20150323 SHOCKED AND SCANDALIZED
Readings at Mass
EITHER:
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First reading
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Daniel
13:1-9,15-17,19-30,33-62 ©
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In Babylon there lived
a man named Joakim. He had married Susanna daughter of Hilkiah, a woman of
great beauty; and she was God-fearing, because her parents were worthy people
and had instructed their daughter in the Law of Moses. Joakim was a very rich
man, and had a garden attached to his house; the Jews would often visit him
since he was held in greater respect than any other man. Two elderly men had
been selected from the people that year to act as judges. Of such the Lord
said, ‘Wickedness has come to Babylon through the elders and judges posing as
guides to the people.’ These men were often at Joakim’s house, and all who were
engaged in litigation used to come to them. At midday, when everyone had gone,
Susanna used to take a walk in her husband’s garden. The two elders, who used
to watch her every day as she came in to take her walk, gradually began to
desire her. They threw reason aside, making no effort to turn their eyes to
heaven, and forgetting its demands of virtue. So they waited for a favourable
moment; and one day Susanna came as usual, accompanied only by two young
maidservants. The day was hot and she wanted to bathe in the garden. There was
no one about except the two elders, spying on her from their hiding place. She
said to the servants, ‘Bring me some oil and balsam and shut the garden door
while I bathe.’
Hardly
were the servants gone than the two elders were there after her. ‘Look,’ they
said ‘the garden door is shut, no one can see us. We want to have you, so give
in and let us! Refuse, and we will both give evidence that a young man was with
you and that was why you sent your maids away.’ Susanna sighed. ‘I am trapped,’
she said ‘whatever I do. If I agree, that means my death; if I resist, I cannot
get away from you. But I prefer to fall innocent into your power than to sin in
the eyes of the Lord.’ Then she cried out as loud as she could. The two elders
began shouting too, putting the blame on her, and one of them ran to open the
garden door. The household, hearing the shouting in the garden, rushed out by
the side entrance to see what was happening; once the elders had told their
story the servants were thoroughly taken aback, since nothing of this sort had
ever been said of Susanna.
Next day
a meeting was held at the house of her husband Joakim. The two elders arrived,
in their vindictiveness determined to have her put to death. They addressed the
company: ‘Summon Susanna daughter of Hilkiah and wife of Joakim.’ She was sent
for, and came accompanied by her parents, her children and all her relations. All
her own people were weeping, and so were all the others who saw her. The two
elders stood up, with all the people round them, and laid their hands on the
woman’s head. Tearfully she turned her eyes to heaven, her heart confident in
God. The elders then spoke. ‘While we were walking by ourselves in the garden,
this woman arrived with two servants. She shut the garden door and then
dismissed the servants. A young man who had been hiding went over to her and
they lay down together. From the end of the garden where we were, we saw this
crime taking place and hurried towards them. Though we saw them together we
were unable to catch the man: he was too strong for us; he opened the door and
took to his heels. We did, however, catch this woman and ask her who the young
man was. She refused to tell us. That is our evidence.’
Since
they were elders of the people, and judges, the assembly took their word:
Susanna was condemned to death. She cried out as loud as she could, ‘Eternal
God, you know all secrets and everything before it happens; you know that they
have given false evidence against me. And now have I to die, innocent as I am
of everything their malice has invented against me?’
The Lord
heard her cry and, as she was being led away to die, he roused the holy spirit
residing in a young boy named Daniel who began to shout, ‘I am innocent of this
woman’s death!’ At which all the people turned to him and asked, ‘What do you
mean by these words?’ Standing in the middle of the crowd he replied, ‘Are you
so stupid, sons of Israel, as to condemn a daughter of Israel unheard, and
without troubling to find out the truth? Go back to the scene of the trial:
these men have given false evidence against her.’
All the
people hurried back, and the elders said to Daniel, ‘Come and sit with us and
tell us what you mean, since God has given you the gifts that elders have.’
Daniel said, ‘Keep the men well apart from each other for I want to question
them.’ When the men had been separated, Daniel had one of them brought to him.
‘You have grown old in wickedness,’ he said ‘and now the sins of your earlier
days have overtaken you, you with your unjust judgements, your condemnation of
the innocent, your acquittal of guilty men, when the Lord has said, “You must
not put the innocent and the just to death.” Now then, since you saw her so
clearly, tell me what tree you saw them lying under?’ He replied, ‘Under a
mastic tree.’ Daniel said, ‘True enough! Your lie recoils on your own head: the
angel of God has already received your sentence from him and will slash you in
half.’ He dismissed the man, ordered the other to be brought and said to him,
‘Spawn of Canaan, not of Judah, beauty has seduced you, lust has led your heart
astray! This is how you have been behaving with the daughters of Israel and
they were too frightened to resist; but here is a daughter of Judah who could
not stomach your wickedness! Now then, tell me what tree you surprised them
under?’ He replied, ‘Under a holm oak.’ Daniel said, ‘True enough! Your lie
recoils on your own head: the angel of God is waiting, with a sword to drive
home and split you, and destroy the pair of you.’
