Chúa Nhật Thứ Năm

[hoangvu]

BÀI ĐỌC I: Is 43, 16-21
"Đây Ta sẽ làm lại những cái mới và sẽ cho dân Ta nước uống".

Trích sách Tiên tri Isaia.
Chúa là Đấng mở đường dưới biển, mở lối đi dưới dòng nước; Chúa là Đấng dẫn dắt xe, ngựa, quân binh và dũng sĩ. Tất cả đều ngủ và không chỗi dậy nữa; chúng bị ngộp thở và tắt đi như tim đèn. Người phán: "Các ngươi đừng nhớ đến dĩ vãng, và đừng để ý đến việc thời xưa nữa. Đây Ta sẽ làm những cái mới và giờ đây chúng sẽ xuất hiện, như các ngươi sẽ biết; Ta sẽ mở đường trong hoang địa, và khai sông nơi đất khô khan. Thú đồng, muông rừng và chim đà sẽ ca tụng Ta, vì Ta đã làm cho hoang địa có nước và đất khô khan có sông, để dân yêu quý của Ta có nước uống; Ta đã tác tạo dân này cho Ta, nó sẽ ca ngợi Ta". Đó là lời Chúa.

ĐÁP CA: Tv 125, 1-2ab. 2cd-3. 4-5. 6
Đáp: Chúa đã đối xử đại lượng với chúng tôi, nên chúng tôi mừng rỡ hân hoan (c. 3).

Xướng: 1) Khi Chúa đem những người Sion bị bắt trở về, chúng tôi dường như người đang mơ, bấy giờ miệng chúng tôi vui cười, lưỡi chúng tôi thốt lên những tiếng hân hoan.
2) Bấy giờ dân thiên hạ nói với nhau rằng: Chúa đã đối xử với họ cách đại lượng. Chúa đã đối xử đại lượng với chúng tôi, nên chúng tôi mừng rỡ hân hoan.
3) Lạy Chúa, xin hãy đổi số phận chúng con, như những dòng suối ở miền nam. Ai gieo trong lệ sầu, sẽ gặt trong hân hoan.
4) Thiên hạ vừa đi vừa khóc, tay mang thóc đi gieo. Họ trở về trong hân hoan, vai mang những bó lúa.

BÀI ĐỌC II: Pl 3, 8-14
"Vì Đức Kitô, tôi đành chịu thua thiệt trong mọi sự, và tôi trở nên giống Người trong sự chết".

Trích thư Thánh Phaolô Tông đồ gửi tín hữu Philipphê.
Anh em thân mến, tôi coi tất cả mọi sự như thua thiệt trước cái lợi tuyệt vời là được biết Đức Giêsu Kitô, Chúa tôi. Vì Người, tôi đành chịu thua thiệt, và coi mọi sự như phân bớn, để lợi được Đức Kitô, và được ở trong Người, không phải do sự công chính của tôi dựa vào lề luật, nhưng do sự công chính bởi tin Đức Giêsu Kitô: sự công chính bởi Thiên Chúa là sự công chính bởi đức tin để nhận biết Người và quyền lực phục sinh của Người, để thông phần vào sự đau khổ của Người và trở nên giống Người trong sự chết, với hy vọng từ cõi chết được sống lại.
Không phải là tôi đã đạt đến cùng đích, hoặc đã trở nên hoàn hảo, nhưng tôi đang đuổi theo để chiếm lấy, bởi vì chính tôi cũng đã được Đức Giêsu Kitô chiếm lấy. Anh em thân mến, chính tôi chưa tin rằng tôi đã chiếm được, nhưng tôi đinh ninh một điều là quên hẳn đàng sau, mà hướng về phía trước, tôi cứ nhắm đích đuổi theo để đoạt giải ơn kêu gọi Thiên Chúa đã ban từ trời cao trong Đức Giêsu Kitô. Đó là lời Chúa.

CÂU XƯỚNG TRƯỚC PHÚC ÂM: Ga 8, 12b
Chúa phán: "Ta là sự sáng thế gian, ai theo Ta, sẽ được ánh sáng ban sự sống".

