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Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Jun 25, 2023

We are Never Forgotten

Isolation is one of the most damaging factors that impacts our mental and physical health and well-being. It doesn’t need to be as extreme as solitary confinement in a prison or torture center. Isolation socially creates lasting scars. A child who is rejected and teased by peers grows up feeling unworthy of love and respect. An adult whose ideas are regularly mocked begins to think they are just foolish whims, not accurate perceptions of reality. An older person with no family or friends is more likely to die early than one surrounded by both. A people whose customs are different from those of the other people among whom they live can easily become hesitant to continue those customary activities. This is especially true for younger members of the community. Isolation sets in and fears of being forgotten.

As humans, we are social beings. We share this quality with other primates and many, many other types of creatures. We need each other for support, for development of necessary skills, for the basics of survival, and for physical and mental health. Those who are isolated do not survive as long.

In the recent past, we have all had a taste of isolation from family and friends when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down our freedom to venture out without worry into the world outside our homes. The difficulties of being with the same people all the time or of being alone all the time was somewhat mitigated by our access to social media and the internet. Zoom parties, meetings, school classes, and even wedding receptions filled some of the holes in our social lives. Our parish stepped up with Zoom gatherings in which we played actively as household teams in trivia contests and scavenger hunts. We’re still laughing here about the time my daughter-in-law grabbed me and put me in front of the camera as “something in the house older than you are!” We won that point!

Prophets often find themselves in situations of isolation. Speaking truth to power does not typically go over well. Jeremiah, for example, didn’t want to be a prophet. He often complained to God about what a raw deal he had gotten in being called to prophesy. He tried hard not to speak, but the words burned within him until he simply had no choice but to let them out. And then, “I hear whisperings of many … all those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine.” (Jer 20:10-13) He was nearly killed for his telling of the truth he heard from the Lord about the coming conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Yet he remained faithful. “The Lord is with me, like a mighty champion.” He trusted that he was not forgotten and that he would experience vindication. The Lord “has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked!” The Lord is to be praised for supporting those who depend only on him. They will not be on their own to get by. They are not forgotten.

St. Paul reminded the people of Rome that human imperfection (aka sin) has been part of our experience from the very beginning. The story of the sin of Adam is a way of explaining both this imperfection and the death in all its forms that accompanies imperfection. Paul spoke as a teacher of the Law, from within the Jewish tradition, as he proclaimed the wonder of “the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ” whose willingness to die rather than deny the truth overcame death for all. When one human being chose not to obey God’s command, all who followed were also separated from God. But when one human being chose to obey and give himself for the truth, all who followed were freed of that separation from God, that death. It was the grace of God, given as a gift from Jesus, that overflows to all. (Rom 5:12-15) No one is forgotten or excluded. No isolation anymore!

Does this mean no one will be in danger anymore? Or that no one will feel alone? Or that everyone will welcome the prophet who comes speaking truth to power? Unfortunately, the answer must be “No.” However, when Jesus was sending out his disciples to witness to what they had seen in their time with him, he reassured them. “Fear no one.” Speak boldly of what you have heard whispered or in the dark. All is to be proclaimed to the world now. It may not be well-received, but don’t worry. Those who can kill the body can’t kill the soul. (Mt 10:26-33)

Jesus used a beautiful image to express the loving care of the Father. “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin! Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.” For the poor, a sacrifice of small birds rather than of a larger animal allowed for compliance with the requirement to offer sacrifice at such times as the birth of a first son. The sparrows are of little monetary value, but even they are treasured by the Father.

In another homely image, Jesus reminded his hearers that the Father even knows how many hairs are on each person’s head. I’ll guess that most of us have no idea how many that might be, even as our hair gets sparser with age.

“So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows,” he says. Speak the truth you hear from me. Admit that you are my friend and follower of my teachings. I will support you and acknowledge you when you meet my Father.

Jesus ends these instructions with a rather disturbing image. “Whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.” That would be pretty awful. However, it might be seen as a reminder that we all have a choice to be in union with God and others or to turn away. The Father never forces anyone to come for a hug of divine love. Neither does Jesus. It is always our choice to join with him or remain in isolation. When and if we turn back and acknowledge the Lord’s love, we will be welcomed. We won’t have been forgotten!

Today and this week, let’s pray that we will be open to see the Lord’s presence in our daily lives – through those we meet and the activities in which we are engaged. We are not alone. Even when we are by ourselves, the Lord is with us. May we always know the love of our family and friends. And may those who have been hurt or abused or otherwise traumatized and those who are suffering isolation and abuse right now, find a bit of healing and relief each day through the love and care of their friends.

Peace be with you. You are never alone or forgotten.

Readings for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Jun 4, 2023

Mystery of Mystery – The Trinity

The first Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate the greatest “unsolved mystery” of all, the Most Holy Trinity. God is One, Holy, Uncreated, Indivisible, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How this could be true has puzzled people for generations and likely will continue to puzzle those who are yet to be born. Yet this is the fundamental belief of our faith. God is creator of all. God became the human man, Jesus, who lived and died as a fully human man and was raised back to life by the Father. God comes as the Holy Spirit to enlighten and guide each of us. And this is just one God.

I don’t know if any of you who read this will have had this kind of experience, but my husband and I find ourselves talking about subjects like the Trinity from time to time. Most recently, I was washing dishes and he mentioned that he was thinking about what to include in his homily for this day. (He’s a deacon and preaches regularly in his parish.) Coincidentally, I had been thinking about the Trinity as well, wondering what to say in this week’s post. So we discussed the mystery of the Trinity over the dishes. I don’t know what he will share with folks at Mass, but here are my thoughts as developed since that brief conversation.

