“Jesus appeared again in the temple. All the people came to him; he sat down and began to teach them. The Scribes and Pharisees brought a woman. ... They said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses orders that such women be stoned to death; but what do you say?’” (Jn 8:2-5)
They asked, pretending to respect his decision. By inviting Jesus to pass sentence, these hypocrites acted to pay him great honor; but in reality only wished to trap him and be accused of something. Their cunning placed Jesus in a dilemma.
If he refused to judge, he would seem to deny his title as the ‘Sent of God’, the ‘Master in Israel’. If he did, and forgave her, he would be denounced as violator of the law.
If he condemned her, he would be charged with cruelty and self-contradiction because he had said, he came to save, not to destroy. Jesus foiled the cunning of his enemies and turned it to their own confusion.
Jesus who knew the intense malice of the woman’s accusers, said nothing; but “bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they persisted in asking him he stood up and said to them, ‘Let the man among you who has no sin be the first to throw a stone at her’. He bent down again, writing on the ground.” (Jn 8:6-8)
Some say he wrote the secret sins of the accusers who “left one by one, the eldest first” (cf Jn 8:8-9). Jesus alone remained, the woman standing before him.
Let us always remember, ‘He who is without sin’ ... without defect, prejudice or selfishness. We shall be what humility and true charity require of us, ‘severe upon ourselves, indulgent to others’.
All her accusers gone and left alone with Jesus, he said, “‘where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She replied, ‘No one, Sir’. Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.’” (cf Jn 8:10-11)
Doubly saved: body and soul together! Indeed a blessed moment to her! What reverence, what gratitude, what love must her heart have felt for her Saviour!
Let us think of all this same Saviour has done for us; rescuing us from many dangers. How many sins has he forgiven? We, too will glow with love and gratitude.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp597-9
Impurity and Purity
“Our body was consecrated by contact with the waters of Baptism, with sacred chrism, and with the immaculate Body of Jesus Christ. Through impurity we make it a body of sin.
“Many times souls do not want the sin in itself, but in the meantime they give in to sentimentality, to dangerous affections, etc. If one wills the cause, it must be said he wills the effect. We cannot play with God!
“Certain types of reading matter are not in any way suitable. Imagination is very dangerous. Once aroused, it goes where it will and where one would not believe it could go. And thus, a person ends by being a danger, a temptation to himself and to others.
“Modesty is to be practiced with one’s self and when alone.
“Besides vigilance and reserve, purity is protected with prayer. Let us receive the Sacrament well, especially holy Communion. Let confessions be brief and made with deep sorrow. They who confess well generally feel the effects all week long. And when Christ comes to us in Holy Communion, he unites our members to his: purifies us, lifts us up, sanctifies us.”
Ref: Rev James Alberione, SSP, STD, “Christ, Model and Reward”, pp66-7, 70-72. In “The Vatican II Weekday Missal”, pp1075-6
Purity in everyday life
‘Purity’ has come to mean the same thing as ‘chastity’, although in itself, means much more. (cf John Paul II, “General Audience”, 10 December 1980) This Christian purity, chastity, has always been one of the Church’s glories and among the dearest signs of her holiness.
The purity of soul Our Lord asks of us is not being simply a matter of appearances. This interior cleanness (essential to all love) is the consequence of a life-long, cheerful and continuing struggle. The soul needs the help of a daily examination of conscience; and a great love for frequent and worthy reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Interior purity brings a strengthening and growth of love, along with our elevation to the dignity to which we have been called. Man’s ever greater awareness of this dignity (cf Second Vatican Council, “Dignitatis humanae”, 1) contrasts with the great frequency he seems often prone to abandon it. Let us love the Sacrament of Penance, wherein our heart is purified ever more and more.
Whenever the going gets hard, we can count on our Mother the Virgin Mary, who was full of grace from the first moment of her conception, to teach us how to be strong and keep our heart clean, full of love for her Son.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 4:508, 510, 512
Almsgiving: A Sign of Justice
The call to penance, to conversion, means a call to inward openness to others. Nothing can replace this call, in the history of the Church and in the history of man.
This call has infinite destinations. It is addressed to everyone and to each one, for reasons concerning each one. Each should therefore look at himself under the twofold aspects of the destination of the call.
Christ requires an opening toward others from me. Toward what other? Toward the one who is by me, at this moment! This call of Christ’s cannot be “put off” till an indefinite future when the “right” beggar will appear and put out his hand.
I ought to be open to every person, ready to “lend myself”. To lend myself with what? It is well known that we can sometimes “make a gift” to another with a single word; but with a single word we can also strike him painfully, harm him, wound him. We can even “kill” him morally. I must not be closed and ungrateful; I must not isolate myself.
Accepting Christ’s call to open to others demands, as we see, ‘reworking of the whole style of our daily lives’.
Ref: Cf “Prayers and Devotions from Pope John Paul II”, pp150-51
• The giving of the name of “Mary” to Our Lady, by St Anne, her mother. — Petrus a Castro, Hist Virg. c. 2. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com); (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• An angel tells St Anne to name her daughter ‘Mary’. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady received the name ‘Mary’ by St. Ann through an angel. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
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