PHÚC ÂM: Ga 8, 1-11
"Ai trong các ngươi sạch tội, hãy ném đá chị này trước đi".

Tin Mừng Chúa Giêsu Kitô theo Thánh Gioan.
Khi ấy, Chúa Giêsu lên núi cây dầu. Và từ sáng sớm, Người lại vào trong đền thờ. Toàn dân đến cùng Người, nên Người ngồi xuống và bắt đầu giảng dạy. Lúc đó, luật sĩ và biệt phái dẫn đến Người một thiếu phụ bị bắt quả tang phạm tội ngoại tình, và họ đặt nàng đứng trước mặt mọi người. Họ hỏi Chúa Giêsu: "Thưa Thầy, thiếu phụ này bị bắt quả tang phạm tội ngoại tình, mà theo luật Môsê, hạng phụ nữ này phải bị ném đá. Còn Thầy, Thầy dạy sao?" Họ nói thế có ý gài bẫy Người để có thể tố cáo Người. Nhưng Chúa Giêsu cúi xuống, bắt đầu lấy ngón tay viết trên đất. Vì họ cứ hỏi mãi, nên Người đứng lên và bảo họ: "Ai trong các ngươi sạch tội, hãy ném đá chị này trước đi". Và Người ngồi xuống và lại viết trên đất. Nghe nói thế, họ rút lui từng người một, bắt đầu là những người nhiều tuổi nhất, và còn lại một mình Chúa Giêsu với người thiếu phụ vẫn đứng đó. Bấy giờ Chúa Giêsu đứng thẳng dậy và bảo nàng: "Hỡi thiếu phụ, những người cáo chị đi đâu cả rồi? Không ai kết án chị ư?" Nàng đáp: "Thưa Thầy, không có ai". Chúa Giêsu bảo: "Ta cũng thế, Ta không kết tội chị. Vậy chị hãy đi, và từ nay đừng phạm tội nữa". Đó là lời Chúa.

SUY NIỆM PHÚC ÂM
PHÚT LỊCH SỬ ĐỜI NÀNG

Buổi sáng ấy, một thời điểm lịch sử đời nàng, người đàn bà hai ngàn năm trước. Nàng sống trong tâm trạng hoang mang lẫn lộn thê thảm và hạnh phúc. Đúng hơn chỉ là tâm trạng thê thảm của một tội nhân bị bắt qủa tang phạm tội ngoại tình! Một đám người có máu mặt đang lôi kéo nàng đến tòa án nhân dân như thói quen cổ hủ, tàn bạo và ghê tởm mà họ đã từng đối xử với các tội nhân như nàng. Ánh nắng bình minh chan hòa đó đây trong tiếng chim ca, nhưng tâm hồn nàng đang đắm chìm trong đêm đen u tối không lối thoát. Khổ thật! Nàng cúi mặt, câm nín. Mặc cho những tiếng bàn cãi ồn ào huyên náo, nàng chỉ thấy cả bầu trời đen tối như sắp đổ xuống thân phận một tạo vật cô đơn yếu đuối lẻ loi. Thoáng chốc trong tâm trạng tội nhân, biết bao câu hỏi không được trả lời ẩn hiện như những đám mây mù bí mật che khuất công lý.

Người ta tiếp tục kéo nàng lê lết trên đất. Không biết hôm nay họ sẽ đưa mình đến đâu để kết án, nàng tự nghĩ? Như phản ứng bảo vệ sinh tồn, hàng loạt những ý nghĩ phản kháng xuất hiện trong nội tâm nàng: Tại sao người ta có quyền kết án tôi? Họ cũng là người yếu đuối và tội lỗi như tôi mà? Họ hơn tôi là vì họ chỉ khéo che đậy tội lỗi của họ! Nàng tiếp tục hỏi mình trong tâm trạng hỏa mù: Nhưng tội là gì? Tại sao lại là tội? Tại sao người ta lại làm ra luật lệ chống lại cả thiên nhiên lẫn Thượng Đế? Bản năng phái tính cần được thỏa mãn sao có thể gọi là ngoại tình? Nếu thế Thượng Đế đã không dựng nên nàng là đàn bà hôm nay trong thế giới để sinh ra những người đang kết án nàng! Tất cả như bế tắc trong linh hồn bối rối và hối hận của một tội nhân.

