson in accordance with a long-standing tradition of the Church, identifies the adulterous woman as Mary Magdalene who later would stay by Our Lady’s side throughout the Passion. Immediately following the savage scourging at the pillar, Our Lady and Mary Magdalene enter the courtyard after the soldiers have left. Our Lady takes some clean white linen cloths and starts to wipe up Jesus’ Blood from the paving stones. A moment later Magdalene kneels down to help. She removes her veil and uses that to help wipe up Jesus’ Blood. This is a way of showing her personal this gesture is to her. While wiping up the Blood she has a flashback. The movie takes her back to her first encounter with Jesus, the one in which she was the adulterous woman. We see her cowering in the dusty ground, whilst a crowd of angry Pharisees armed with stones to stone her to death. Jesus steps into the scene and says:
If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.
Then He bent down and started writing on the ground with His finger. Jesus may have been writing the sins of the woman’s accusers, we don’t know. Then one by one beginning with the eldest, they dropped their stones and walked off. Jesus was left alone with the woman who remained standing there. He looked up and said:
Woman has no one condemned you?
No one sir, replied the woman.
Neither do I condemn you, replied Jesus. Go away and do not sin anymore.
Jesus shed His Blood for us to give us a second chance. From the time that Magdalene repented and converted, she remained faithful right throughout the Passion and to the end of her life. Through the power of God’s grace, she is now a Saint of the Church. We are all called to be ambassadors of God’s mercy in today’s word and die to tendencies of resentment, anger, revenge, criticism and sulking if things done work out as we had planned. The Pharisees were hard hearted and judgemental and too ready to throw stones. The stones are still there in our days, but they are just different. They include gossip, hurtful words and using media such as facebook to post nasty comments about others. But we are all sinners in need of God’s mercy and as Christians have a moral obligation to forgive others. In last Sunday’s parable of the prodigal son, the older brother excluded himself from the celebrations because of unforgiveness. Jesus didn’t condemn Magdalene because He came to save what was lost. However, he told the woman firmly not to sin anymore. We are also reminded of the need for a firm purpose of amendment when we go to Confession. This is necessary for our sins to be taken away. Praise be Jesus Christ and His mercy, now and forever.