Mob Mentality

5^th Sunday of Lent

Cycle C

That was some mob that day. They had her dead to rights and the bloodlust was rising. I imagine there were three types of people in that mob that day. There were the self-righteous Pharisees all puffed up with moral indignation, trying to trap Jesus. There were the law-and-order types who felt it was their duty to uphold the law, especially when the case was cut-and-dried. And there were the majority who heard the commotion and got caught up in the moment. They joined the mob for the same reasons people join in looting and rioting everywhere. Because in a mob you can get away with anything, even murder.

It’s easy to hide in a mob. You can be anonymous in a crowd. It’s exciting to feel the rush of emotion in the shouting and shoving. It’s exciting to feel you’re part of something important, something big. Mobs and riots make for great stories afterwards, don’t they?

In any case, nobody in the mob really cared about the woman. She was just the catalyst, the tool, the excuse. It could have been anyone, any reason, any excuse. She was just the one who got caught. She didn’t matter to anyone…except Jesus.

Sadly, we have been experiencing mobs a lot lately, haven’t we? Just this week there has been a lot of pushing and shoving at campaign events. Racial protest groups interrupt gatherings and hold demonstrations in the streets. Student groups protest all sorts of things on college campuses these days. We haven’t seen protests like this since the 1960’s.

We are dragging people out into the public square for judgment a lot these days. But the mobs are not just in the streets, are they? And the violence is not all physical, is it? Today, if we disagree with someone’s politics or religion or even their Pinterest choices, we can easily let them, and the world, know about it. We have become social detractors. We no longer simply disagree with a person’s positions, we have to attack them personally. We have to drag them out into the open, throw them down into the dirt, and pick up our stones.

We detract from people all the time, don’t we? The mob today is often not in the streets but on social media. We can hide in the mob online. We can post whatever we want; we can comment on things we know little about, going along with the crowd. We hold up the person caught up in a moral failing, no matter how small, to derision and mockery. But just as often the person holding to a moral principle is also dragged out into the public square and mocked for being so out of touch. Things have been turned upside down. The person espousing high moral values is often shouted down, called a bigot and a fool, while the person living an openly scandalous life is held in esteem, someone to be admired and emulated.

Detraction, like its counterpart gossip, is actually a sin. And the Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses it.

“Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another’s statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved.”

That last phrase is the key. “So that he may be saved”. The job of the Christian is not to detract or to condemn. The mission of the Church is to save souls, and we approach each and every person from the standpoint that they have inherent dignity and worth. We are not to automatically think the worst of people but the best. We are to give each person the benefit of the doubt and not jump to conclusions or question their motives. Because we love them. We are called to strive to understand their intentions. Because we love them. We are called to gently correct them when we see that their beliefs and actions may jeopardize their salvation. Because we love them.

That’s what we do with our children, isn’t it? If we see that their behavior will cause them harm, we correct them. Not because we have the power to do so but because we want what’s best for them. Jesus treated the woman with mercy. His condemnation would have cost her her life. All the mob was waiting for was a signal from him. He had power over her very life, and he showed her mercy.

His simple statement, “he who has no sin throw the first stone”, showed mercy not only towards the woman but to the mob as well. He taught them a very important lesson when he shifted the focus back on them. They were shamed by his comment, and because of that were saved from committing an even bigger sin.

Mercy is holding power over someone and not exercising it. Mercy is not punishing someone even when it would seem like justice to do so. Mercy is compassion. Mercy is treating someone with dignity just because they are another human being. We often think of mercy in terms of crime and punishment. Spare someone their life when they are helpless. Not treating them as they deserve to be treated.

But most times it’s the small mercies that make the most difference.

Mercy is when you keep your sarcastic comments to yourself, even though you think they’re really clever. Mercy is letting it slide when someone says something that offends you, because your relationship with them is more important than having the last word. Mercy is giving them a hug and forgiving them when they apologize. Mercy is not posting that comment on Facebook or Twitter, just to make yourself feel superior. Oftentimes mercy is not what you do but what you don’t do. Sometimes it’s showing restraint.

Mercy is letting go of your stone.

Mercy is a gift we give to one another. Mercy doesn’t always require the sinner to make the first step, but there must always be repentance. The woman never asked for forgiveness. She never asked for mercy. She seemed resigned to her fate. Jesus never addressed her particular sin. He wasn’t concerned with her past, only her future. He was concerned with her salvation, and that required her to change her behavior.

Many people have used this passage to say, “See, Jesus didn’t condemn her adultery. Jesus isn’t about sin, he’s all about love,” and they use it to rationalize all sorts of bad behavior. Because to them, love means accepting people, no matter what they do. But Jesus did acknowledge that what she had done was sinful. He said, “Go and sin no more”. But he wasn’t talking just about her adultery. He didn’t say, “Don’t do it again”, but a more general “Do not sin anymore.” He was requiring a lot more than the avoidance of this particular vice. He didn’t want her to sin in any way anymore. He was calling her to repentance and conversion. He wanted her to change her life. He was accepting of her as a person, but he wasn’t accepting of her life choices. Jesus is all about love, and love is oftentimes telling people that what they are doing is jeopardizing their chance for salvation.

We can show mercy to ourselves as well. And we should. Mercy is moving on and not dwelling on the past. As we heard in our first reading today, “Remember not the things of the past. See, I am doing something new!”

And from St. Paul,

“forgetting what lies behind 
but straining forward to what lies ahead, 
I continue my pursuit toward the goal, 
the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.”

Showing mercy to yourself means you don’t hang onto your mistakes. Just as we shouldn’t hold grudges against others, we shouldn’t cling to our guilt. We must forgive ourselves and always look forward.

Experiencing Jesus Christ in our lives, especially when we feel the lowest and most worthless, is an uplifting thing. He never condemns us, but he knows how we feel when we sin. He knows our shame. He more than anyone else knows the reality of sin and how deadly it can be. He gently corrects us and sees beyond our behavior, because that’s what you do when you love somebody.

He takes our face in his hands and lifts it up to his. He looks into our eyes and shows us the depths of his love. Think of how that woman must have felt that day. Think of how Jesus’ mercy must have not only have saved her life but transformed it. Think about that the next time you are given the opportunity to show mercy to someone. Will you be Jesus to them?

Think about that the next time you require mercy. Will you be willing to change?