Người ta lôi nàng vào trong Đền Thờ. Sao lại là Đền Thờ? Lạ quá, tại sao lại kết án mình trong Đền Thờ mà không tại tòa án? Nàng tiếp tục cúi mặt. Một tên có máu mặt nhất lên tiếng: Thưa Thầy, thiếu phụ này bị bắt qủa tang phạm tội ngoại tình, mà theo luật Môsê, hạng phụ nữ này phải bị ném đá. Còn Thầy, Thầy dạy sao? Nghe xong, cả người nàng như run lên hồi hộp đợi chờ án lệnh. Thì ra đây là một vị thẩm phán tối cao của Đền Thờ. Một khoảng không gian chật chội độc ác của tình người đang diễn ra. Nhưng sao im lặng quá! Không thấy tiếng trả lời. Người ta lại hối thúc. Và vị thẩm phán đanh thép lên tiếng: Ai trong các ngươi sạch tội thì hãy ném đá trước đi! Nàng bắt đầu hy vọng! Im lặng tiếp tục. Rồi từ từ từng bước chân rón rén nhè nhẹ rút lui. Thì ra ai cũng có tội như mình. Nhưng ai cũng thích kết án, chỉ có vị thẩm phán tối cao của Đền Thờ thì không. Và tai nàng còn nghe rất rõ lời của Ngài: Ta cũng không kết án chị, chị hãy về và đừng phạm tội nữa. Nàng ra khỏi Đền Thờ nhẹ nhàng hạnh phúc và tự do vì được cứu sống.

Lm. Raphael Xuân Nguyên

Pharisaic Motivation
(John Walsh)

If you read the Bible carefully and reflect on the events described in it, you can gain extraordinary insights into the character and outlook of some of the people whose memory is enshrined for ever in its pages. Recently we celebrated the feast of St Joseph, and the gospel tells of his reaction to the discovery that Mary was with child before their marriage was consummated. Joseph being a just man, wanting to spare Mary from public disgrace and shame, decided to separate from her secretly, as the Law permitted. But being warned in a dream, he refrained from doing this.

What a stark contrast there is between the reaction of Joseph and that of the Pharisees in today's gospel story. These latter brought the woman taken in adultery into the Temple precincts, a place much frequented by all kinds of people, and made her stand before everyone in as public a manner as possible. In such cases they insisted that the penalty to be exacted should be strictly in accord with the full rigour of the Mosaic Law, namely death by stoning. But the Pharisees here were not so much motivated by zeal for the Law, as in using the woman merely as a pawn, in a scheme of theirs to discredit Jesus. If, for example, in response to their query, “What have you to say?” Jesus were to reply, “Let the woman go free,” then they would feel justified in accusing him of breaking the Mosaic Law as well as condoning adultery. If, however, he were to say, “Let her be stoned to death,” then not only could it be claimed that he was lacking in mercy, but also he could be accused of going against the legal restrictions of the Roman authorities, who at this time reserved for themselves alone the right to impose the death penalty. But Jesus saw through their plotting and made them withdraw in confusion.

The intriguing question is what did Jesus write with his finger on the ground. The account of St John gives us a possible clue. He does not use the normal Greek word for “write” (graphein), but rather one (katagraphein) which means to draw up a list against someone. From this some have suggested that Christ listed on the ground the sins of each of the woman's accusers, and so his challenge that the one without sin should cast the first stone met with no response. Although Jesus did not condemn the woman, neither did he condone what she had done. “Don't sin any more,” was his invitation and warning to her.)

In the case of the Pharisees, as we see, and indeed in the case of most of us, there is the subtle danger of creating God in our own image and likeness, imagining him to be a stern and demanding God, who takes revenge, who loves to punish, who can be persuaded to forgive only after we have made a great show of repentance. Such of course is a mere caricature of God. At best this kind of religion can be cold and loveless. At worst, as St Paul says in the Second Reading, trying to form a right relationship with God by mere adherence to the Law and all its ways can be as worthless as the rubbish one throws away. It is only when we allow the love of God, as seen in Christ, to encompass our lives, to change our inner being, that we begin to understand Christianity.