The readings this week don’t give us a lot of explanation, though the second letter from St. Paul to the Corinthians (2 Cor 13:11-13) ends with a blessing that we often use at the beginning of Mass. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” This is a clear statement of the early understanding of God as more than simply creator, but no more explanation of how it can be is given. It simply is the way it is, as understood by Christians by around 57 A.D. Who could ask for more than the grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit?

And yet, we are human. We continually ask why and how, from the time we are very, very young. (Parenthetically, one of my favorite songs is “Why Oh Why,” originally by Woodie Guthrie and modified and sung for children by Anne Murray. It’s worth a listen if you haven’t heard it. It concludes with the confession that the reason many questions can’t be answered is that “I don’t know the answer…”)

Part of the challenge, I think, is with the word we use – mystery. We’re used to thinking of a mystery as something to be solved. Classic examples are seen in the stories of Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, even the Perry Mason television shows of my childhood. Something has happened. Someone is dead or injured. “Who dunnit?”

However, the classic meaning of mystery in a religious sense is something that has been revealed and cannot be understood in human terms. The mystery of the Trinity is not something we can explain. We humans like order and logic. But that is not necessarily the ultimate reality. The ultimate reality is unbridled, unlimited love that overflows into creation, gives freedom to the created to love or not, and will do anything and everything to renew and sustain that bond of love. As Jesus told Nicodemus, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16-18)

From the very beginning of creation, when God looked at all of creation and pronounced it good, God is there, loving and guiding and coaxing humans to live in love. When humans choose not to love, or they get frightened and start following other ways, God doesn’t turn away and refuse to give another chance. On Mount Sinai in the desert, after the people had created idols of gold and Moses had broken the stones on which the Law was originally inscribed by God, the Lord met again with Moses. (Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9) What name did the Lord give to express his identity when he and Moses met again? “The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.” This is the name, the power, of our God – mercy, kindness, graciousness, fidelity.

God is complex. God is beyond our ability to name or otherwise confine. And we are made in God’s image. So I am daughter, mother, grandmother, woman, anthropologist, bookkeeper, insurance professional, blogger, Scout leader, teacher, wife, artist, lover of science, music, art, gardening, camping, and so much more. If one human being can wear so many hats, so many identities, and still be simply one person, I guess it’s OK for God to be the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

But enough logic and thinking deep thoughts for one day. Today is a day to rejoice in the mystery of God who is love and who comes to us in the ins and outs of our lives, always there, always hoping we’ll notice and enjoy.

Let’s just give thanks and enjoy this great mystery!

Readings for the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity – Cycle A

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on May 28, 2023

Like Wind and Fire – The Holy Spirit Comes

Images we often see of the Holy Spirit show a dove, wings outstretched and preparing to settle gently. The descriptions of Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan tell us that the Spirit hovered over or rested on him like a dove. All very gentle and peaceful. Yet the coming of the Spirit upended his life completely. He left his life as a village carpenter and went from the Jordan into the desert to pray. He emerged from the desert as a teacher, healer, prophet, Messiah.

Fifty days after the Resurrection, the Spirit came again. (Acts 2:1-11) This time, it wasn’t a quiet, gently-settling-like-a-dove event, though how gently a dove settles as it lands is another question. There was a sound “like a strong driving wind” and “tongues of fire” that rested on each of Jesus’ followers who were still gathered together in Jerusalem, praying. The disciples were “filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues” that were heard and understood by visitors from all over the world. And of what were they speaking in these tongues, these languages? “The mighty acts of God.”

It’s quite a contrast.

Winds, fire, earthquakes, floods, and other natural events that are destructive have consistently been interpreted by peoples around the world as having been caused by divine beings. We see again and again the myths/stories of gods sending fires, thunderbolts, mighty winds, and other terrifying forces when they are angry with each other or the people who worship them. This includes stories we see in the Bible as well. Our ancestors in faith also used stories to explain the powerful and mysterious movements of nature and of human experience. As we have grown in understanding of the forces of nature, the rules of physics, the workings of human psychology, and more, we have developed other ways of explaining what we experience. However, the power of nature when it is raging still brings us to silence.

Over the past few years, we have seen up close and personal the power of fire and the power of wind here on the Central Coast of California. When the fires consumed the forests on the hills and mountains of our region a few years ago, the skies were blackened all day and the sun shining through was the color of a blood orange. Blessedly, the fog returned before too many days and cleaned the air, but it was an enduring experience. Folks who don’t live beside the ocean don’t get such a blessing as fog when they are going through this kind of fire experience. It lasts a lot longer.

When the ocean stormed and the cliffs collapsed into the sea last winter, we saw the power of water. When the winds howled and trees fell over or went “surfing” down hillsides, we saw the power of wind and flood. The landscape was changed. We were also changed. Now when I hear an electric bus climbing up a hill during the night in a big city, I find myself waking and wondering if it’s the wind blowing again and if everyone is OK.

The coming of God into the world is a powerful thing. From the beginning of creation, when our creation story says a mighty wind swept over the waters before there was even light, God has acted with power. (Gn 1:1-3) One of the words used in the original language to describe the movement of the Spirit over the waters in creation conveys the image of a bird flapping its wings and beating its feet against the water to take off in flight or of a bird flying so close to the water that the water itself is stirred up. A word of God brings light to a world that waits in darkness for the divine breath/power to awaken all of creation.

The coming of the God, the Spirit, awakens change. Sometimes God’s presence is revealed quietly, as when Elijah encountered God on the mountainside, not in wind or fire but in a quiet breeze. (1Kgs 19:9-13) Sometimes it’s like a mighty wind and tongues of fire as at Pentecost. But whether through a quiet breeze or a mighty wind, God’s coming into our lives brings powerful change.

The disciples were empowered to tell of all they had seen after the Spirit came upon them. They spoke in tongues, they began to heal people, they preached fearlessly, and eventually, they took the message of God’s love and presence out into the ancient world. It has come to us through the ages.