Then the
whole assembly shouted, blessing God, the saviour of those who trust in him.
And they turned on the two elders whom Daniel had convicted of false evidence
out of their own mouths. As prescribed in the Law of Moses, they sentenced them
to the same punishment as they had intended to inflict on their neighbour. They
put them to death; the life of an innocent woman was spared that day.
OR:
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Alternative
First reading
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Daniel 13:41-62 ©
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Susanna was condemned
to death. She cried out as loud as she could, ‘Eternal God, you know all
secrets and everything before it happens; you know that they have given false
evidence against me. And now have I to die, innocent as I am of everything
their malice has invented against me?’
The Lord
heard her cry and, as she was being led away to die, he roused the holy spirit
residing in a young boy named Daniel who began to shout, ‘I am innocent of this
woman’s death!’ At which all the people turned to him and asked, ‘What do you
mean by these words?’ Standing in the middle of the crowd he replied, ‘Are you
so stupid, sons of Israel, as to condemn a daughter of Israel unheard, and
without troubling to find out the truth? Go back to the scene of the trial:
these men have given false evidence against her.’
All the
people hurried back, and the elders said to Daniel, ‘Come and sit with us and
tell us what you mean, since God has given you the gifts that elders have.’
Daniel said, ‘Keep the men well apart from each other for I want to question
them.’ When the men had been separated, Daniel had one of them brought to him.
‘You have grown old in wickedness,’ he said ‘and now the sins of your earlier
days have overtaken you, you with your unjust judgements, your condemnation of
the innocent, your acquittal of guilty men, when the Lord has said, “You must
not put the innocent and the just to death.” Now then, since you saw her so
clearly, tell me what tree you saw them lying under?’ He replied, ‘Under a
mastic tree.’ Daniel said, ‘True enough! Your lie recoils on your own head: the
angel of God has already received your sentence from him and will slash you in
half.’ He dismissed the man, ordered the other to be brought and said to him,
‘Spawn of Canaan, not of Judah, beauty has seduced you, lust has led your heart
astray! This is how you have been behaving with the daughters of Israel and
they were too frightened to resist; but here is a daughter of Judah who could
not stomach your wickedness! Now then, tell me what tree you surprised them
under?’ He replied, ‘Under a holm oak.’ Daniel said, ‘True enough! Your lie
recoils on your own head: the angel of God is waiting, with a sword to drive
home and split you, and destroy the pair of you.’
Then the
whole assembly shouted, blessing God, the saviour of those who trust in him.
And they turned on the two elders whom Daniel had convicted of false evidence
out of their own mouths. As prescribed in the Law of Moses, they sentenced them
to the same punishment as they had intended to inflict on their neighbour. They
put them to death; the life of an innocent woman was spared that day.
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Psalm
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Psalm 22:1-6 ©
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If I should walk
in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.
The Lord is my
shepherd;
there is
nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are
the pastures
where he
gives me repose.
Near restful waters
he leads me,
to revive
my drooping spirit.
If I should walk
in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.
He guides me along
the right path;
he is
true to his name.
If I should walk in
the valley of darkness
no evil
would I fear.
You are there with
your crook and your staff;
with
these you give me comfort.
If I should walk
in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.
You have prepared a
banquet for me
in the
sight of my foes.
My head you have
anointed with oil;
my cup is
overflowing.
If I should walk
in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.
Surely goodness and
kindness shall follow me
all the
days of my life.
In the Lord’s own
house shall I dwell
for ever
and ever.
If I should walk
in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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2Co6:2
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Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
Now is the favourable
time:
this is the day of
salvation.
Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
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Or
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Ezk33:11
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Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
I take pleasure, not
in the death of a wicked man
– it is the Lord who
speaks –
but in the turning
back of a wicked man
who changes his ways
to win life.
Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
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Gospel
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John 8:1-11 ©
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Jesus went to the
Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the
people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them.
The
scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing
adultery; and making her stand there in full view of everybody, they said to
Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery,
and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by
stoning. What have you to say?’ They asked him this as a test, looking for
something to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the
ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question, he looked up and
said, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw
a stone at her.’ Then he bent down and wrote on the ground again. When they
heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus
was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there. He looked up and
said, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir’ she
replied. ‘Neither do I condemn you,’ said Jesus ‘go away, and do not sin any
more.’
SHOCKED
AND SCANDALIZED
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: DANIEL 13:1-9.15-17.19-30.33-62 (or verses 41-62); JOHN 8:1-11
What is
your immediate reaction upon hearing the story of Susanna? Is it
one of joy and satisfaction that justice was done and there was a happy
ending? Such a reaction is normal because we are shocked like the
rest of the contemporaries of Susanna that judges who hold such a dignified
position perpetuate injustice themselves. The outcry is that they do not
deserve any mercy.
