Dear Friends in Christ
Moral theologians speak of ‘sins of omission’, by which they mean the failure to act or speak out in a situation, causing those guilty of this offence to fall short of the goodness of God. Our Gospel today provides us with an example. In most modern translations of the Bible this passage is either dropped into the footnotes or placed in brackets to indicate that it did not form part of the original text. It is also missing from the oldest and best manuscripts for the Gospel of John. It is hard to figure out why and we can only speculate – perhaps a patriarchal culture and worldview rendered this beautiful incident in Jesus’ life too shocking and scandalous, revealing a depth of mercy and forgiveness which was unpalatable. We are grateful that this story, which was probably passed down by means of oral tradition, found its way into the can of Scripture.
Just as it takes two to tango, it takes two to commit adultery. This is a point worth making because what is interesting if not striking about the case or adultery before us is that the Pharisees haul the poor woman before the Lord to be judged, but her co-adulterer is nowhere to be found. The man’s absence from the drama would seem to suggest foul play.
In any event, the scheming Pharisees are looking to catch Jesus out. They have their facts wrong, however, because the law only stipulated stoning if a woman was betrothed and it required, in fact, the stoning of both parties. Their aim is to back Jesus into a corner. If he sanctioned the stoning, he would be in conflict with the Romans who did not allow the Jews to carry out capital punishment. On the other hand, if he came out against the stoning, her would be seen to condone adultery and unsupportive of the law. He permits the stoning to go ahead but only on the basis that he who is without sin throw the first stone! Ashamed, humiliated, exposed, the accusers’ leave the scene. Full of mercy and kindness, the Lord tells the woman. Neither do I condemn you…’
and another was his last visit to Gethsemane. They were also with him when, as we read in the Gospel today, his human body was transfigured and glowed with divine life of a glorified and resurrected body. The disciples were granted, if you like, a glimpse of heaven. Peter, vividly recalled the event: ‘we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received 
The Scriptures identify Satan as the serpent in the Garden of Eden who tempted Adam and Eve, and therefore, as the origin of sin and temptation. What the Scriptures and tradition make clear is that humankind has a mortal enemy who, although a finite being created by God, is in a desperate struggle to overthrow God’s reign, usurp his Lordship and lead his creation into darkness and death. On Easter Sunday each of us will recite our Baptismal promises and in doing so renew them. Bear this in mind as we move through Lent, because as you will be aware, a renewal of our baptismal promises involves us actively, freely voluntarily rejecting Satan. 
Lent is also a time for us to discover anew and afresh the Gospel, the ‘Good News’, which Jesus began to proclaim immediately after his time of testing. What is the Good News? The Good News is a message of two parts. The first part is to repent and the second part is to believe in the Gospel. We walk together on this road marked out for us by the Church and take up our call to stand firm and resist the devil, and knowing that he will flee, and embrace freely and with love the Gospel, which is Christ with us and in us, the hope of Salvation.
This kind of love is not natural. It can come only with the grace of God and as a result of much work and effort. But this is precisely the challenge of today’s gospel for each one of us. To be so positive of all other people that we can accept them for who and what they are, that we can overcome those occasions when we tend to misjudge others, that we can stress the good in others and hope they can do the same for us.
It sounds like a kind of Christian utopia, doesn’t it? But Christ came to chan
This is contrast to the parallel found in Matthew’s Gospel, the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus’ words are addressed to both the disciples and to the crowds.
There are several similarities between Luke’s and Matthew’s report of Jesus’ great teaching. Both begin with the 