Fifth Sunday of Lent – C
Isaiah 43:16-21, Philippians 3:8-14, John 8:1-11
March 25, 2007
Fr. Carl McCarthy

            (Tossing a stone in my hand) “Let those among you without sin be the first to throw a stone.”  According to Mosaic law, the accusers would have been the first to throw stones and then others in the crowd would follow. Reflecting on this familiar story of the woman caught in adultery, I thought about where I would have been. I would like to think that I would have been an innocent witness to this event and would not have picked up a stone to hurl at this woman. What about you? Where would you place yourself in this story?
            Though we may like to imagine ourselves as one of the innocent bystanders, I’m afraid that, all too easily, we reach down, pick up stones, and cast them at others. We may even engage in this action more often than we would like to admit. We throw stones as we stare at others who are somehow different then we are. We throw stones as we judge others. We throw stones by prejudices we hold. We throw stones with our unbending egos.  We throw stones with our hardened hearts. We throw stones with our unwillingness to forgive.  We throw stones with the names that we call others. We throw stones with our laughter and our sneers. 
            A group of high school students were assigned a service project at a community outreach center. When they arrived at the center for their orientation, they found a homeless man asleep on the sidewalk. The students snickered and made cruel jokes about the man.
            When they went inside the center, they found a note at the front desk that read: Back in 10 minutes. Have a seat.
            The students seated themselves in the waiting area. A few minutes later, the homeless man wandered into the center. The students smirked as he made himself a cup of coffee. But their whispers suddenly ceased when he removed his shabby overcoat. Despite his torn sneakers, they quickly recognized that he was not an old homeless man.
            He walked up to the students and said, “Welcome. I’m Tom Gallagher, the director of the center.”
            Of course the students realized that Mr. Gallagher had been the homeless man about whom they had made awful jokes. Filled with great embarrassment, they sank into their seats as he looked at them.
            He then quietly said, “Let this be your first lesson in community service. You can’t truly reach out and help people if you judge them and make fun of them.  Appearance has little to do with a person’s character.  We are all human beings who, at some point in our lives, will need the help of another.”
            The woman caught in the sin of adultery needed help. Jesus knew this and said to the Pharisees, “let those among you without sin be the first to throw stones.” And one by one, they turned and went away. It’s easy to stand back and accuse others of their wrongs. We look at the splinter in our neighbor’s eye, while avoiding the plank in our own eye.  Jesus asks us to look beyond the failures and the mistakes that we see others making and, instead, attempt to help them so they won’t stumble and fall. For some, this may mean that we have to look deep within their hearts and see the love that God has placed within them.
            Curiously enough, the mistakes, the failures, the sin that we see in others may be a reflection of the mistakes that we have made in our own lives.  Maybe, as well, we sense that we are avoiding the hard work of conversion. But by looking into our own lives and within our hearts, we can confront the sin that exists in every human life. We do not have to dwell on the sin because, if we continue to look into our hearts, we will see past the sin and see the God who offers us love and forgiveness.     
            When we are willing to confront our own demons, confess our sin and admit our guilt, we make it easier to drop the stones that we throw at others. In doing this, we help to make the world more Christ-like.

sdrose@bellsouth.net
4-6-2007