Did it all end then? Did the Spirit never do anything more for the community? Would God be like a clock-maker who set all going and then simply sat back to watch it work? Not by a long shot.

God has continued to be present in the world. This is the time of the Holy Spirit, a time of action and witness. We continue to receive the Spirit’s gifts: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel/Knowing right from wrong, Fortitude/Courage, Knowledge, Piety/Reverence, Fear/Awe of the wonder of God. These gifts are given to help us, to give us the power to speak of what we have seen and experienced of God’s love and care for us and our world.

We each receive specific callings as well. Some are to preach. Others are to teach. Some are to care for God’s little ones. Others are to lead in service. Many gifts, many works. All, as St. Paul reminds us, are part of the Body of Christ here today. (1 Cor 12:3b-7,12-13) We all share of the same Spirit, breathed out long ago (Jn 20:19-23) and upon each member of the community even today.

We celebrate today. We look forward to seeing where the Spirit will take us in this coming year. A holy year is coming soon – 2025 will be here before we know it. The Synod process is continuing. Our leaders are listening to what members of the community have shared of their hopes and dreams for the church and its future direction in service. We continue to gather together at Eucharist to give thanks for all the gifts we have received and to be strengthened to continue in service to the world.

Power has come upon us. Quietly or dramatically, lives are changed and hope renewed.

“Come Holy Spirit, come!” Renew the face of the Earth!

Readings for the Feast of Pentecost

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on May 21, 2023

Transition Times – Ascension

A consistent rule in life and time is the reality that things change. Transitions invariably occur. People are born. People grow up. People die. Even mountains, valleys, continents, planets, and solar systems change over time.

As humans, we typically use words to describe the variety of stages in which each part of creation is found at any given moment. The development of awareness of self and other is a huge part of growth for infants. When the first smiles come, when the first smile at the baby in the mirror appears, when awareness of strangers pops up, when the first “Mama” or “Dada” is voiced – all are moments of joy for parents and family to witness. Each milestone is a transition on the way to full sharing in the human experience. Each of us has passed through these transitions and more. We rejoice in witnessing and celebrating them.

For Jesus and the disciples, transitions were also characteristic events in life. Jesus went a step farther in the transitions of his life. He rose from death to new life. And he came back to bring the news to his friends… Death is not the end of life. Death is a transition. The Son has returned to the Father. His sisters and brothers will share in this transition too, returning to the Father.

But did the story end there? The Savior has come, died, risen, and appears among us once in a while and that is the end of the story? No, not by a long shot. God had other plans.

Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection were just the beginning. Now it was time to share this Good News of reconciliation between humanity and Creator. Time to let even more people know how loved they are and how gifted they are to share in God’s life (a.k.a. grace). God had not yet finished the project. And God needed/wanted more folks to share in it.

This is what we celebrate with the Feast of the Ascension. Jesus has come, shared the Good News with his friends, died, and risen. He has met with them again and explained more of what has happened. They are beginning to get a sense of the wonder and reality of it. But they are still afraid to say much about it. Who would ever believe it? They know what happens to prophets.

Forty days after the resurrection, Jesus met his friends again on a mountain top – the traditional place of encounter with God. He told them to remain in Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Spirit who would come from the Father. They would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. (To be baptized means to be plunged into something and emerge transformed.) Through this baptism, they would receive power to become witnesses, first in Jerusalem, then branching out to Judea and Samaria and ultimately “to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:1-11)

A transition. No longer silent, fearful witnesses. Now they are to become bold witnesses, filled with the Spirit of wisdom and revelation who know God personally. The eyes of their hearts will be enlightened and hope based on being part of those called to new life will fill their lives. They will share what they have seen. (Eph 1:17-23)

But on this day, Jesus had been taken from their sight. Two men dressed in white appeared and reassured them that he would return in the same way one day. That’s all they knew.

They returned to Jerusalem as instructed, to wait for his return. Down through the centuries even to our days, Jesus has not yet returned in glory on the clouds in judgement over all the earth. (God’s time is very different than human time.) Nevertheless, in Jerusalem those many years ago, something very important was about to happen. The Holy Spirit was coming. It was time to wait and pray. Whenever the Spirit comes upon humans, amazing things happen. But the disciples didn’t know that yet.

This week we wait with them. We pray for the coming of the Spirit in our lives and times as well.

Sometimes folks have been told that the Spirit doesn’t come upon people today in the same way. “Don’t expect anything special to happen in your life with God today.” But that is not actually true. The Spirit is still active. The Spirit still guides the Church, the People of God. The Spirit still is teaching us better ways to love and serve each other as faithful children of God, sisters and brothers of the Lord. Keep your eyes, ears, and heart open. Transition times are here once more. Wondrous things are afoot!

Readings for The Ascension of the Lord – Cycle A

Image is from the Rabbula Gospels, a Syriac manuscript completed in 586 at Monastery of St. John of Zagba.

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on May 14, 2023

Good News Travels Far

We have become accustomed in our contemporary world to the fact that events great and small around the world are quickly reported in our news sources. A lot of what we hear is about unfortunate events, but we hear about some of the happy ones too. Coronations and elections are broadcast around the world for anyone to see. The aftermath of earthquakes, floods, wars, and shootings are also seen by millions. News travels far and fast.

In the months after Jesus’ resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit, events also moved quickly. Large numbers of people were baptized and entered the community of Followers of the Way. They weren’t yet called Christians. That came later. The community’s life was centered in Jerusalem and included people who were native to Palestine and those who came from Greece and other areas. All were living as one big community. They worshipped in the Temple, and broke bread in their homes.

As the community grew, a few people were selected as deacons to attend to the mundane details of managing such a large and diverse community. The most famous of them was probably Stephen, who was the first to die as a martyr. A fierce persecution of the community began shortly afterwards and many folks moved out of Jerusalem.

