"But from now on, avoid this sin."

5th Sunday of Lent (C)

Liturgical readings
Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126
Philippians 3:8-14
John 8:1-11

"But from now on, avoid this sin."




Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives.
At daybreak he reappeared in the temple area;
and when the people started coming to him,
he sat down and began to teach them.


The scribes and the Pharisees led a woman forward
who had been caught in adultery.
They made her stand there in front of everyone.


"Teacher,"


they said to him,


"this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
In the law,
Moses ordered such woman to be stoned.


What do you have to say about the case?"


(They were posing this question to trap him,
so that they could have something to accuse him of.)


Jesus simply bend down
and started tracing on the ground
with his finger.


When they persisted in their questioning,
he straightened up
and said to them,


"Let the man among you
who has no sin
be the first to cast a stone at her."


A second time
he bent down
and wrote on the ground.


Then the audience drifted away
one by one,
beginning with the elders.


This left him alone
with the woman,
who continued to stand before him.


Jesus finally straightened up again
and said to her,


"Woman,
where did they all disappear to?
Has no one condemned you?"


No one, sir,"
she answered.


Jesus said,


Nor do I condemn you.


You may go.


But from now on,
avoid this sin."


This way of presenting the text of the gospel is based on the paraphrasing method taught by Fr. Vermundo Miranda, CICM, professor of Maryhill School of Theology. The paraphrasing method is meant to help readers get a clearer understanding of the text in relation to the other verses and the contexts in which it is meant to be understood. I added my own style and restructuring of the text, plus fonts that are italicized (to highlight the statements that come from Christ) and fonts in bold typeface (to highlight the Person of Christ).