Isaiah 43:16-21 / Philippians 3:8-14 / John 8:1-11
To say that someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed is to mean that he had a bad day and probably was still having a bad day.
Come to think of it, waking up on the wrong side of the bed is still better than waking up on the floor and in shock. Yes, waking up on the wrong side of the bed is still better than falling off from the bed.
Whatever it might be, a good king-size bed can assure us of a good night’s sleep with no worries of falling off the bed.
But what happens when we wake up and get out of bed can be quite another story. We don’t know what kind of day awaits us.
A priest celebrated Mass with a big plaster on his chin. He told the people that he was thinking about the homily while he was shaving and accidentally cut his chin, hence the plaster. It was a careless start to the day.
When the priest got back to his office, there was an email in the computer that read: Dear Father, please be careful. In future, think about your shaving and cut the homily!
We know that it is one of those bad days when we expected to get sympathy and some people turn our misery into a comedy.
And some people will even say that if we think we are having a bad day, we better be prepared that it might just get worse. What a consolation when we are in our desolation!
Of course we can prepare ourselves for a bad day, but we won’t know when it will happen and we won’t know what to expect.
In the gospel, it seemed to be just another day for Jesus. He was at the Mount of Olives, a popular place for prayer and meditation. Then at daybreak, He appeared in the Temple and as the people came to Him, He sat down and began to teach them.
All seemed well, until the scribes and Pharisees dragged in a woman who had been caught committing adultery. In full view of everybody, they asked Jesus for His judgement on her. And as the Gospel added, they asked Him this as a test, looking for something to use against Him.
Whenever the scribes and the Pharisees appear, they bring bad news, and it seems like it’s going to be another bad day for Jesus. So how is He going to handle this tricky situation?
We should know by now that not every day is a good day, but there is something good in every day.
And that is what Jesus wants to teach us. Every day He had to face the plotting of the scribes and Pharisees, and yet through it all, He teaches us something good.
And in this instance, Jesus taught us that He was not too concerned about the trickery of the scribes and the Pharisees and the trouble that He was facing.
Rather His concern was for that woman caught for committing adultery, shamed in public, and probably would be executed by stoning. It was a bad day for that woman and seems like it was only going to get worse.
But if her day was bad, her life was probably tragic. How did she end up in such a bad state, and now she is being used to trap Jesus and after that she will be disposed of. Hers was a sad life and coming to a sad end.
But Jesus took up the sinfulness of that woman and brought out the sinfulness of the others when He said, “If there is one of you who have not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
And just as that statement stopped them in their tracks, that statement should also stop us at our thoughts.
When things go wrong and turn bad, are we the first to throw stones? Or are we going to drop the stones to do something good?
Last week there was this story of an aircraft that was forced to make an emergency landing in a remote small airport that was 100 miles away from the destination.
Stranded in an empty airport, in the middle of nowhere, many passengers became irritated (who wouldn’t?) with the crew and airline staff. They were going to throw stones.
Among the passengers was this well-known actor, Keanu Reeves. While the airline staff was trying to solve the problem, Keanu decided to do what he could to keep the situation under control.
He kept the passengers updated about the situation, and he was cool and furthest thing from being upset.
He told the passengers where to pick up their luggage, and the travel options to get to their destination. He even advised them to take the shuttle bus instead of waiting for the plane to be fixed.
In between, he posed for pictures with the passengers at the airport and made it a moment to be remembered.
As much as he had the means to arrange for private transportation, he took the shuttle bus provided by the airline for the stranded passengers and he turned it into a fun ride for everyone on board, with trivia games and all.
The passengers were amazed at how Keanu Reeves would think of ways to keep people engaged and entertained. More than just a good actor, Keanu Reeves is a down-to-earth person who tries to bring out the good in a bad situation. May God bless him for that.
This reminds us that not every day is a good day but there is something good in every day.
Just as in the gospel scene, not everyone in it is a good person, but Jesus brought out that something good in each person - the woman caught in adultery, the scribes and Pharisees, the crowds.
And through this gospel passage, Jesus also wants to bring out the goodness in each of us.
Then we will truly understand what Jesus meant when He said: If there is one of you who had not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.