One of the deacons, Philip, went to Samaria. He told everyone he met about Jesus and the Resurrection. He performed miracles as he went through the countryside, healing many and teaching. Many people asked for baptism and joined the community of believers. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard of Philip’s work and of the conversion of the people in Samaria, Peter and John went to join him. They prayed over the new believers and asked that the Holy Spirit be poured out over them too. They laid hands on them as they prayed, and the Spirit came upon them. (Acts 8:5-8, 14-17)

In this description of the conversion of the Samaritans, we see the historic roots of the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. Baptism is typically the entry point into the life of the Christian community. But there was and is more to Christian initiation. The Holy Spirit comes in a special way to Christians, bringing gifts that strengthen their faith and help them bear fruit as followers and companions of Jesus. When the apostles and their successors, our bishops, lay hands on the baptized and anoint them with Chrism (the holy oil), the Spirit flows into their lives in a special and deeply powerful way. Philip, the deacon, baptized. Peter and John, the apostles, confirmed the newly baptized. All shared in the breaking of the bread, a prayer that has characterized the Christian community from the very beginning. Together these three practices, Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist, bring Christians into their new life and sustain their faith in their daily activities.

Jesus had promised his disciples that he would not leave them orphans when he returned to the Father. Rather, he would ask the Father to send another one, another Advocate, to remain with the community and its members forever. This Advocate would be the Spirit of truth, unrecognized by the world at large, but remaining always with believers; guiding and strengthening them in their journey of faith. (Jn 14:15-21)

It is the Spirit who continues to guide us today. The Spirit helps us live in hope, with gentleness and reverence, doing good things for others and caring for our world and those with whom we share it. The Spirit gives us strength to carry on when we face opposition or disbelief and helps us to bring about positive change in our world. In choosing the path of goodness, we live our witness to our life in Christ. (1 Pt 3:15-18) When that witness is challenged but remains faithful, powerful change is planted in soil that hungers for goodness. As time passes, the fruit of the Spirit, the holy breath of God, blossoms into the world.

Are we there yet? Has heaven come to Earth yet? No. Not yet. But is it coming? Yes. Slowly but surely, the Good News of our Lord travels into our worlds of home, work, and play.

We are still in Easter Season. Still learning with the disciples of the gifts that Jesus wants to share with us. In just a couple of weeks we will celebrate Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit. Until then, let us rejoice in the wonder of the Resurrection and the promise of Jesus not to abandon us or run off to some distant Heaven and forget us.

Jesus is alive and well and present among us. Look around and see him. See the good works that spring from his life in us. Watch as good news touches the lost and those who are forgotten in our world. Celebrate the small victories. Hope for the longer-term ones and do what you can to move forward toward them.

Good News travels far. It has come to us over many centuries and thousands of miles. May we continue to pass it forward through our lives and words.

Readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter – Cycle A

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Apr 23, 2023

Walking Together on the Road to Emmaus

The morning after… Most of our lives are passed with relatively few surprises or major transitions happening on any given day. Each day follows the one before it in a predictable way and we don’t spend a lot of time going over it in our minds or talking about it with family and friends. But once in a while, something major happens. There is a transition and nothing is the same. It is the morning after and everything is different.

In Anthropology, we speak of these times as liminal times, from the Latin word for threshold. The term comes from the experience we commonly have of passing through a doorway, over a threshold between two different places. On one side of the door, for example, we experience the warmth of the kitchen and home. On the other side, we are in the stormy weather of winter. Passing through the door is a liminal experience of a very ordinary sort.

Rites of passage, in which an individual moves from one social status (child) to another (adult) for example, were some of the first transitions identified and studied as liminal experiences. They may take place over a period of days. Once the ritual begins, the persons who are transitioning are neither who they were originally, nor who they will be at the end. They are inside the threshold.

Many kinds of transitions today are recognized as liminal, including times of political and social transitions. The days and weeks following the birth of a child or the death of a family member or friend are examples of liminal times. Nothing is quite the same as it was before. Everything gets experienced in a new way and everyday ordinary things no longer feel quite the same.

The time between Jesus’ death and Pentecost were in many ways a time of liminality for his friends as well. Their friend/teacher/master had been executed. They had hoped he was the one who would bring freedom from domination by a foreign power and new hope for the nation. But he had been executed and buried. Now some women were saying he was alive again! How foolish could a person be! They must be hysterical. But still, a few of the men had gone to the tomb to check out the women’s story and they didn’t find his body there either. They didn’t see him, though a woman said she had seen him in the garden. What were they to believe? It couldn’t possibly be true. Best just go home and face the music from family and friends who had said all along that they were fools to go tramping around the country following a “prophet.”

As they walked along, talking about all of this, a stranger joined them. He asked what they were discussing. When they told him, the stranger began to explain the events from the perspective of their own religious history and traditions. So many things began to make sense.

It was getting late and time to stop for the night. The stranger agreed to stop too and they ordered dinner. When the food arrived, the stranger offered the blessing, but in a way that opened their eyes. He took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, just as Jesus had done at the Last Supper. In that instant they knew who he was and he vanished from their sight. They recognized him in the breaking of the bread.

They didn’t waste any time. They got up and returned to Jerusalem to tell the others. Upon their arrival, they were greeted with “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon.” (Lk 24:13-35)

Fifty days after the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit blew into town, igniting a whole new time in their lives and the world. No longer frightened and hiding away from the authorities, they went out into the world and spoke boldly of what they had seen of God’s actions through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. They proclaimed their belief that God had raised Jesus to life again and poured the Holy Spirit forth into his followers and the world. It was a new day, a new world, a new reality for all. (Acts 2:14,22-33)

Did the period of liminality end then? In one respect, yes. The initial phase of it did anyway. The disciples headed out into the world, telling everyone what they had seen and learned of God’s love for humanity. There were many controversies along the way. Much to learn and sort out about living this new way as a community of faith.

