Fifth Sunday of Lent, 7th April

John 8:1–11

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.'

Reflection

Where do I stand in this scene: like the
woman standing before her accusers? Like a silent sympathiser hoping that
something will happen to save her?

What goes through my head as Jesus is
doodling in the sand?