Contrary to the thinking of the Pharisees, we must get rid of the tendency to regard ourselves as better than others, no matter what commandments we keep; nor must we judge and condemn others. Rather should we be generous, forgiving and loving towards others. From the gospel story we see that the worst of the seven deadly sins is not lust as so many think. Indeed, Christ's harshest condemnation was reserved for those who, like the Pharisees, in their pride and self-righteousness shut themselves off from God, who felt no need to ask God for help and grace. We cannot be true followers of Christ unless we acknowledge our frailty, our sinfulness, our need for his help which alone can save us. When we do fall we gain a deeper understanding of the extraordinary mercy God is prepared to extend to the sinner. For our sins make no difference to God's enduring love for us.

St Paul says that all things work together for the good of those who love God (Rom 8:28 ), and St Augustine adds, “Yes, even sin.” And St Augustine, from bitter personal experience, knew all about the false allure of sin, how difficult it is very often to break away from it, and how God's love alone can help us conquer it.

Throwing Stones
(Liam Swords)

Back in the 1990s, when the Ayatollah Khomeini called for the execution of the British writer Salman Rushdie, whose novel, The Satanic Verses, he denounced as blasphemous, it sent shock-waves round the world. There was an immediate outcry everywhere at the barbaric fulmination of a religious fanatic. Even though some people thought that Rushdie's book was in bad taste, that it deliberately offended many Muslims, that it derided one of the great world religions and violated the Koran, they were horrified at the Ayatollah's decree. There were vehement protests and much righteous indignation expressed. Now, the Ayatollah is long since dead, but Salman Rushdie is still in hiding, with twenty-four hour police protection.

It struck me at the time that much of the indignation was self-righteous, or at least, that many of the loudest protesters were hardly in a position to throw stones. A few months earlier, a short distance away from where I was then living in Paris, an attempt was made by some self-professed Christians to burn down a cinema which was showing Scorsese's film The Last Temptation of Christ. Fortunately, no lives were lost on that occasion. A few of my friends were present. Incidents like that cannot be simply dismissed as the work of a few fanatics. As in Iran, fanaticism needs a certain climate to thrive in. Rome had previously condemned Scorsese's film as blasphemous. More recently still, abortion clinics in the United States were attacked with bombs and doctors who worked in them shot dead. The perpetrators claimed to be acting in the name of religion. There are periods of the church's history we would dearly like to forget, such as the Roman Inquisition and the burning of heretics at the stake. But their memory lives on, if only as a stick to beat Rome with. As late as a hundred years ago, an imposing statue was erected in Campo de Fiori in Rome, a mere stone's throw from the Vatican, to Bruno, an Italian friar who suffered such a fate. Quite recently, I noticed that somebody had laid a fresh bouquet of flowers at its base. Prominent in the fresco depicting the scene of Bruno's burning, were two fat friars, smirking contentedly.

The world today can be divided in two, between those who believe in God - whether it be the Christian God or the Muslim God or a myriad of Hindu Gods and Goddesses - and those who don't. And when incidents like those occur, we all get tarred with the same brush. They hurt all believers, and even those non-believers who are well-disposed to us are confirmed in their view that the world would be a better place without religion. The Rushdie's or the Scorsese's are not the real blasphemers.
The incident recorded in today's gospel shows how Christ reacted to such situations. The scribes and Pharisees were the religious gurus of their time. They were the officially accredited experts in the interpretation and application of God's word.

