23rd March. Monday in 5th Week of Lent

1st Reading: Daniel 13:1-9 etc

The chaste Susanna is wrongly accused

There was a man living in Babylon whose name was Joakim. And he took a wife named Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah, a very beautiful woman and one who feared the Lord. Her parents were righteous, and had taught their daughter according to the law of Moses. Joakim was very rich, and had a spacious garden adjoining his house; and the Jews used to come to him because he was the most honoured of them all. That year two elders from the people were appointed as judges. Concerning them the Lord had said: “Iniquity came forth from Babylon, from elders who were judges, who were supposed to govern the people.” These men were frequently at Joakim’s house, and all who had suits at law came to them there.

When the people departed at noon, Susanna would go into her husband’s garden to walk. The two elders used to see her every day, going in and walking about, and they began to desire her. And they perverted their minds and turned away their eyes from looking to Heaven or remembering righteous judgmnts.

Once, while they were watching for an opportune day, she went in as before with only two maids, and wished to bathe in the garden, for it was very hot. And no one was there except the two elders, who had hid themselves and were watching her. She said to her maids, “Bring me oil and ointments, and shut the garden doors so that I may bathe.” Now Susanna was a woman of great refinement, and beautiful in appearance. As she was veiled, the wicked men ordered her to be unveiled, that they might feed upon her beauty. But her family and friends and all who saw her wept.

Then the two elders stood up in the midst of the people, and laid their hands upon her head. And she, weeping, looked up toward heaven, for her heart trusted in the Lord. The elders said, “As we were walking in the garden alone, this woman came in with two maids, shut the garden doors, and dismissed the maids. Then a young man, who had been hidden, came to her and lay with her. We were in a corner of the garden, and when we saw this wickedness we ran to them. We saw them embracing, but we could not hold the man, for he was too strong for us, and he opened the doors and dashed out. So we seized this woman and asked her who the young man was, but she would not tell us. These things we testify.” The assembly believed them, because they were elders of the people and judges; and they condemned her to death.

Then Susanna cried out with a loud voice, and said, “O eternal God, who dost discern what is secret, who art aware of all things before they come to be, thou knowest that these men have borne false witness against me. And now I am to die! Yet I have done none of the things that they have wickedly invented against me!” The Lord heard her cry. And as she was being led away to be put to death, God aroused the holy spirit of a young lad named Daniel; and he cried with a loud voice, “I am innocent of the blood of this woman.”

All the people turned to him, and said, “What s this that you have said?” Taking his stand in the midst of them, he said, “Are you such fools, you sons of Israel? Have you condemned a daughter of Israel without examination and without learning the facts? Return to the place of judgment. For these men have borne false witness against her.” Then all the people returned in haste. And the elders said to him, “Come, sit among us and inform us, for God has given you that right.” And Daniel said to them, “Separate them far from each other, and I will examine them.”

When they were separated from each other, he summoned one of them and said to him, “You old relic of wicked days, your sins have now come home, which you have committed in the past, pronouncing unjust judgments, condemning the innocent and letting the guilty go free, though the Lord said, `Do not put to death an innocent and righteous person.’ Now then, if you really saw her, tell me this: Under what tree did you see them being intimate with each other?” He answered, “Unde a mastic tree.” And Daniel said, “Very well! You have lied against your own head, for the angel of God has received the sentence from God and will immediately cut you in two.”

Then he put him aside, and commanded them to bring the other. And he said to him, “You offspring of Canaan and not of Judah, beauty has deceived you and lust has perverted your heart. This is how you both have been dealing with the daughters of Israel, and they were intimate with you through fear; but a daughter of Judah would not endure your wickedness. Now then, tell me: Under what tree did you catch them being intimate with each other?” He answered, “Under an evergreen oak.” And Daniel said to him, “Very well! You also have lied against your own head, for the angel of God is waiting with his sword to saw you in two, that he may destroy you both.”

Then all the assembly shouted loudly and blessed God, who saves those who hope in him. And they rose against the two elders, for out of their own mouths Daniel hd convicted them of bearing false witness; and they did to them as they had wickedly planned to do to their neighbour; acting in accordance with the law of Moses, they put them to death. Thus innocent blood was saved that day.

Gospel: John 8:1-11

Jesus shows mercy to the woman caught in adultery

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”

Defending the weak

The core of true religion is given in one phrase about Susanna: “she trusted in the Lord with all her heart.” By contrast we learn that her two accusers suppressed their consciences and would not look upwards, to bring mercy and justice into their decision-making. When we fix our hope on God, and let ourselves be absorbed in God, we get a solid peace of mind and a true perspective on things, even in the darkest moments. In that spirit Susanna prayed: “Eternal God, you know what is hidden and are aware of all things.” She did not lash out angrily against her accusers, or panic about her own defense. She trusted God and patiently defended her own integrity. Rather than fall into the trap of arguing when her accusers craftily tried to frame her, her obvious innocence draws Daniel to find the right solution. It is a lesson to us to try to follow. Make sure that any conflict our own defense does not turn into a shouting match where nobody wins and we indulge in revenge and counterattack.

In today’s Gospel the guilty woman was dragged into Jesus’ presence. Again we admire his restraint in responding to the case that was put to him, for he simply bent down and started doodling on the ground in the dust. When he eventually looked up he suggested, ‘Let whoever among you is without sin be the first to stone her;’ and again he started to write on the ground. The accused woman also shows great restraint — for she might have shouted accusations against the man caught in the act with her and yet who was allowed off scot free. Clearly her accusers did not want even-handed justice or both culprits would have been accused, for they were just using the woman to trap Jesus. But he refused to be trapped, and so did the woman lying on the ground, whose silence projected more honour and dignity than her accusers’ self-justifying pomposity. They eventually drifted away one by one, beginning with the elders.

We pray for the wisdom to know when to choose the silence from which can flow honour, serenity, forgiveness. It is these depths of character that we seek when we possess our souls in the presence of God. He becomes our light, our witness, our justification. It can be true of us too, what was said about Susanna, “blessed is God who saves those who hope in him.”

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The first stone

It is clear that some people are very devoted to condemning. The religious leaders bring a woman to Jesus expecting him to condemn her, because, as they say, “Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this.” Earlier in his gospel, John has a very striking saying on the lips of Jesus, “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Jesus did not come to condemn the world but so that it might have life and have it to the full. When Jesus asked the woman the question, “Has no one condemned you?” he immediately declared, “Neither do I condemn you.” He gently reminded those who were quick to condemn her that they too were sinners. We all have something to repent of. To all of us Jesus says what he says to the woman, “go away and don’t sin any more.” The Lord does not condemn us but, in his love for us, he calls us beyond where we are; he continually invites us into a greater light and a fuller life. [Martin Hogan]