Followed by Kindness and Goodness

In today’s first  reading, Daniel  13: 1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 and Sunday’s Gospel, John 8: 1-11, we meet God’s justice, forgiveness, and compassionate intervention in the lives of two women: one unjustly accused of adultery and the other guilty of adultery.  Both, according to the Mosaic Law, faced being stoned to death if found guilty.  Injustice exists in both instances: the one accused falsely by two wicked judges and the other accused of this sin without the male partner also being made to accept responsibility for his role.

In the case of Susanna, God inspires Daniel to speak up on her behalf and confront the wicked judges. In the case of the woman in the Gospel, Jesus intervenes and challenges those who confront her and who are using her to trap Jesus. Jesus asks those without sin to cast the first stone and all walk away.

You and I, had we been among her accusers, would also have had to walk away, as we, too, are not without sin.  Jesus is our mediator, the One who intervenes for us, as Daniel intervened for Susanna. Yahweh says to us through the prophet Isaiah, “though our sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool” (Is. 1: 18). That theme is re-echoed in the responsorial psalm of today’s Mass in the words:  “Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life.”  Why? Because we are redeemed, called to and empowered to conversion every moment of every day! Like the good thief on the cross, God says to us: “This day you shall be with be in Paradise.” For you and me, that does not only refer to the day we die, it refers to today.  “Salvation is now,” Paul tells us in 2 Cor 6:2.

Christ, our Mediator

The entrance antiphon to today’s liturgy reads:  “Christ is mediator of a New Covenant, so that by means of his death, those who are called may receive the promise of an eternal inheritance.”

Imagine that that which you created, cherished, to whom you gave life, blessed, nurtured, supported; that to which you have given a guarantee of an eternal inheritance rebelling against you, choosing death over life, choosing one’s own will, choosing self,  over God and God’s will.  That is what Adam, Eve, Cain, the myriad of people building the Tower of Babel, the people around Noah’s time, the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah and the Israelites did repeatedly on their journey to the Promised Land; that is, each time they engaged in pagan worship of created things, of man- made things, of  sex and pleasures, wealth and power.  That is what we are doing in erecting false gods out of accumulative wealth used for selfish ends, the use of power to control and do violence to each other and against other nations, and when we engage in pleasure to violate our own and others’ dignity and integrity as children of God.

 “Who will rescue [us]…doomed to death? God—thanks be to him—through Jesus Christ, our Lord”  (Rom 7: 14-25).

On Easter, we will celebrate that restoration of humankind to its Creator!  Jesus, the New Adam, the One who is obedient to God the Father even unto death and who trusts the Father’s plan of our redemption, His will to make us one with the Trinity, will crust Satan’s head from the cross.