However,
if we were to think in this manner, we are no better than the Pharisees in
today’s gospel. They too felt that the woman deserved death when they
caught her for adultery. They had no mercy for her despite the fact that
the man was not caught.
But should
we be shocked? Aren’t we the Pharisees of today? St John Paul
II in his apostolic letter on the dignity of women (Mulieris dignitatem,
ch.5) warns us: “Jesus seems to say to the accusers: Is not this woman, for all
her sin, above all a confirmation of your own transgressions, of your “male”
injustice, your misdeeds? This truth is valid for the whole human race…A
woman is left alone, exposed to public opinion with “her sin”, while behind
“her” sin there lurks a man – a sinner, guilty “of the other’s sin”, indeed
equally responsible for it. And yet his sin escapes notice, it is passed
over in silence … How often, in a similar way, the woman pays for her own sin
and she pays all alone! How often is she abandoned with her pregnancy,
when the man, the child’s father, is unwilling to accept responsibility for it?
And besides the many “unwed mothers” in our society, we also must consider
all those who, as a result of various pressures, even on the part of the guilty
man, very often “get rid of” the child before it is born. “They get rid of it”:
but at what price?”
Yet, it
is understandable that we all want to protect ourselves at all costs.
Even murderers plead innocent when they are caught. No one wants to pay
for their sins. Instead of asking for forgiveness in humility by
acknowledging our sins and follies, we inflict greater injury to those whom we
have hurt. We suppress our conscience like the judges in today’s
first reading.
But once
again, we are shocked and perhaps scandalized by Jesus in the gospel.
Jesus did not think like us in the face of sin. Confronted with the
demands of the Jewish leaders to make a judgment on the adulterous woman, Jesus
refused to condemn her. Instead Jesus said, “If there is one of you who
has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
The
truth is that we are all sinners like the elders and the Pharisees but because
we have kept our hidden sins so well suppressed, we fail to realize that
we are sinners too. Indeed, it is ironic that when it comes to others’
sins, we are so quick to pass harsh judgment on them but we are blind when it
comes to our own. Indeed, there is none too blind as those who would not
see. Forgetting our own sins, we therefore can only see the sins of
others. For if only we could see our sins, then the ones who should be
condemned is ourselves!
This
explains why Jesus wrote on the ground twice. The first time, He
probably wrote the sins of the woman. But the second time, when
pressurized to condemn the woman, Jesus wrote the sins of the scribes and
Pharisees. Perhaps because of this, when Jesus challenged them, saying,
“If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a
stone at her”, each one from the oldest to the youngest left, since no one
could say that he has no sin.
Unfortunately
the scribes and Pharisees left the scene. They failed to receive the
grace of forgiveness the Lord wanted to give them. It is significant that
the Lord wrote their sins and that of the woman on the ground. I
interpret this as the Lord saying that our sins are written on sand, which can
easily be erased by the mercy of God. He does not write our sins on
tablets. He knows our sinfulness and our weaknesses. That is why the Lord
accords us forgiveness unconditionally.
Of
course, sometimes, we cannot forgive ourselves for what we have done. The
woman did not accuse her partner but accepted her mistakes with humility
without retaliation. Yet, there could be a possibility that she might
begin to hate herself as some of us do when we have done something wrong.
We become so depressed and even hate ourselves, as we are unable to accept our
mistakes in life.
That is
why Jesus reassured the woman, “Neither do I condemn you”. He is saying
to us, I did not come to condemn sinners but to save sinners. That
does not mean that He condones sin. On the contrary, He warned the woman,
“Go away and don’t sin any more.” All that Jesus wants for us is to
change and not continue to hurt ourselves. The moment we repent of our
sins, everything is forgiven and forgotten. Jesus never condemns sinners,
but only the sin. Yes, the Good News is that we are forgiven and loved
always by God.
Yes, if
Jesus could identify with the woman, it was because Jesus Himself has also been
wrongly accused and misunderstood by His enemies. Today as we enter
the fifth week of Lent which was originally known as Passion Week, the mounting
hostility against Jesus increases each day.
Today,
our innocent Lord invites us to be merciful and to be forgiving, especially to
sinners. If He as Lord and God could forgive His enemies and sinners like
us who nail Him to the cross by our sins, surely we, in the power of His
forgiveness, can render that forgiveness to those who sin, and especially
to those who have been unjust and unkind to us. During this season of
Lent, may we share in the innocent sufferings of Christ in faith, just like
Susanna in the first reading. Let us also entrust our miseries to the
Lord, pleading for His mercy for as the response of the responsorial psalm
declares, “Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at
my side”.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM
GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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