They thought they would embarrass Jesus by confronting him with this adulterous woman. The reverse happened. They, rather than she, received the severer judgement. Closer scrutiny of the text reveals some surprising detail. The woman was “caught committing adultery.” The sexual act, either licit or illicit, is never committed in public, either now or then. And people who commit adultery, then as now, were extremely discreet about it. That her accusers should have caught her in the act speaks volumes about them rather than her. It takes two to commit adultery, yet only the woman is subject to the terrible penalty of stoning proscribed by their law. People have always been intrigued by what Christ may have written on the ground with his finger. Commentators have speculated about what he may have written in clay in letters big enough for each to read. Perhaps the sins of each of her accusers. We shall never know. He may simply have doodled in the sand simply to give them enough time to reflect on the magnitude of the crime they were about to commit. “If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” And again the doodling. Then they began to shuffle off, “beginning with the eldest', presumably because he had the longest record and knew it. And soon there was nobody left but the woman herself, probably surrounded by little abandoned heaps of stones. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. We, his followers, would do well to be as sparing in our condemnations as our Master.

Additional Bidding Prayers
We pray:
- that we will be sparing in our condemnations of others.
- that we will never be guilty of rash judgement, calumny or detraction of others.
- that we will always seek to interpret the behaviour of others in a favourable light.

Where Jesus stands
(Jack McArdle)

Theme: Like last Sunday's gospel, today's gospel makes a very clear statement of where Jesus stands relative to sin and to sinners. It is the story of the woman taken in adultery. Jesus does not condemn her, but he adds “Go and sin no more.” In other words, while not approving of the sin, he very definitely refuses to condemn the sinner. Once again, we come up against the conflict between the love of God, and the demands of the law. According to the law, this woman should be stoned to death. From God's point of view, however, it's just not as simple as that. If the law was fair and consistent, then there should have been a man condemned to death as well, because she wasn't committing adultery on her Own. One of the more precious nuggets in today's gospel is the challenge to the others about whether any of them was in a position to condemn her, or anyone else. There is a powerful message in today's gospel.

Parable: It is some years ago now when I actually witnessed the following scene. I saw a mother with a son about six years of age, and a daughter of about four. The young girl was crying because her brother was after hitting her on the head with his school bag. The mother lifted the young lad off the ground, gave him a sharp smack across the face, with the words “I'll teach you not to hit anyone smaller than yourself.'
We are all familiar with the concern of parents and teachers about the young people in their care taking drugs. This is correct and acceptable, but only up to a point. Many of the same adults can spend quite a lot of time and money buying and using alcohol, cigarettes, stimulants, and other addictive products. If they themselves fail to see the contradiction inherent in their behaviour, they should not expect the younger generation to be as blind as they are.

Teaching: Law, in itself, is good and necessary, but its only purpose is to protect from harm. For example, it is wrong to drive down the main street of a town at ninety miles an hour, except one is driving a vehicle involved in some emergency service. Law is there to protect, not to control. The religious leaders of Jesus' day used the law almost exclusively as a method of control. In the past, the church has been guilty of the same misuse of law, but, thankfully, that is changing today. However, we still have a long way to go until love takes precedence over law within the structures of the church.

The gospel tells us that Jesus was writing with his finger in the dust. We don't know what he was writing, but it is reasonable to assume that he was signifying the need to update the law, and write something new. The writing in the dust wouldn't last long, because the first gust of wind would totally obliterate it. The woman standing beside him was more important than any written words, and the law of God that is written within the hearts of all God's creatures is something that will never be blown away. I sometimes think that, perhaps, writing in the dust was Jesus' way of letting them know that he wasn't about to take them too seriously. They had come to him, in the first place, because they were anxious to get him to do or say something that would trip him up, and give them an excuse to condemn him. He wasn't going to play their game, but, as they insisted, he turned on them and treated them as they rightly deserved. The kind and compassionate Jesus could easily be stirred into resounding condemnation by the trickery and hypocrisy of those whose only love was power and authority.

Guilt is not from God. In the last book of the Bible, called the Book of Revelations, or the Apocalypse, we are told that Satan is the accuser of our people. He accuses them night and day before our God. In today's gospel Jesus says neither do I condemn you, and in another place he says that he had not come to condemn the world, but to save it. Guilt is a very dangerous emotion. A leading psychiatrist said some years ago that he could discharge two-thirds of his patients that day if he could get them deal with their guilt. Most of the guilt has its origins in religion, because of the inability of weak human nature to strictly adhere to thousands of regulations, rules, and commandments. We sin because we are weak, not because we are evil. It is ironic that, in today's gospel, and in many other passages of the gospel, Jesus accuses the religious leaders of their legalism, hypocrisy, and sham while telling a prostitute or a public sinner “I do not condemn you.” Our church has not been good in this area, and man of us grew up in a church where sinners were condemned off the altar, were threatened with hell fire, and were even excluded from church altogether. If some unfortunate person, because of a brainstorm, or a total inability to cope, committed suicide, such a person was excluded from a church funeral. It is amazing just how far we wandered from the simple message, like the one in today's gospel.