We have letters from some of the original leaders and teachers that give us a peek at what was going on in those early days. Some were written by the individuals whose name is on the letter. Others were written by people who learned from the one to whom the letter is attributed. The letters continually remind the community of the great love of God in sending Jesus, like a spotless lamb, to restore the relationship between humanity and the creator.

For a pastoral people whose history included centuries of offering lambs in sacrifice to God and whose very survival and exodus from Egypt involved the sacrifice of a lamb and the placing of its blood on the door frame, the image of Jesus as a lamb offered in sacrifice to restore the relationship with God made perfect sense. We see it again and again in the letters. Peter reminds us all that we are to behave with reverence while we live, remembering that we have been saved from the old behavioral traps and set free to love because of the sacrifice of “the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb.” (1 Pet 1:17-21)

Nevertheless, the time of liminality is not yet over and done. The final days have not yet arrived. The community of followers of Jesus continues to share the good news with those among whom they live. Controversies continue to arise. We need to be reminded to speak the truth we hear boldly, and to listen equally deeply to others as they speak of what they have known and experienced. We live and learn. We share our hopes and dreams. We listen to the hopes and dreams of our sisters and brothers around the world. We ask the Holy Spirit to move among us today and in the days to come as well, that we too be energized and empowered to speak of God’s great love to all those we meet and to share it in concrete ways of service.

As we move through our days, we find ourselves meeting the Lord in unexpected times and places. He is present in the stranger who is kind to us when we are in a new town, or the friend who calls with a word of encouragement when times are hard, or the child who smiles at us while we wait in line at the grocery store. He is also in the un-housed person begging for spare change whom we pass on the street or the clerk at the local store who works the late shift and hopes the children at home are all right. We all walk on the road to Emmaus each day. When and where will we meet the Lord? When and how will we share the Lord’s love with our sisters and brothers?

“Were our hearts not burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” May these be our words too, as we watch for and listen to the Lord whom we meet in our daily travels along the way of life.

Readings for the Third Sunday of Easter

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Apr 16, 2023

That You May Have Life in His Name

The Gospel According to John concludes with the statement that “Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.” The signs that have been included were selected to help others believe “that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” and as a result have “life in his name.” There is an Appendix that was added at some point after these final words from the twentieth chapter, but most scholars agree that the Appendix was written by someone else.

John divided his account of the Good News of Jesus’ life into two sections: The Book of Signs and The Book of Glory. The Gospel opens with the famous Prologue, “In the beginning was the Word.” The book of Genesis begins with the same phrase, “In the beginning.”

The Book of Signs starts with Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan River and concludes with his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The Book of Glory begins with the washing of the feet of his disciples and a long teaching on love and trust in God at the Last Supper. It continues through his passion, death, resurrection, and appearances to his friends, including Mary Magdalene in the garden.

The story of Jesus’ appearance to his friends in the locked room on Easter Sunday night and his return visit a week later when Thomas was present as well, are the final stories of the Book of Glory. (Jn 20:19-31) In these two stories, Jesus appears among his friends without warning or notice of any kind. He is simply and suddenly there with them. His first word to them each time is the greeting, “Peace be with you.” This peace is a deeply existential peace. No matter what happens, this peace will remain. It is a peace that is lived. It is a peace that brings healing and forgiveness – a peace that leads to community and life. His words to Thomas sum up nicely Jesus’ love for all those who would never meet him in person but who would become his followers through the centuries: “Blest are they who have not seen and have believed.” The Resurrection peace of Christ extends to each of us as well.

On the Feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit blew into the lives of the disciples in a very special way. They stopped being afraid and hiding from the authorities. Instead, they stepped into the public eye and began to witness boldly to their experience of Jesus’ coming and his resurrection. Many people believed their witness and began to gather together to live as a community. St. Luke describes their lives in the first part of the Acts of the Apostles. They shared what they had, cared for those who had little, gathered to pray at the Temple, broke bread in their homes as Jesus had instructed them to do, and shared their meals together. The community grew rapidly and shared a sense that they had been saved and given new life through the teaching and sacrifice of Jesus. The resurrection changed everything. New life was theirs. (Acts 2:42-47)

As the community grew and spread into other areas, the sense of new birth and a living hope through Jesus’ resurrection became a characteristic of its members. The letter of St. Peter (1 Pt 1:3-9) reminds those who believe in Jesus that an imperishable inheritance is waiting for those who remain faithful. Through their trust and perseverance in loving Christ, they will reach their goal, the “salvation of your souls.” The teachings of those who were witnesses to the actions and teachings of Jesus have led those who were not present to share the same faith with those who were. And all will have “life in his name.”

It has been one week since we began our celebration of the Resurrection. Will Jesus be present in our homes at the end of this day? Where and how will we see him? How will we offer forgiveness to each other for times we have been hurt? How will we seek forgiveness for the times we have hurt others? And as loved and forgiven sisters and brothers of Jesus, where is the Lord sending us? To whom will we bring the good news of God’s love?

Readings for the Second Sunday of Easter

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Mar 12, 2023

Water: Cool, Clear, Water

My father loved the music of a group called Sons of the Pioneers. The refrain of one of their songs, Cool Water, included the phrase, “Water, water – cool, clear water.” The song told the story of at least two people traveling in a desert, presumably in the American West. One of them was hallucinating due to dehydration, seeing “big green trees and the water running free and it’s waiting there for me and you.” The other assured him that what he was seeing was not really there.

The song has been running through my head today as I think of the readings from Exodus, John’s Gospel, and Paul’s letter to the Romans. Water and God’s care for us run through them as a theme.

