Readings for Sunday March 21, 2010

1st Reading from the Book of Isaiah 43: 16-21

They have been prisoners for several decades, and now the time has come for the people of Israel to take a break from the Egyptian shackles and to go somewhere else to seek their well-deserved freedom.

The time has come for the prophecy to become a reality. The Israelites can hear the voice of God saying to focus in the now and not in yesterday's extraordinary miracles. God warns them to be prepared for what is about to come. And He says to them: "Watch for the new thing I am going to do. Is is happening already -you can see it now!"

Can we, now in 2010, see the signs of God's doing around us?

On our journey through life we encounter days when everything seems as if we have not left Egypt, when everything in front of us indicates that our conditions as slaves have not changed... Those days when the weight of the world appears to be resting on our shoulders... And yet our Spiritual Communion with God leads us to believe that things will get better if we put our trust in Him, because all we have to do to be able to hear Him talk to us is just sit still, in silence, letting Him do the hard work for us...

May our souls, our eyes, and our ears open up, just so we too can become witnesses of our Lord's miracles...


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2nd Reading from the letter of Paul to the Phillipians 3: 8-14


The letter to the Phillipians was written while Paul was in prison, troubled by the opposition of other Christian workers and troubled by false teachings happening in the church at Phillipi.

The letter, whose main inspiration can only be explained by Paul's deep faith in the church and by his deep fondness for the church at Phillipi, is a true testament of Paul's unconditional and absolute love for Jesus Christ.

Paul recalls how he was a real Pharisee, with exceptional knowledge and understanding of Moses' Law; an expert on when and how to clean, and an expert on what to eat and what foods to avoid. Paul was a very righteous man, prosecuting the Christian Church with nail and hammer, showing no compassion for anyone who had failed to follow the Law of Moses.

Paul knew when to talk and when to keep his mouth shut, and yet after having seen the True Way, after having heard the Good News, he became focused on what he had to do to stay within God's path, disregarding the company or the situation at hand.

Although we are created mirroring God's image, we remain imperfect, and like so we are bound to make mistakes. Some fortunate folks out there find their way early in their lives, while others hear the call later on in life. In Paul's case, his call came after many years of continued and undeterred harassment of Christians all over the Roman Empire. But despite his age time meant nothing to Paul: when he heard God's call he left his old life behind him and embrace the future side by side with Jesus Christ. Paul, as we all know, received the important task of becoming one of the twelve apostles.

Nothing stops us from following Paul's example, we are as able to follow Jesus as Paul was. And in following Paul's steps we are able to find, up close and personal, the Son of God -who without judgment- received in his realm a sinner like Paul.

May we be able to open our arms to brothers and sisters, regardless of their past, remembering that what matters is the now...

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The Gospel according to John 8: 1-11

So the scribes and the Pharisees bring up a woman who has been caught committing adultery, hoping that Jesus will follow Moses' Law and will condemn her to death. They are prepared to file charges against Jesus, the moment Jesus passes judgment on this woman.

Once again, like on the previous reading, we are facing the topic of judging people for what they have done with their lives.

Jesus is a man with very clear and well established principles, and his response to the scribes and the Pharisees regarding the condemnation of the woman, is the same response given to Paul once Paul decides to abandon his previous life: focus on what this person is ready to do with his life and not on what the person has done with his past. Jesus calls their attention to themselves, asking them to become their own examples of righteousness, providing them with a simple solution: the one who is without sin can be the first one to cast judgment on the sinning woman.

And we all know the rest of the story, not just because we have heard it but because we might have experienced it ourselves. Many of us have found ourselves in the position of the scribes and the Pharisees, ready to pass judgment on others, starting with a simple person like the butcher and criticizing how he chops the meat, and ending with a person living a complicated life like the government's politicians, criticizing they whys and the hows of their poor political decisions.

Yes, because as humans, we are quick to notice our neighbors errors, and we are quick to downplay or to ignore our own.

For those who have found themselves in a situation similar to the woman's situation, caught redhanded committing a reproachable act, being the object of everyone's attention, being judged by folks who pretend to be judge and jury at the same time; for those who at one point or another have found themselves as the victims of social judgment, the situation is demoralizing whether or not the accusations are valid.

Because no one is free from sin, Jesus calls us to be more sensitive about being fast-lane judges. We are in no position to throw stones to our brothers, because their mistakes of today could very well b be our mistakes of yesterday or our mistakes of tomorrow.

Our Heavenly Father calls us to become more sensible towards our brothers and sisters, reminding us that their mistakes are as venial or as mortal as our own.

May our hearts soften up just so we can understand that, like the scribes and the Pharisees, we are in no position to throw the first stone against any other person on Earth...