Mar. 17, 2013: 5th Sunday of Lent (C)
There is a saying, “You can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats the waiter.” One Saturday, after morning mass at another parish, a parishioner took me out to breakfast. As we were being served by a waitress, the parishioner took time to get to know the name of the waitress and took genuine interest in how she was doing. As I was watching and listening to this interaction, I was struck by the kindness and empathy of the parishioner; there was utmost respect and reverence for the person. I wondered if this was how he treated all his employees, for he was the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company.
The Golden Rule says to treat others in the same way that we would want them to treat us. What if we don’t know our true worth and don’t know how to treat ourselves with respect and dignity? Someone has to show us. There is a striking example of this demonstrated at a Holy Thursday mass in 2001. Twelve persons were chosen to have their feet washed. The priest tenderly washed their feet and kissed them with compassion. These privileged twelve persons experienced what the twelve disciples experienced on that night of the Last Supper when Jesus personally washed their feet and told them, “"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." Here the Lord of lords and King of kings humbly bent down to wash the dirt off the feet of ordinary men, to instill in them how Heavenly Father saw them--for Heavenly Father sees His own image and likeness stamped on each of his children. That act of the washing of the feet by Jesus helped the disciples later on realize the great love and compassion that Heavenly Father had for them. On that Holy Thursday mass in 2001, the twelve persons, all AIDS patients, realized the dignity of being a child of God as their feet were washed and kissed by Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis.
We may be surprised by Jesus’ actions in the Gospel this week. As a woman caught in adultery was brought to the public to be stoned, Jesus did not take the side of the public who saw her as good-for-nothing and even perhaps worthless. In their minds, the woman’s sin and her failure to live a holy life overshadowed any goodness in her; death was only logical judgment for her. When Jesus took her side, he was reminding those around her, how Heavenly Father saw her--with great compassion for His beloved daughter. Then Jesus challenged everyone around her to look deep in their hearts and see if there were no failures or sin in their lives--for Jesus knew everyone’s sins and failures. No doubt the woman’s sin was serious; who here does not know of a family member or a friend whose marriage was broken because of an infidelity? Jesus does not diminish the seriousness of her sin, for he tells the woman, “Go and sin no more.” He did not deny the sin but got her to take responsibility for it.
This story warns us against being too quick to take the high moral ground. Which of us is without sin? We must learn from the example of Jesus and distinguish between the sin and the sinner. He condemned the sin but pardoned the sinner. He knows that it will take time for broken hearts to heal from any sin. Yet he also knows that through Heavenly Father’s mercy, good can come out from even sin and failures. The compassion and forgiveness of Jesus give life. The woman went away free -- free to change her behavior and regain self-respect.
The mission of the Church -- the mission of our Church -- is to be a place of forgiveness so that those who fail may experience the love and compassion of the One who refused to condemn. What a great example our Holy Father gave us in following Jesus, by being compassionate to persons that we often feel like casting aside! Do we not feel inspired by this humble successor of Peter to look in our own lives and see how we can follow Jesus?
The Golden Rule says to treat others in the same way that we would want them to treat us. What if we don’t know our true worth and don’t know how to treat ourselves with respect and dignity? Someone has to show us. There is a striking example of this demonstrated at a Holy Thursday mass in 2001. Twelve persons were chosen to have their feet washed. The priest tenderly washed their feet and kissed them with compassion. These privileged twelve persons experienced what the twelve disciples experienced on that night of the Last Supper when Jesus personally washed their feet and told them, “"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." Here the Lord of lords and King of kings humbly bent down to wash the dirt off the feet of ordinary men, to instill in them how Heavenly Father saw them--for Heavenly Father sees His own image and likeness stamped on each of his children. That act of the washing of the feet by Jesus helped the disciples later on realize the great love and compassion that Heavenly Father had for them. On that Holy Thursday mass in 2001, the twelve persons, all AIDS patients, realized the dignity of being a child of God as their feet were washed and kissed by Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis.
This story warns us against being too quick to take the high moral ground. Which of us is without sin? We must learn from the example of Jesus and distinguish between the sin and the sinner. He condemned the sin but pardoned the sinner. He knows that it will take time for broken hearts to heal from any sin. Yet he also knows that through Heavenly Father’s mercy, good can come out from even sin and failures. The compassion and forgiveness of Jesus give life. The woman went away free -- free to change her behavior and regain self-respect.
