The past several months, I have been accompanying my adult first cousin once removed, Tara, as she has grown deeper in her Catholic faith through the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA) at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
It has been inspiring to be part of this process, which until recently was known as RCIA, as Tara’s confirmation sponsor. The Cathedral is collaborating with two other parishes to prepare 61 people to receive one or more of the Sacraments of Initiation. Seeing such a large group of people interact is a beautiful example of the fruit of evangelization and how parishes collaborating with one another can enrich the experience for all.
One of the recent OCIA sessions included a lectio divina prayer on this Sunday’s Gospel passage of the woman caught in adultery. Because the Holy Spirit packed so much into the Bible, one can receive many different insights from any given passage, and when we heard it that night, a new understanding came to me of this event in Jesus’ life that I had reflected upon and studied many times.
We can be tempted to learn a false lesson: that Jesus implies that what the woman did was no big deal or was even OK; that he has a (false) compassion for her, downplaying the seriousness of her sin. Instead, Jesus — like he does every time we seek his forgiveness — acknowledges her guilt, but also says, “I do not condemn you … go and sin no more.” That is the rhythm of the beautiful and healing sacrament of penance that I am privileged to minister with great frequency, especially during this Lenten season. When we have the humility to admit our sins, Jesus gives us an undeserved second chance, just like the woman was given, for there was no dispute about the woman’s guilt — she had given herself fully to a man to whom she was not married.
What became clearer to me that recent evening at OCIA is that when we sin, we give away something of ourselves that allows others to use us, to treat us unjustly for their gain, even in ways beyond what we might first realize. The woman caught in adultery was first used by an unidentified man in bed, but then the group of men who brought her before Jesus also used her for their own, different purposes. She became a pawn in their attempt to have Jesus discredited, if not killed with her. But she could only be used as a pawn because she chose to sin in the first place. Yes, it is true that innocent people can be exploited; but it is easier to be taken advantage of when we have cut ourselves off from grace, from the life of God within us, through sin. When we forget that we are a temple of the Holy Spirit, as my cousin and her cohort will become more fully very soon, we give up both God’s power and a degree of our own control to protect ourselves. We can become like an untethered balloon blowing in the wind.
In these last days of Lent before the Triduum, may we be open to experiencing the beautiful gift of Jesus’ mercy that the woman received — in our case, through the sacrament of penance. And may we take to heart Jesus’ words, “Go and sin no more,” not only for the sake of our relationship with God, but also for our well-being in this world.
Father Bambenek is the associate director of the archdiocesan Office for the Renewal of Structures.
Sunday, April 6
Fifth Sunday of Lent