The Hebrew people had escaped from slavery in Egypt. They had crossed through the Red/Reed Sea. They had experienced the cleansing of bitter water at one place in the desert so they were able to drink it. Another time, when there was no food, God sent manna and quail each day for them to eat. Then they arrived at a place that came to be known as Massah and Meribah. (Ex 17: 3-7)

There was no water for this large group of people to drink. People can’t last long without water. Why had Moses led them out from Egypt to die of thirst in the desert? Moses appealed to God for help and was told to take the same staff with which he had struck the river and parted the sea and to use that staff to strike the rock in Horeb. The Lord promised to be there in front of him as he struck the rock. Water would flow from the rock for the people to drink.

In the presence of the elders of the people, Moses struck the rock and water flowed forth, demonstrating once again that God was with them on their journey.

Many years later, Jesus and his friends were traveling through Samaria, another dry land. They stopped in the town of Sychar, the location of Jacob’s well. (Jn 4:5-42) This town had been given to Joseph by his father, Jacob, in ancient times.

Jesus waited beside the well while the rest went into town to buy food. A woman came to the well to draw water for the day. It was the wrong time of the day for a respectable woman to come to the well. Respectable women came early in the day. She was not a respectable woman, as her conversation with Jesus later demonstrated. As it turns out, she had had five husbands and was now living with a man to whom she was not married.

Jesus asked her for a drink of water from the well. This was shocking. Men didn’t speak to women in public. Men didn’t ask strange women for water. Jews didn’t speak to Samaritans. But she didn’t run away. She challenged him, asking why he was asking her for water. Jesus answered that rather than question him, she would ask him for living water if she knew who he was.

Two things pop out here to be noted. First, living water in those days meant running water, not that from a well. Secondly, John’s gospel assumes that Jesus knew what he was doing at critical points in his ministry. His actions were signs to let the world know that he, the Word of God, had come into the world and spoke with authority.

When Jesus spoke of living water, she assumed he meant running water. But there was none there, only well water. So, she challenged him. “Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us this cistern…?” But Jesus didn’t back off. “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again…” He told her that the water he would give would quench thirst forever and continue to grow within the person who drank it. It would lead to eternal life.

The conversation went on for quite a while. It ranged from her marital history to where people were supposed to worship and the dawning realization on the woman’s part that this man might be the anointed one of God, the Christ. She called the rest of the town to meet him. Jesus and his friends stayed in that town for several days. As Jesus told his friends, God’s harvest of people for eternal life was ready. It was time to spread the word, to reap the harvest sown for centuries in the hearts of the people.

It all started with a request for a drink of water. Cool, clear water in the middle of a hot day of walking.

By the time Paul came on the scene, Jesus had died and risen again. The community was growing and spreading outside Palestine. He had been part of spreading the word well beyond the original lands and was now writing to the community at the heart of the Roman Empire. The Church of Rome. (Rom 5:1-2, 5-8) And what was his message?

Paul wanted all to know that God is still loving and protecting each of us. Through God’s actions, the Holy Spirit of love has been poured into our hearts. Through Jesus’ death, we received the gift of reconciliation with God. We can live in right-relationship with God, the Most High. We can experience peace, harmony, tranquility in our relationship with God and with each other. All because God is present among us and pouring out the grace, the share in divine life, that makes our restored relationship possible.

Water comes and goes in everyday life. Some years we have plenty of it. Some years it is scarce. In some parts of the world, rain is a daily reality. In other areas, an inch or less a year is all that is normally expected. This year in California, we’ve had massive amounts of rain in just a few months. We have a Mediterranean climate, which in part means we have a rainy season and a dry season. Most years, rainy season is relatively mild. This year, when there’s only an inch and a half of rain in 24 hours, it seems like a small amount! Why, one day there were three inches!

But through it all, we need water to drink. We thirst for water. We thirst for other things too. Power, prestige, security, friendship, respect, love… The list can go on and on. What do you thirst for? What do I thirst for? Do we thirst for the cool, clear water of eternal life?

Lent is a time to ask ourselves these questions.

And when the Lord appears in our lives, in his many disguises, will we be ready to receive living water from him?

Readings for the Third Sunday in Lent – Cycle A

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Mar 5, 2023

Light Shining Forth

Abram was a shepherd, from Ur of the Chaldees (in contemporary Iraq). Jesus was a carpenter from Nazareth in the Galilee. Paul was a tent maker from Tarsus, a city in Cilicia to the north of Syria who had become a student and teacher of the Law in Jerusalem. Each heard God’s call and responded in faith.

Abram had already left his homeland with his flocks and family and was living in Haran, an area that is now part of Türkiye. He heard the Lord’s call to move south to Shechem in the land of Canaan. (Gn 12:1-4a) This was a big deal. Gods were believed to be local to a geographic area. Yet his God was telling him to go to a new area, where the people worshiped other gods. God promised that a great nation would grow from this man who had no children at the time. Abram took God at his word and moved his family south. Much to his relief, I imagine, God was present in the new land too.

Just as God had promised, Abram became the father of not one but two great peoples, the Arabs and the Jews. And through his obedience to the call, blessings have come to all the communities of the earth.

Jesus too listened to God’s voice calling him at his baptism in the Jordan River. When he returned from his forty-day retreat in the desert, he began proclaiming the good news that the kingdom of God was at hand. The time had come in which the people’s relationship with God would be mended. The signs of this new kingdom would include the poor hearing good news, the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, those who were crippled being healed. It was a different kind of kingdom than the one expected by his contemporaries. But many people followed him. It wasn’t every day that one could see a healer at work or hear new teachings.

