5th Week in Lent, Monday – 18th March 2024 – Daniel 13,1-62; Jn 8,1-11
Sinner Wins Total Forgiveness
Today’s first reading and the Gospel have a few similarities, focusing on a woman accused of adultery. In the Old Testament, Susanna is accused falsely of adultery by two elders of the people. In the New Testament, a woman is accused of adultery by the scribes and Pharisees, the elders of people of Israel. The old men are wicked because they are slaves to lust and men of deceit. The scribes and Pharisees boast of their self-righteousness and try to deceive Jesus into a trap. In the first reading, Daniel, stirred by the Holy Spirit, uncovers the lie of the wicked men, and Susanna’s innocent blood is spared. According to the law, the old men end by receiving the punishment originally intended for the women. In the Gospel, Jesus uncovers the false intentions of the scribes and Pharisees, and the woman is forgiven and spared, even though she is guilty. Here the woman wins Jesus’ total forgiveness. The hearts of the old, wicked men were corrupt and had no place for God. The heart of the adulteress, though wounded by sin, was open to God’s mercy. The old men remained in their sin; the woman caught in adultery was released from sin.
