Archbishop Peter A Comensoli preached this homily at St Patrick’s Cathedral at a special Mass for the Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers on Sunday 6 April, the fifth Sunday of Lent.
Already this Lent, on our journey with Jesus to his crucifixion and resurrection, we have witnessed the religious machinations of the pharisees. Already, we have heard and see Jesus drawing them towards the embrace of God. Just think of last Sunday’s gospel, when the pharisees were complaining about the company Jesus kept, and he challenged them back, by tell them the parable of the prodigal son.
Today, we’ve just heard of another incident where the Pharisees tried to find fault in the way of Jesus, which is the way of God, by setting up a chasm between justice and mercy. The desperate woman—un-named—whom they had dragged into a public setting to condemn for adultery, was not their interest or concern. She was a means to another end, the testing and tricking of Jesus. They wanted to know if he had the guts to live by the justice of God, and not simply excuse the woman, or overlook her sin.
Among all those surrounding the woman—the pharisees and the crowd—only Jesus saw her, the woman herself. In seeing her, Jesus did not excuse her sin—‘go, and sin no more,’ as he said. But nor did he reject her—‘neither do I condemn you.’ Jesus, turning his face to the woman and speaking with her, offers her the path of where justice and mercy meet, and where hope in healing is enabled.
Healing is the outcome when justice and mercy meet.
For, with the way of God, justice is concerned for the facts of the matter: What has occurred? What is the remedy towards righting wrong? Mercy, for its part, is concerned with the fact of the person: Who is this person? Who is to be healed? Justice and mercy are not fighting each other, nor do they contradict each other, as the pharisees would have liked. Justice and mercy meet in the interplay between the truth of the matter and the truth of the person.
Healing is the outcome when justice and mercy meet. This shows in the way of Jesus. He took on our sin when he took up the cross. He received the wounds of our woundedness. In doing so, he gave us release, and hope. By his wounds, we are healed, as Scripture says. As St Paul said today, ‘All I want is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share his sufferings by reproducing the pattern of his death.’
Healing is always personal: it matters as to who is in need of healing, not so much what is applied in healing. God is attentive to each of us, personally. Think of this in terms of what Isaiah promised from God. ‘No need to recall the past, no need to think about what was done before. See, I am doing a new deed.’ Healing leaves behind what is wounding; it looks instead towards what makes us well.
Healing is the work of God. Whether it is the healing of reconciliation, the healing of repentance, the healing of physical, mental or spiritual wounds. This is God’s work. Attentive to the person before me, seeking for their goodness and health, working for their hope and bringing them to life. This is what Jesus is writing: his healing, written on our hearts.
Banner image: : Archbishop Peter Comensoli with representatives of Catholic health care organisations on the steps St Patrick’s Cathedral on Sunday 6 April, after a Mass for the Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers.