Jesus had some very close friends with whom he shared the last three years of his life. He took three of them up on a mountain one day. (Mt 17:1-9) Mountains in Scripture are often places where God meets people. This was no exception. On this day, both Moses (representing the Law) and Elijah (representing the Prophets) appeared and spoke with Jesus about what was coming. His friends were astounded. Jesus’ face was shining like the sun and his clothing was blazing white. They rightly understood that God was present in that moment, his light shining through Jesus. Peter suggested that three tents could be set up, so Moses, Elijah, and Jesus would have a comfortable place to stay. Then they heard God’s voice telling them that this was his beloved son, to whom they should listen. This confirmed God’s presence there and they were afraid. They fell to the ground in worship.

The moment passed. Jesus touched them. Instructed them to get up. And as they went back down the mountain, he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until after he had risen from the dead. Of course, they had no idea what that meant, but we’ve all been told about it now – after the Resurrection.

Paul too had an encounter with the Risen Jesus. Another brilliant light experience. He was blinded for a few days afterwards. Then he got busy and devoted the rest of his life to telling what he had learned and experienced of God’s love and presence. He traveled through much of the ancient world between Jerusalem and Greece, all the way to Rome. His letters tell us today what he learned of God’s call and support for each of us in living the new way of love and service. (2 Tim 1:8b-10) He reminds us that God is the one who called us and will support us through any and all hardships that come our way as a result of following Jesus.

When I was in grade school, some of my teachers told us that we shouldn’t expect great or outstanding things to happen to us as followers of Christ. The miracles pretty much had all happened long ago.

For the most part, we do go through our lives with few surprise interventions from the divine world. At least, we don’t notice them most days. The sun rising, the moon and stars at night, the smiles of those we love, the people with whom we interact – all seem very normal. Nothing special there, folks.

Yet I believe we sell ourselves and our lives short when we say it’s all just ordinary. Amazing things still happen. God touches people directly and indirectly even today. We don’t talk about it much, but it happens.

There is a light shining just below the surface of the world around us. We don’t see it most of the time. But there are moments when it breaks through. A child races down the sidewalk to give us a hug. A friend calls just to say hello. The clouds pick up the sun’s rays at just the right moment to paint the sky with shades of rose. A bird greets us when we walk out the door in the morning, then picks up the treat it has just found and hides it in a neighbor’s gutter, planning to come back and enjoy more of it later. (No kidding. I watched a crow do just that a couple of weeks ago!)

Remember the words of the song, “You light up my life…” Remember the times you have seen someone’s face light up with delight. We speak of lighted faces. God is shining through those faces, smiling at each of us. May we each day be open and transparent enough in our interactions with others that God’s smile shines through us as well.

Abram, Jesus, and Paul were not the only ones whom God has called to go forth and bring blessing to the world through our lives. He calls ordinary people in all ages, including each of us too. The light continues to shine forth. Not as brightly as it did through Jesus at the Transfiguration, but enough that it can be noticed as a calming, reassuring, and powerful sign of love.

Here’s to the light!

Readings for the Second Sunday of Lent – Cycle A

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Feb 26, 2023

The Trickster in the Garden

A common feature in stories told in culture after culture around the world is the presence of a trickster. The trickster is a character who is always up to some mischief. All is well in the world. People or animals are getting along well with each other. Things are happy and peaceful. Then the trickster appears (Coyote, Fox, Hare, Spider, Raven, Hermes, Loki, and many others) and begins whispering things into the ears of the characters in the story. These things may or may not be true. Often they are not strictly true, but they raise questions in the minds of those who hear them. Sometimes they might even be what the listener wishes were true, so they become easier to believe.

In our Judeo-Christian religious tradition, we also find a trickster. Two creation stories are found in the book of Genesis, the first collection of stories telling of the relationship between God and humans. The first tells the story in terms of seven days of God’s creative activity, which culminate in a day of rest, as God sees all of creation and pronounces it good. It’s a lovely story. Humans are created in the divine image. Males and females are equally created in God’s image and are placed in a position of responsibility to care for the rest of creation.

A lovely story, but somehow, it didn’t quite answer some fundamental questions. Why don’t people all get along? Why do bad things happen to people? Why is life hard?

In the second story of creation (Gen 2:7-9; 3:1-7), God creates a human being from the clay of the earth. Then God creates a beautiful garden and animals and all the rest, to live in the garden. Finally, because the human is lonely, God takes a bone from his side and forms it into a companion for him. This companion is his equal, because she was formed from his rib. They live happily together in the garden, until the trickster arrives.

In this story, the trickster is a serpent, a cunning animal. The serpent begins whispering into the ear of the woman that God has forbidden them to eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil because they will become like God if they do. But what would be the matter with knowing the difference between good and evil? So the woman tastes the fruit and convinces the man, the Adam, to do so as well. And they begin to understand and experience the entire range of possibilities between the absolute good and its opposite. They begin to experience shame and fear. They make clothing for themselves and hide from God. They are separated from the absolute trust and comfort of their former relationship with each other and with God. They come to understand and experience separation from absolute love. It is a form of death, death of the former relationship.

Sadly, to protect them, God escorts them out of the garden and into the world that is no longer perfect. They cannot return to the childlike innocence of that garden any more than we who are older than about nine years of age can return to the innocence of our younger years as long as we are healthy people. But God does not abandon them. God gives them the gifts and tools they will need to grow in wisdom in their lives together.

Jesus too met a trickster. After his baptism in the Jordan River, he went into the desert to fast and pray. His baptismal experience had been a deep and transformative moment. The Holy Spirit of the Most High had settled on him and he had heard the Lord’s voice proclaim that he was the Lord’s beloved son. One doesn’t just go home to the carpenter shop after such an event.