Justice Giving Way to Mercy
(Munachi Ezeogu)

There is a little known sidelight to the story of the woman taken in adultery. After the Pharisees brought her before Jesus for judgment and he said, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her,” a stone was hurled from the crowd. Jesus looked up, frowned slightly, and said, “Do you mind, mother? I am trying to make a point here.” In one way this is a good joke because it shows the natural tendency of good people, like the Pharisees, to throw stones at those they consider sinners. In other ways it is a bad joke because it tries to paint Mary in the colour of sinful humanity. The last person who would want to throw a stone at the sinful woman would be Mary, God's most favoured one. According to the joke, Jesus says he is trying to make a point here. What is the point that Jesus is trying to make? Why would the church give us this story for our spiritual nourishment on the last Sunday before Holy Week when we commemorate the suffering and death of Jesus on our behalf?

The story of the woman caught in adultery has a very curious history in the early church. Most ancient bibles do not have it, some have it as part of a different chapter in the Gospel of John, and still others have it as part of the Gospel of Luke. Some scholars think that, originally, this story could have been part of Luke's Gospel. This is because it reflects themes that are dear to Luke, such as, concern for sinners, interest in women, and the compassion of Jesus. The fact that it is missing in some early bibles and found in different locations in others suggests that some early Christian communities had removed this story from their bible. When later Christians tried to put it back into the Bible, they were no longer sure of its original location.

Why would anyone want to remove this story from the Bible? There are people who cannot understand why Jesus would sympathise with a convicted adulterer. After all, it is decreed in the Bible that such offenders should be put to death (Leviticus 20:10). Does this not seem like an obstruction of justice? Remember the case of Karla Faye Tucker, the self-confessed, repentant murderer who was executed in Texas in February 1998. Many Christian organisations, including the Vatican, had pleaded for her pardon. Yet the execution was carried out. Supporters of the death penalty argued that no one should interfere with the course of justice. Well, Jesus just did. There are people who think that compassion and leniency are a sign of weakness. These are probably the kind of Christians who tried to suppress the story by removing it from the church's Bible.

How could Christians read these marvellous stories of Jesus' compassion and still take a hard line stand with regard to the correctional services? The answer lies in how one reads. Some people identify themselves with the Pharisees when they read the story. Their interest is how to deal with other people when they deviate from the law. Their answer is usually that justice should be allowed to run its due course. Now you can begin to understand why the medieval church did not see anything wrong with burning “convicted” witches like Joan of Arc on the stake. Didn't the Bible say that no one who practices sorcery should be allowed to live (Leviticus 20:27)? That is the law, that is justice. Their only duty is to implement it.
But when we read the story, identifying ourselves not with the Pharisees but with the woman herself, then we begin to see the story for the good news that it really is. Like the woman, we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Like her we all deserve death, for the wages of sin is death. But when Jesus comes into the picture, he overturns our death sentence. He sets us free with his words of absolution: “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again” (John 8:11). The story shows how Jesus stands up for sinners before the law. In so doing he draws upon himself the hostility of the hardline officials who will eventually arrest him and give him a taste of their justice. The church, I believe, puts this story before us today so that we can see ourselves in this sinner woman whom Jesus saves from sure death at the risk of attracting death to himself.

This story then becomes a fitting preparation for Holy Week when we see Jesus making the ultimate sacrifice to grant us clemency, we who are already sentenced to death by our sins. As we prepare for Holy Week, let us thank Jesus for his mercy and love. And let us promise him that we shall commit ourselves to doing exactly as he tells us: to go our way into freedom, and to sin no more.