Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta
Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent, Year C
Readings: Is 43:16-21; Phil 3:8-14; John 8:1-11
Building lives and relationships grounded in justice, mercy and hope.
Dear friends,
We are living at a time when the nostalgia for the proverbial good old days is strong and rampant. This has been born out by the political movement in America and the polarisation of the society that has followed. When the partisan fault lines are as deep as they are wide, this does not bode well for social cohesion.
We are in an election cycle and there are differing visions on offer for the future of Australia. It is a time of attentive listening, deep discernment and responsible citizenship. As Christians, we have a duty to influence our society according to the principles and values of the Gospel. It is the Christian way of justice, compassion and solidarity with the suffering that offers a credible alternative to self-interest, fragmentation and disrespect in human relationships.
While we yearn for prosperity and security, we are called to model a different way of being together – a society that is grounded in justice, animated by mercy, and sustained by hope. Like Israel of old, we must seek fresh ways of embodying God’s redeeming, forgiving and empowering love. The Church must not lose sight of the invitation to transcend human barriers and to go to the periphery that is part of our DNA as a paschal people.
The Word of God today encourages us in our mission to make present God’s enduring love. It speaks of the invitation to resist the security of the status quo, to rise to a new level of consciousness and to be the force of leaven for the world.
In the first reading, Isaiah offers a fresh and hopeful vision to his people during the exile. He proclaims God’s words of comfort and guidance: “No need to think about what was done before. Look, I am doing something new”. As God liberated them from the Pharaoh of Egypt, he will also set them free from the Pharaoh of Persia. But this new exodus from Babylon to Judea will not be simply a return to the golden days of the past. For Isaiah, the future of God’s chosen people does not lie in the old things like the temple, priesthood, festivals, land, monarchy etc…which had been taken away from them. Rather, it is to become an alternative society under God’s rule, a community of hospitality, compassion, justice and neighbourliness.
Instead of dreaming of past glories when Israel enjoyed a powerful monarchy and a magnificent temple, the Israelites are called to dream new dreams. Using poetic metaphors, such as wolves lying with lambs or mountains being laid low, Isaiah calls them to change and conversion. This is a call to build a new society based not on the imperial paradigm of dominion but the new model of communion and solidarity with the vulnerable.
Pope Francis often calls us to be receptive to the newness of the Spirit and not to be smothered by the ashes of fear and by the preoccupation with the status quo. He encourages Catholics to assume always the Spirit of the great explorers…not frightened by borders and of storms. He challenges us to adopt a new way of being Church which requires a new mindset of active discipleship and mission.
In the Gospel story, Jesus is confronted with the woman caught in adultery and the crowd who demands retribution and mob justice. He challenges those ready to throw stones at the woman to look inside their own hearts. “If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her”. Yet as he shines a spotlight on their conscience, Jesus is also one with the vulnerable. He stands with the woman and defends her dignity. He ultimately empowers her to live a new life with the power of God’s love, mercy and forgiveness.
Jesus doesn’t condemn the sinful woman, but he also doesn’t condemn her accusers. By pointing out that they, no less than the woman, were sinners, he was inviting them to a new way of thinking, and of relating to others. He was calling them to a metanoia that recognises common humanity and affirms mutual empowerment, rather than asserting their moral superiority over others.
Dear brothers and sisters,
The challenge for us today is to follow the example of our ancestors in faith and even more so to be inspired by the example of Jesus. It is with the transforming power of God that we seek to renew and to be the Church we are meant to be. As St Paul reminds us, we can accept the loss of everything as long as our witness for the self-emptying Christ is uncompromised and his light shines forth in us.
Lent is the time when we live our core values with intensity, focus and commitment. In Pauline language, it is a time when we are prepared to lose for the sake of gaining the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus. In the light of the Scripture today, let us pray that we may lose in our sense of security, moral superiority, judgment and grow in Christ-like self-emptying love, mercy, empathy and shared vulnerability. We can not only envision a different world to the fractured, polarised and destructive one we are living in, but also live it out. Inspired by Jesus’ model of love, forgiveness and empowerment, let us go forth and build relationships that are grounded in justice, animated by mercy, and sustained by hope.
