Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C, 2025

 Imagine someone being dragged into church during a priest’s homily and, whoever is dragging this person in, throws them on the stairs and says, “This person is living their life like this, and the Catholic Church teaches it’s a mortal sin. Father, what do you have to say?”

First off, I hope the police would be called immediately. And I hope whoever was dragging a person in would be tackled, very gently, by the ushers.


But what about the question?


According to the Catholic Church, certain things are sinful for tremendously good reasons, reasons which can be easily looked up, even if popular culture accepts those things as good. 


So, what should the priest say about a person being dragged into church who lives contrary to what the Catholic Church teaches? Nothing. How inappropriate for anyone to drag someone else into church and humiliate them. The people who would do that would be committing a grave sin themselves.


…And that's what's happened in the Gospel. The scribes and pharisees were blinded by their own self-righteousness, thinking it was somehow OK to basically kidnap and drag this woman into the public space of the temple. They clearly don't love this woman, and they clearly don't care about what’s right because, where was the man they caught with her? Was he not also guilty of the same sin?


And, so, Jesus pretty much points that out in the most calm but direct way. And he doesn't make the mistake of telling the woman that everything was okay with her actions either; nor does he say, “Everyone is doing it, so it's all right,” nor does Jesus say that the Jewish religion is behind the times and is wrong about adultery.” No. In the same way Jesus responds to the scribes and pharisees, He gently but directly tells her to sin no more.


…Our relationship with Jesus is what will help us not to condemn people for the way they're living but our relationship with Jesus will also help us not to say that all is OK either, pretending the Catholic Church has it wrong.


If we are close with Jesus, we will love everyone no matter if we disagree with them a million times over. But we must also calmly and courageously stand in the truth and, if we need to speak it, we do it like Jesus: Gently, calmly, and unapologetically.



Scripture readings for this day: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040625-YearC.cfm

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