05 April 2025 – 5th Sunday of Lent (Year C) (Sunset Mass)

by Fr Fabian Dicom

My dear sisters and brothers, the Word of God today does something powerful. It just does not tell us about God’s mercy. It invites us into a new space of liberation.

Now in the First Reading, Isaiah speaks to a people still haunted by the exile, still clinging to memories of the past, both its pain and its glory. But God says something shocking:

“No need to recall the past. See, I am doing a new deed.”

Even the Exodus, the greatest liberation story they knew is not to be their focus as we heard in the Reading. Why? Because God is not stuck in the past. God is not a museum curator. He is a Creator, always doing something new especially in the dry, barren places.

And Paul in the Second Reading mirrors this. He had a glorious past as a Pharisee. We all know that. Full of stature and achievement. And a shameful one too as a persecutor of the Christians. But what does he say in Philippians? Paraphrasing Philippians 3:13-14:

I forget what lies behind and stream forward to what lies ahead because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

What a grace that we don’t need to be imprisoned by what we have done or what we have failed to do. We don’t need to live off the fumes of our old victories nor be haunted by the ghost of our old sins. In Christ, we are not defined by our past but redefined by grace. We are redefined by grace. 

And then comes the Gospel. A woman caught in adultery, caught not just in the act but perhaps caught in a trap set by those more interested in the law than in love, more interested in punishment than in restoration. And they bring her to Jesus, not to find justice but to make a spectacle and to even set a trap for Him too.

Now if Jesus says: “Yes, go ahead and stone her.“, all that He was preaching about mercy goes down the drain. All that He preaches about the unconditional love goes off.

And if He says: “Don’t stone her.“, what happens? He will be accused of going against the law of Moses.

Both ways it is a lose-lose situation for Him. Now what does He do?

He stoops, He writes, He creates silence. He creates silence, something that we are very uncomfortable with. And in that silence, something shifts. Accusers fall away, stones drop and then finally Jesus says:

“Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”

And this is not just mercy. It is transformation. She is no longer seen as an adulteress but as a person capable of newness, of dignity, of life. And here is the liberating truth today:

From all this, we are not who we were. We are not what others say about us. We are not our failures. We are children of a God who says: I am doing something new, even right now. Do you not perceive it? 

Right? As we are here in the church, He tells us that. And once we allow this grace to touch us, really really touch us, we begin to live differently. You have had experiences of that. We stop looking back with shame or pride and instead press forward as Paul says: Towards the prize.

And what is the prize? The fullness of life in Jesus Christ. How much do we want it? I want that! That fullness of life.

But here is the next step, brothers and sisters. When we begin to live in grace, when we become aware of this grace, when we experience it, we are also called to become grace. To become grace not only for ourselves but for others.

Mercy received must become mercy extended.

The woman in the Gospel walked away not just forgiven but changed. And till today, she is grace to everyone who reads that story from the Gospel.

Paul, once a persecutor, became a preacher.

Isaiah’s people, once in exile, became a light to the nations.

So we believe. Just like the people in exile, just like Paul, just like the woman, we have received mercy. We are set free. We are people of grace. Where does that take us?

Today I want to share a story that moved me deeply during the Year of Mercy. I think it is about 10 years ago and it is from a book: Just Mercy written by Bryan Stevenson. A book that I used actually. I accidentally came upon it. I read the whole book and I used it in my sessions during the time of the Year of Mercy. Since then they have made even a movie called: Just Mercy. I have shared this before with certain groups so if it is just a repetition, bear with me.

Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy, just give you a brief story about the book. It is a story about a lawyer who worked to help people who have been wrongly convicted, especially those in death row. He tells the story of the main character, Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death for a crime he didn’t commit. His crime was being black and caught at a wrong place at a wrong time.

The book shows how unfair and broken the justice system can be, especially for the poor and the minority people. The whole book shows how terrible the thing has been for those who were coloured in the US. 

But it is also about the power of mercy and forgiveness. And how we all have the ability to make things right through compassion and justice.

So going to the last part of the book, we are led to this scene. So Bryan Stevenson after a difficult court hearing was approached by an old woman. She had lost her grandson to a violent crime. And the boys who killed him were sentenced to life imprisonment and she came every time to the court. She wanted justice. She wanted to see that something could be done to all these people who killed her beloved grandson.

But instead of finding peace, she found more pain.

And one day, in the midst of all the process that was going on, a stranger noticed her crying and simply sat with her. That moment changed her. From then on, she started coming to the courtroom. Not because there was anymore cases connected to her grandson or to her. She came there to be present for others, the families of the victims, the families of the accused and anyone hurting. And she said to Bryan:

“I am here to catch stones. I am a stone catcher.“

“I am a stone catcher.” She was referring to the Gospel we heard today when Jesus says, “Let one without sin cast the first stone.“

Bryan Stevenson had once in earlier part of the book preached that we are all disillusioned, the different. They are not happy with just offering charity from a distance. They walk alongside, they listened, they lift up. They are the once who remind the church that our greatest tradition is mercy and our deepest theology is love.

These are the stone catchers of the church. These are the stone catches we are called to be.

And in Malaysia, being a stone catcher here means speaking up when someone is mocked for their race, for their faith or their background.

In welcoming the migrants and refugees, instead of fearing them we stand with those who are ignored, ex-prisoners, the poor, the mentally challenged and the list goes on. And when our laws hurt instead of heal, it means a stone catcher is bold enough to say: “Change it! We can do better!“

And finally in our hearts, perhaps the hardest stones to catch are the ones we aim at ourselves.

This week perhaps ask yourself:

“What stone am I still throwing at myself? What would it mean to drop it and walk forward in grace?“

Jesus did not throw stones. He caught them. He caught them with His words, He caught them with His love, He caught them ultimately with giving up His life on the cross. We are invited to do the same. Not because we are perfect but because the whole message of the Readings today, because we know what it is to be forgiven, to be seen, to be restored.

So let today, my dear brothers and sisters, be a new beginning for us who have received the Lord’s mercy. And then let us go out and become stone catchers, people of courage, people of compassion, people of quiet presence. Let us be that grace in our home, in our parishes, in our country. Let us go out and make a difference with compassion and courage. Amen.

I am not done yet. I want to give each and every one of you a small stone. The ushers will do that. I have washed together with the people in the office, we have washed all the stone clean, I have even sprayed sanitiser over them.

Let us do this prayerfully. As they give out the stone, it is for every one, every single person, let this be a symbol of our call to be stone catchers.

So my dear brothers and sisters, as you receive that stone then move on with the rest of the Mass and into the Eucharist, I ask you to reflect:

What is God calling us to do today?
What is God telling me?
To reflect and pray, how?
In what way is God calling me today to be a stone catcher?

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