Father Mike Snyder gives Communion to a woman in Tanzania.
Years ago I was stationed in a town parish in northwestern Tanzania near the Kenyan border. The church compound was located next to the town market. It was Saturday, the weekly market day, when people from the surrounding villages would come to town to both buy and sell their goods.
It was early afternoon and the town was buzzing with activity. All of a sudden there was some commotion. I went out to see what was happening and as I did a naked young man went running by the church compound. A few minutes later there was more commotion. I opened a gate in our parish house that gave entrance to a courtyard with a garden and place for parking vehicles. There was a group of about 15 people dragging a woman in the middle of them. Her clothing was tattered. As I looked on I found that I knew the woman and in the crowd around her was her husband. They saw me and that the gate was open and so turned and entered the compound. They told me that the woman had been caught in a lodging with that young man who had run away naked. I realized I was a bit in a state of shock. Instantly the Gospel reading of the woman caught in adultery came to me.
I welcomed everyone inside and closed the gate. As I have mentioned I knew the woman and her husband. They were both young, recently married and had already been blessed with children. They owned a small lodging in town and were doing well in the business. Now, standing in our courtyard the woman was trembling, breathing heavily, and obviously so afraid. I asked everyone to try to calm down. I wasn’t sure what to do and quickly decided to share the Gospel story with them. After finishing I continued to counsel everyone to remain calm, go home, and that I would visit the husband and wife the next day. Fortunately, everyone complied. The next day I did visit the couple and found there had been no further incidents of violence or trouble. As time marched on, they obviously reconciled and enjoyed a happy life together as mother and father in a blossoming family.
This incident took place 36 years ago but the memory is always with me whenever I read this gospel story: Let the one without sin be the first to throw the stone…. I don’t judge you … Go home and sin no more.