International Women’s Day was this past Tuesday, which I imagine most of you know. And March is Women’s History Month. In that context it seems particularly fitting that today’s Gospel features a woman publicly shamed in a culture that views women as property rather than as persons. Women’s history, past and present, is filled with gender-specific violence done as a direct result of women being classified as ‘property.’ In South Sudan, for example, a NY Times correspondent reports that army-affiliated militias are raping and abducting women and girls as PAYMENT for their work! In his article, [“Mass Rape a Common Weapon in South Sudan Conflict”] Nick Cumming-Bruce writes that these militias have an agreement with government forces allowing them to do what they want and take what they want. They “have stolen cattle and other property,” under this agreement, he says, in addition to abducting the women. Clearly the women and girls are seen merely as another possession that is theirs for the taking.
The woman standing before Jesus in today’s Gospel is also considered property. She is a pawn in the religious power game carried out by the scribes and Pharisees against Jesus. She has no meaning to them other than as a lever for the trap they’ve set. She is a non-person in their world. How often have we seen this theme play out in the political discourse of our day? How often have we watched our church officials point fingers at victims of abuse while acting as though they themselves are guiltless? More importantly, how often have we judged someone else while being unable or unwilling to admit our own mistakes, even to ourselves? Have we ever demeaned someone else, even subtly, in a play for greater influence or value in the eyes of others? And as our own political system devolves into a megaphone of bigotry, depersonalizing others as a proposed step toward power, we can see the result of this ugly path writ large on TV screens across America. (more…)