Sunday, 6 April

Readings — Is. 43:16-21; Ps. 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6; Phil. 3:8-14; Jn. 8:1-12.

1. 1st Reading, Is. 43: 16-21 — Chapter 14 predicts the redemption of Israel from the Babylonian Captivity and Israel's Restoration. This is the work of God. The prophecy, written in lyrical poetic language, describes the liberation from Babylon as more wonderful than the Exodus, which our 1st Reading recalls. The words of the Psalm are used in a popular hymn, "Be not Afraid," composed in the 1970's by Missouri St. Louis Jesuits. The Lord expresses his special love for Israel, "I have called you by your name; you are mine" (v. 1).

2. He opens a way into the sea, a path through the raging waters. He leads a powerful army to lie prostrate never to rise again (vv. 16-17). He makes a way through the wilderness and gives his people water to drink, the people he formed for himself (vv. 19-21).

3. Resp. Ps. 143: 1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6 — A Prayer in Distress. "Lord, hear my prayer; in your faithfulness listen to my pleading; answer me in my righteousness" (v. 1). "The enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground" (v. 3). "My spirit is faint within me; my heart despairs" (v. 4). I ponder all your deeds and "stretch out my hand...my soul to you" (vv. 5-6).

4. 2nd Reading, Phil. 3:8-14 — Because of "the supreme good of knowing Jesus Christ," Paul considers everything that he has gained as simply "rubbish," so that he might "gain Christ and be found in him." He does not have any righteousness of his own but "that which comes from God through faith in Christ... to know him and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings" (vv. 8-10). Paul confesses that he has not attained perfect maturity in faith. And so he strains forward to pursue the goal, "the prize of God's upward calling, in Christ Jesus" (vv. 11-14).

5. Gospel, Jn. 8: 1-12 — A Woman Caught in Adultery. Jesus arrives at the Temple area, sits down and begins teaching the people (vv. 1-2). The scribes and Pharisees bring a woman and say to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. The law of Moses commanded us to stone such women. What do you say?" (vv. 3-5).

6. They say this to test him so that they could make a charge against him. But Jesus bends down and begins writing on the ground with his finger (v. 6). Since they continue to ask him, he says to them, "Let the one among you be the first to throw a stone at her" (v. 7). He again bends down to write on the ground. And the scribes and Pharisees go away one by one (vv. 8-9).

Then Jesus says to the woman, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" (v. 10). She replies, "No one, sir." And Jesus says, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore" (v. 11).