Reading I: Isaiah 43:16-21
Responsorial 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
Reading II: Philippians 3:8-14
Gospel: John 8:1-11
When I was a child, our family would gather every night that I remember to have dinner together, always around 6 pm or a little later. We would always begin the same way. First, dad would deliver a little ‘ ferverino’, usually on the importance of being a good kid. With eight of us kids, I can’t imagine why that was a constant topic. Next, we would pray the Serra Prayer for vocations. Dad had been the Serra Club president or active as a member for many years. That prayer goes,
O God, who wills not the death of a sinner, but rather that he be converted and live, grant we beseech You, through the intercession of the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, Saint Joseph, her spouse, Blessed Junípero Serra and all the saints, an increase of laborers for your Church, fellow laborers with Christ to spend and consume themselves for souls, through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
By then, with the table full of food, our attention spans maxed out, we would get around to the happiest prayer of all;
“Bless us O Lord and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Why did Dad do that? Because he was making space for God and us. A time to think about our future, our present and what we were doing with our lives. That was every year as long as I remember being a kid. Dad made space for God in our lives.
Space for God
The story in the scriptures is about making space for God. The woman “caught in the very act of adultery” thrown down at Jesus’ feet. Her accomplice, noticeably missing, perhaps even present in the ‘scandalized’ and angry crowd. The trap set, follow Mosaic law and stone her to death or follow your teaching on mercy, Jesus make a choice. He writes in the sand, say “Those of you without sin, cast the first stone”, doodles some more and then they wander away one by one. He then said,
Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” Jn. 8:10-11
International attention has recently been drawn to Brunei, on the island of Borneo, as the Moslem leadership reaffirmed sharia law permitting the stoning of adulteress and homosexuals in Brunei. Why did Jesus intervene on behalf of this woman? For the same reason that God parted the Red Sea, to make space for God and his people.
Baptism and St. John Chrysostom (349-407 A.D.)
The first reading from Isaiah, living in the 6-7th Century B.C. refers back to God saving Moses and the people from Pharaoh, his chariots and charioteers.
Thus says the LORD, who opens a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters, who leads out chariots and horsemen, a powerful army, till they lie prostrate together, never to rise, snuffed out and quenched like a wick. Is. 43:16-18
St. John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, contrasted the Red Sea with baptism and Moses with Christ. Old Testament realities point forward to the events of the New Covenant and help us understand them. A great example of the spiritual interpretation of Scripture is known as typology or allegory. The early church used typology as an imaginative approach to explaining spiritual realities. Typology works as a metaphor. We always use metaphors; we say, “She is a real mama bear.” We don’t mean she is covered in hair and roots around in the forest. We mean she is protective of her children like a mama bear. Metaphor compares two things that are outwardly dissimilar, but have an important inward similarity. Typology uses metaphor.
Here is the typology or metaphor St. John wrote about Moses and the Red Sea, Christ and Baptism.
You did not see Pharaoh drowned with his armies, but you have seen the devil with his weapons overcome by the waters of baptism. The Israelites passed through the sea; you have passed from death to life. They were delivered from the Egyptians; you have been delivered from the powers of darkness. The Israelites were freed from slavery to a pagan people; you have been freed from the much greater slavery to sin.
Think of the key words; ‘drowned and overcome’, ‘passed’, ‘delivered’ and ‘freed.’ Key words in the sacraments of baptism are water and drowning, passing from death to life, delivered from sin and freed. Jesus, the woman caught in adultery and the crowd are like Moses and the Red Sea . Jesus, like Moses, intervenes to create a space for a sinful woman, freeing her from stoning, she passed from death to life. Another parting of the Red Sea to celebrate; just like baptism or, for that matter, Lent. The same God who “wills not the death of the sinner, but rather that she be converted and live” makes room for her to go and sin no more.
Making space for God and his people
Why did God part the Red Sea? To make space for his people to pass through. Why did Jesus part the crowd for this adulteress? To give her time to change. Why did my dad deliver the ferverino, the Serra prayer and Grace? To make space for God and his children. Lent, is a time to make space for God. A special devotion to prayer, fasting and almsgiving, important practices year around but especially so during Lent. Lent is a how we enter into the space God has created for us.
Two weeks ago, Jesus told the parable about a vineyard owner who ordered his gardener to cut down fig trees that did not bear fruit. The gardener intervened, asking for time and care to make the fig tree bear fruit. The scriptures and the sacraments are how God tends to and nurtures us. We have time and God has given us some space. Lent is a time to grow.