The woman caught in adultery

It’s now the 5th Sunday of Lent and the best news for this Lenten season is that, we finally have a new Supreme Pontiff to replace the resigned Pope Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI. He is Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina who now goes by the name of Pope Francis. He is the first Jesuit to become Pope and he is the first Latin American Pope,  the first Pope that did not come from the Old World. Great days are ahead for Catholicism with the assumption of Pope Francis into the See of Peter.

Since he is a known conservative, you can be sure that the doctrines of the Catholic Church would remain intact and her teachings would continue. One of the teachings of the Catholic Church is about forgiveness, especially in this season of Lent. This is exactly what we will talk about in today’s gospel about the woman caught in adultery. You can read this scripture passage in John 8: 1-11.

“1 Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them.3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle.

4 They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.

7 But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders.

So he was left alone with the woman before him. 10 Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said in reply, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, [and] from now on do not sin anymore.”

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To understand why the Jews wanted to stone the adulterous woman, you must first open your Bible to Leviticus chapter 20, where under the Mosaic Law, they have a list of penalties for various sins. Mind you, Moses did not invent these penalties, but the Lord God himself commanded Moses to write these penalties down. Many of these commandments come from the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments of God.

For instance, in Lev.20: 9, it says, “Anyone who curses his father or mother shall be put to death, since he has cursed his father or mother, he has forfeited his life.” In today’s standards, this is quite a harsh penalty… but because of Modernism and Liberalism… especially in the United States, children no longer respect their parents as parents… they’re rather like equals, where children often use foul language against their parents. But in the time of Moses… God allows you to be put to death!

In Lev.20: 10, it says, “If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.” In case you didn’t know… there is a death penalty also for homosexual behavior which can be found in Lev.20: 13 which says, “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; They have committed an abhorrent deed, they have forfeited their lives.” Of course the gays would never accept this teaching… but mind you, it speaks only of the sexual act. But I know of many gays who are very religious.

Of course we are curious that while the scribes and Pharisees brought the woman caught in adultery before Jesus Christ… he merely wrote something on the ground. Mind you, this is the only passage in the Bible where Jesus was seen as writing something. Perhaps he was writing about Leviticus 20: 10, which is quite specific…“If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.”

Or perhaps our Lord Jesus Christ wrote, “Where was the adulterous man? If they were caught in the act, the man should also be stoned to death.” Remember, our Lord Jesus knew about the laws that his Father gave to Moses… so he knew this by heart. This is why, when our Lord spoke and said, “He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone”. They all left him. They probably knew that the adulterous man was also with them.

Call the Catholic Church ancient if you don’t like the laws or the Commandments of God. But for our benefit, the Catholic Church no longer punishes sinners with death… but merely ask them to go to confession and their sins would be forgiven.  So for this Lenten season it is time to ask yourselves, have you gone to confession lately? If you haven’t, please do.

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