By Fr. Glenn Jones:
Looking back at the week, what was the big headline? Was it the war in Ukraine? Increasing violence and mayhem in the cities? A precarious economic situation facing the world? A world teetering ever closer to nuclear war? No, the ultimate headliner this week was (gasp!):
Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars!
Well … okie dokie.
Thus was the cause célèbre for the week, resulting in speculations, accusations, threats of action, resignations. And, of course, many reveling in shaming Will Smith for his “horrendous” action. Well, violent acts are rarely called for (and certainly not in this case), but most of us can probably think of more than a few things of greater import.
Yet, we tend to looooooove gossip and comparing ourselves to those who live (apparently) more scandalous lives. After all, if THAT person does THAT, then my own faults (and sins) seem to us … not so bad, even to the point of giving us excuse to continue in misbehavior, or even evil. One might think of a stalker scanning the news for cases of sexual assault to justify himself, thinking: “Well … at least I don’t do THAT.” Until he does.
It’s rather fortuitous that our Catholic Mass reading this week is somewhat parallel, citing the episode of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery (John 8). To briefly recap: the religious authorities ostensibly catch a woman in the act of adultery and bring her to Jesus for judgment—not really for justice, but more so to trap Him. If He follows Jewish law strictly, adultery called for death by stoning, giving them opportunity to condemn him to the Roman authorities for inciting riot and murder. However, if He does not condemn her, they denounce Him to the people as a false prophet and rebel against the law given to/by Moses.
Well, a most obvious question is: where is her “partner in crime?” If they “caught” her in the act, they could have caught him, too. So already we see cracks in their façade of seeking justice.
But perhaps more egregious is their self-righteousness and hypocrisy. Jesus turns their own trap upon themselves by responding simply: “Let the one among you without sin be the first to throw a stone at her…” … at which point the Gospel reports: “…they went away one by one, beginning with the elders.” Maybe their own consciences condemned them about their own past failures, or perhaps they realized that their companions knew of their delicts and they did not want to be confronted as base hypocrites later.
As often quoted here, St. Paul instructs us: “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls.” (Romans 14:4) After all, only God knows all that goes into a person—rearing, education, culture, thoughts, psyche, temptations, etc. Thus, only He can be—and is—the absolute, eternal and perfect judge—ever taking all mitigating (and exacerbating) considerations into proper account.
Now, we can warn in fraternal concern that some actions are wrong and sinful always and everywhere by what God teaches us through scripture and even by our own innate moral aversions of harming others. But it really is not for us to either absolutely condemn or canonize—no matter how evil or good a person may seem to us. Taking Jesus as our example, He does not condemn the woman, but does warn her: “Do not sin again.”
So when we’re tempted to judge or gossip, we should hear Jesus whispering once again in our ear: “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?…You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5) Like the elders in our story, most of us have more than enough to worry about in just keeping watch over ourselves. Yes, we should seek to turn those around us toward the ways of God, but always through kindness and charity, drawing them toward the good by example rather than shoving by condemnation. As it is said: a pushed piece of spaghetti goes nowhere, but one can pull it—lead it—in the direction you want it to go.
What happened to the woman? We are not told. We’d like to think she became a faithful follower of Jesus; after all, He just saved her from a potentially fatal stoning. The point is: she may be—likely is—among us … perhaps IS us … for like the elders in our story, who among us is without sin? But, as we have seen so many times in history, the sinner of today may be the saint of tomorrow, like the reformed party boys Sts. Augustine and Francis who, influenced by others, eventually turned to lives of holiness. Like those who influenced them, it becomes our duty to teach by example, not to condemn.
St. Paul wrote: “Forgetting what lies behind…I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13) No one was more aware of his own faults than Paul; after all, he had persecuted Christians literally to death. But, like the adulteress in the Gospel, He experienced the mercy of God, and knew that even one hardened in wrongdoing can experience repentance and newness of heart to seek the truly good, heartened in the knowledge that “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
Editor’s note: Rev. Glenn Jones is the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and former pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Los Alamos.
