5TH SUNDAY IN LENT (C)

“Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”

Jn 8: 1-11

He(Jesus) sat down and taught them.

Rabbis sat down while teaching his disciples. The Pope, too, is seated when he teaches the Catholic faithful.
Therefore the chair has become is a symbol of authority. In Latin, chair is “cathedra”. When the Pope speaks “ex cathedra”, that is, from the chair, he speaks authoritatively. For the same reason the seat of the bishop is called a cathedral.

Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women (who commit adul-tery).

Adultery is one of the three crimes punishable by death but how this is to be done is not specified. However, a betrothed virgin who commits adultery is liable to stoning. This was what Mary could have been accused of when Joseph found her to be with child.

So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him.

If Jesus said it was alright to stone the woman, they could go to the Romans and report him as inciting to murder. If he said that it was not alright to stone the woman, the scribes and Pharisees could go to the people and tell them that Jesus does not uphold the law of Moses.

Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.

This is the only time in the gospels when Jesus is reported to write.

Why did he bend down and write? Perhaps Jesus didn’t want to accept the position of judge.

What was Jesus writing? Some say he was just doodling. Others say that he was enumerating the sins of the woman’s accusers.

Why did he write on the ground? Whatever one writes on the ground can eas-ily be blotted out. Even the sin of adultery can be forgiven.

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

The first stone is supposed to be cast by the witness.

Jesus was telling the scribes and Pharisees that they too are sinners. He was also telling them that only the sinless can mete out punishment. Since Jesus will not do it, they, too, cannot do it.

And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders.

The elders were members of the Sanhedrin, the highest religious governing body of the Jews.

Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”

To condemn means to pass sentence (punishment) when a judge finds someone guilty.

The woman was guilty but Jesus was giving her another chance. He tells her to sin no more.

4th SUNDAY OF LENT (C)

But now we must celebrate and rejoice,because your brother was dead and has come to life again;he was lost and has been found.

Lk 15:1-3. 11-32

GOSPEL EXPLANATION

Luke 15 is made up of an introduction and three parables about the great joy that comes from finding what was lost. The parables are:
• One lost sheep out of 100 sheep
• One lost coin out of 10 coins
• One lost son out of 2 sons

What occasioned the parable?

The scribes and Pharisees were objecting to at how Jesus receives and mingles with people who were branded as sinners. Jesus tells them that God is happy when his children who have lost their way return to him. Jesus invites them to join in God’s happiness—he wants them to be happy for them, too.

Is there a difference among the three parables?

The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coins show how God seeks out his wayward children.
The parable of the Prodigal Son on the other hand, shows the joy of God when his lost children repents.

The traditional title of the third parable is the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Are there other titles given to this parable?

This parable has been called the Parable of the Lost Son and also the Parable of the Son who has been found.

But the parable is really about the father. Hence, it has been called the Parable of the Loving Father. It has been also called the Parable of the Prodigal Father. He was lavish with love for his younger son.

How is the parable structured?

The parable consists of two parts: the father and the prodigal son and the father with the elder son.

So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any.

To the Jews the pig is an unclean animal. For the younger son to be forced to take care of pigs is an indication of his desperate situation.

The pods were the fruits of a tree that were used to feed the animals. The wil-lingness of the boy to eat even what the pigs were eating is another indication of the precariousness of his situation.

He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him…‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.'

The kiss of the father was a sign that the son has been pardoned.

The ring was a sign of authority.

Sandals. The servants and slaves were unshod. Freemen wore sandals. It meant that the father was taking the boy as a son and not as a servant.

Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders.

The elder son represented the Pharisees. In the mouth of the Pharisees, these words meant that they obeyed all the requirements of the Law.

But when your son returns….

The elder brother refused to accept the younger son as his brother.

But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again….

The father reminds the elder son that the younger son was still his brother just as he is his son.
When sinners accept the invitation of Jesus to repent, the Pharisees should also rejoice with God who finds joy in the return of the sinner.

Did the elder son come in and join the celebration?

We are not told because it is something which his hearers (the Scribes and Pharisees) will have to answer for themselves.

3rd SUNDAY OF LENT (C)

For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?

LK 13: 1-9

Today’s Gospel consists of two parts:
- About the Galileans who were killed by Pilate and the 18 people on whom the Tower of Siloam fell
- The parable of the fig tree
Both parts carry the same message: the urgency of conversion

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.

Since the Galileans were offering sacrifices, it must have happened in Jerusalem. Only in the Temple of Jerusalem were sacrifices allowed.

Pilate has been known to resort to violent interventions in Jerusalem, so the news that was told to Jesus was probably true.

What provoked this bloodshed? Pilate saw the need for the construction of an aqueduct that was to bring additional water supply to Jerusalem. There was no problem here. The problem arose when he proposed to finance the construction with money from the Temple. The Jews objected to this. When people began to gather to protest, Pilate saw the possibility of an ensuing riot. He ordered his soldiers to disguise themselves and mingle with the crowds at a given signal would disperse the crowds with truncheons. But the soldiers used too much force and people were killed in the process. Galileans were probably among those who died.

Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them….

William Barclay has an interesting story about these 18 people. He says that the aqueduct project began and these people were working on the project. When the accident happened, people attributed their death to God’s punishment. They got themselves involved in a project that was financed with Temple money.

But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!

Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. And the Jewish people disappeared as a nation. Perhaps Jesus had the destruction of Jerusalem in mind when he spoke these words.

‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’

The fig tree was common in Palestine. It was a common source of food. It usually took three years for it to bear fruit. If it bore no fruit then it was cut down and another was planted in its place.

Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”

God gives us all the chance we need. But should we squander that chance, then we shall be cut off from the Kingdom. It is not God who shall shut us out. It is we by our refusal to repent and be converted who will shut ourselves out.