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Today's first reading is taken from the second section of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. It is a message from God delivered by an anonymous disciple of the great prophet during the final years of the Babylonian exile. In it, God speaks to those who feared that they would never be able to return to their homeland. He reminds them that he delivered their fathers from slavery in Egypt and brought them into the Promised Land. Then he promises to do even greater things for those now living under Babylonian rule.
Of special interest to us, as we begin our third year of the Living Eucharist Initiative in which we consider the sub-theme "sent," is the last verse of the passage. In it, God says that those he will lead through the desert are "The people whom I formed for myself, that they might announce my praise." The exiles, then, were not simply being brought back to Judea for their own benefit; they were being "sent" back to give witness to the surrounding nations. Their new life in the Promised Land was meant to testify to the transforming power of God's grace.
The divine plan was, unfortunately, only partly fulfilled. Although God was faithful to his promise and brought the exiles back to their homeland, they showed little interest in carrying out the mission he had given them. They were unwilling to make any radical changes in their lifestyle and continued on much as they had before the exile began. Except for their religious practices, their lives were little different from the people among whom they lived and therefore had no effect on them.
In the Gospel, Jesus' adversaries bring him a woman who has been caught in the act of adultery. They are about to fulfill the Law of Moses by putting her to death, but first they ask his opinion. He disarms those who would stone her by inviting the one without sin to cast the first stone. Then, when they all leave, he sends the woman on her way saying, "Go, and from now on do not sin any more." These words, as simple as they may seem, are far more than a spiritual platitude. They are a real commission. She is sent back home to give witness to the transforming power of God's mercy by leading a new kind of life.
Though many people think that only the Church's official preachers and teachers are commissioned to give witness, the woman in today's Gospel is a clear example of a lay person who has been given a mission. She is not commissioned to preach or teach, but she is sent to bear witness to God's saving mercy by the moral character of her new way of life. We can and should learn a lesson from her. By the fact that God has forgiven our sins, all of us – clergy, religious and laity – are commissioned to give witness to the transforming power of his grace by the way we live.
Every time we celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation, we are given a new lease on life so that our new lifestyle can be a witness to God's mercy. Every time we are nourished with the Holy Eucharist, we are "charged" with grace and sent back into the world to give witness to its transforming power. When the Mass ends, we are not simply allowed to go home; we are sent out on mission. We, like the exiles returning from Babylon or the woman caught in adultery, will succeed or fail in our mission by the kind of example we give to others.
