A Scarlet Letter - 5th Sunday of Lent

In his novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne presents a dilemma of moral proportions. Hester Prynne, a young woman who is a resident of a 17th century Boston, Massachusetts Puritan village, is led from the town prison with her infant daughter in her arms. On the breast of Hester's gown is "a rag of scarlet cloth that "assumed the shape of a letter." That letter is an "A." No, it has nothing to do with the alphabet but everything to do with the crime she was accused of - Adultery. She is forced to stand there with this badge of shame, the symbol of her sin, for all to see. I become uncomfortable as I imagine what she must have felt like. Guilty? Yes, she was. What is the judgement upon her? That she must continue to wear this sign of sin until she reveals who the child's father is -- which presumes the child is the result of the adulterous act. "Shame, shame" we might feel. She needs to fess up.

Today's Gospel from John 8: 1-11 is a kind of parallel to last week when we may have felt ourselves moved by the story of the prodigal son or the forgiving father. There the wayward, irresponsible son has brought shame not only upon himself but likewise upon his own father and also upon his father's own reputation -- "Like father, like son" as the saying goes.
But we know well, it has nothing to do with the father's name or reputation but everything to do with the overwhelming love and mercy of our Father, God. He longs and pines for his son to just come home, to be reconciled once he (the son) comes to his senses. We know the rest of the story and how joyfully it concludes. The son rises to a new life once the Father offered him a love far beyond what he deserved.

Today's Gospel finds a woman caught in the act of adultery - no doubt about it she is guilty as charged: the scribes and the Pharisees know it, the woman knows it, and Jesus knows it as well so no scarlet letter need be worn. The punishment? Stone her to death - no mercy, only judgment. I can imagine she was dragged to stand before Jesus. Like Hester Prynne, her scarlet letter, though not sewn on her clothing, glows scarlet red through accusation. Maybe her head hangs low before Jesus and the gathered crowd. She stands before him with closed eyes and clenched teeth waiting for the first rock to fall hard upon her.

What a classic trick on the part of these Jewish authorities. The Jews did not have the power to inflict capital punishment -- that was reserved to the Roman occupiers. But for the Pharisees, their motives were more about Jesus' decision than about the womans punishment. What will he say? How will he apply the law of Moses and how compatible will he be with their law? The air is tense with anticipation.What does Jesus do? He gives no answer but bends down and begins to write on the ground.

Scripture scholars would love to know what he wrote. Some legends say it was the sins of those who stood around which he fingered into the soil beneath him. I think he was just doodling. Biding time he pondered what to say next. Then he stands up (he was only 33 after all and could easily stand erect) and offers his judgment. "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Zing! Talk about spot on as the Brits say - right between the eyes of those who saw themselves as righteous. No stones, rocks, or pebbles where hurled. In anger and embarassment they walk away. Then, like the Father who ran to meet his son, Jesus, the only one truly without sin, speaks mercy and restores the woman to life: "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore." Our daughter was dead and has come back to life --she was lost and is found. If God is merciful and forgives such great sins as we hear in the prodigal son and the adulterous women: greed, pride, insult, arrogance, disrespect, and gross infidelity, and the harm those have caused to self and others, what is he like for the lesser offenses? We must accept responsibility and repair the hurt but know that there is hope.

St. Paul in our second reading from Phillipians 3: 1-11, echoes the same theme that should give us all some hope: "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." It seems to me that Paul is the eternal optimist. Knowing what Jesus has done for humanity through his death and resurrection - that we are reconciled with God and should let go of the past, as we admit our guilt and seek forgiveness, we "strain forward" move on, live as if you are a new creation in Christ and avoid any further break in that relationship. It gives me confidence, how about you?

As the solemn holy days approach next week -- we will see the price of our sin. But, that was then and this is now. Though we never forget that act on the part of God, which never needs to be repeated, but recalled each year, each time we come to be reconciled in the sacrament of penance or pray a daily, more like in my case, hourly prayer of sorrow for offenses, we must know that God is ready to receive us. No rocks are thrown, no shameful letter need be worn. Like St. Paul from Phillipians today, we must ". . . forget what lies behind (our old sin and past way of life)and strain forward to what lies ahead . . . the prize of God's upward calling in Christ Jesus." The words of Jesus ring down to us, "Go, and from now on (from this point forward) do not sin anymore."