MEDITATION TIPS — 5th Sunday of Lent,
April 6, 2025
“Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.” (John 8:6)
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in the act of adultery and attempted to test Jesus by provoking an argument. “Moses commanded us in the Law to stone such women. Now, what do you say?” (John 8:5). However, Jesus’ attitude at that moment is perplexing. Why did he refrain from arguing with them? In truth, Jesus knew that debating with them would only exacerbate the woman’s suffering. Imagine her situation—ashamed and terrified, she bows her head, her face pale and trembling. Jesus deeply senses her agony and aligns with her posture, bowing down himself. By bowing down, Jesus avoids looking at her face, showcasing his profound compassion for this vulnerable woman. If Jesus had engaged in a debate with them, it would have meant looking at her face, further intensifying her embarrassment.
However, as they persistently questioned him, Jesus stood up and said, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (8:7), then he bent down again. In response to Jesus’ words, beginning with the elders, they departed one by one until no one remained—only Jesus and the woman were there. Then, Jesus stood up, looked at her face, and said, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” (8:10). It was then that the woman opened her mouth for the first time. Her words were not a reflection or apology for her sin but just a single, weak sentence: “No one, sir” (8:11). That was all she could say, as she lacked the strength to utter more. But Jesus did not demand further words. Finally, he said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on, do not sin again” (8:11).
Later, to her who left Jesus’ presence bowed down and utterly exhausted, and to those deeply wounded in life, the 19th-century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow speaks:
Do not let me hear your sad song. Life is but an empty dream! It may be an empty dream for the sleeping soul, but for the awakened soul, life is reality itself. What determines the success or failure of that life is whether or not passion is burning in a person’s heart. Your heart is constantly beating a funeral march toward death. But you must not be like the cattle being dragged to the slaughterhouse. Be the hero of your life, fight. Mark your footprints on the sands of time. They may be erased by the waves over time, but they are footprints that those who, like you, have been shipwrecked and wounded in the ocean of life, will see them and summon the courage to live again. That is why you are alive.” (A Psalm of Life)
(Contributed by Father Yutaka Akabae)