In the desert, he was approached by a stranger, a trickster, a deceiver. ( Mt 4:1-11) This tempter suggested, “If you are the Son of God…” Jesus could provide for his own comfort by turning stones into bread. Or Jesus could gain great fame by throwing himself down from the top of the temple and trusting that angels would catch him. The trickster quoted scripture to make his case. Each time, Jesus responded with another scriptural reference that overruled the one given by the opponent. Finally, the tempter offered Jesus power over all the world if he would just bow down and worship him. Jesus firmly rejected that option, sending the tempter away with a reminder that only the Lord is to be worshiped. At that the trickster left him and angels came to comfort and minister to Jesus. And thus began his public life.

Jesus didn’t fall for the lies of the trickster. And because he didn’t fall for the lies of the trickster, a new beginning came to the world and its people. Just as with the first humans, pain, suffering, anger, hatred, and all of the negative, unloving things came into human life, when Jesus turned away the lies of the trickster, a new beginning opened to all of us. We as humans could be reunited with our loving creator, the Lord, the Most High.

St. Paul (Rm 5:12-19) speaks of the actions of Adam and Eve as sin and notes that even before humans received the Law through Moses, people were sinning. But it’s important to note that the word he used and that we translate as sin means to take an arrow from a quiver, aim at a target, and miss the mark. Humans are prone to miss the target. Jesus didn’t miss it. And because he didn’t miss, the gift of life was returned to us all.

As we travel through Lent this year, let’s agree to keep our eyes and hearts open so that we notice when the trickster is trying to trip us up. Let us join Jesus in sending away any voices that coax us to make wrong choices and instead focus on seeing God’s presence in the lives of those around us. Let us become people of peace and joy who actively reach out in love as we go through our days. On the way to work. In the line at the grocery store. When a child interrupts our rest or relaxation. And in all the many ups and downs of our days.

We may still meet the Lord God in a garden: the garden of our daily lives.

Readings for the First Sunday of Lent – Cycle A

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Feb 19, 2023

Be Holy

Be Holy.

Two simple words, but what a challenge to obey them! The Lord instructed Moses to speak to the community of Israelites and tell them, “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.”

What does it mean to be holy? The book of Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew scriptures. In this book, the many rules and regulations for how the people are to live are laid out. In this particular chapter (19:1-2, 17-18), there is a listing of things (in verses 3 -16) that many of us would recognize as part of the Ten Commandments. We don’t hear that whole list in the selection for our reading today, however, only the command to love our fellow humans as we love ourselves. Hatred, anger, revenge, grudges – all are prohibited because they are not the way of love.

Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount also refers to the law as set forth in the books of Exodus and Leviticus when presenting the instructions for his followers. (Mt 5:38-48) He mentions the injunction that allows taking “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” from those who harm others. We hear that and are appalled at the thought of such punishment. Nevertheless, this statement from the ancient Law was actually a huge step forward in its time. It limited revenge for injuries inflicted on others to no more than what the one who was guilty had done to another. No more killing an entire village because one member had injured someone from another village or insulted someone more powerful!

Jesus takes it a step further. “Offer no resistance to the one who is evil,” and gives concrete examples from life as experienced in his community and by those to whom he spoke. For example, Roman soldiers were allowed to require people to help transport things for a mile, whether it was convenient for them or not. Jesus says, give them two miles rather than one mile. Some have suggested that in this, he was actually giving people a way to protest the law that required one mile. It put the soldiers into a difficult position, because they were left to explain why the person had carried the burden for two miles! Had they broken the rule themselves and forced the extra service? Whether that was it or not, the idea of giving extra service to the soldiers of a hated conquering nation was quite unheard of.

Then there’s that little bit about loving enemies… What a crazy idea. But Jesus insists. Anyone can love people who are friendly and treat them well. It’s much harder to behave lovingly to those who treat us badly. Still, Jesus points out, God doesn’t treat those who do evil badly. God treats all with the same gifts of sunshine and rain – the things they need to live.

If we love only those who love us, we are like everyone else. But to go that extra step (or mile) and be good and kind and loving to those who hurt us – well that is beyond the norm. That enters into the realm of the divine, the realm to which we are called. The realm of the Holy One.

St. Paul reminds the people of Corinth and the people of the world today that we are the new temple of God, because the Spirit of God lives within us and within our community. (1Cor 3:16-23) As part of that temple, we ourselves are holy too. But how to be holy? It’s not through the ordinary wisdom for getting ahead in life. In the eyes of God, that is foolishness. We are called to embrace God’s foolishness – that of caring for others, loving enemies, helping those in need. Every member of the community has a responsibility to every other member. Each person belongs to us as family, we belong to Christ as family, and Christ to God. Here we find ourselves again, called to be holy, because God is holy and we belong to God.

So as we pass our days this week and enter into the holy season of Lent on Wednesday, let’s remember to look for the ways in which we get to practice the holiness of God by being loving and forgiving, patient and kind to all those we meet each day.

Readings for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Nov 20, 2022

A King with the Common Touch

Most of the time, we Americans don’t pay a lot of attention to what’s going on in the world of royalty, except for the times there are scandals or public disagreements among the royals. But this year was different. Queen Elizabeth of England passed away and we witnessed the transition of positions among members of her family. Her son Charles is no longer Prince of Wales. He is now King Charles. His own firstborn son is now next in line for the throne, becoming Prince of Wales. There was much pageantry, much emotion, and great interest in the process, not only in Great Britain, but around the world.

Part of the reason for so much interest in the lives of royalty is that most of us have lives that are far from royal. We are fascinated by the power and the privileges of these men and women. We don’t see the day-to-day reality of their lives as human beings behind the scenes of their royal duties. Privacy gets maintained for the most part by those who work in the palaces and for members of the royalty. But the freedom to slip out of the palace and go to the grocery store or down the street to the park on a short walk is not part of the reality and privilege of royal life. What we might call “the common touch” is not a general feature of life for kings, queens, and their families. They are kept in a royal bubble.

As we come to the last Sunday of our liturgical year, the question of kingship arises. This is the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, more commonly known as the Feast of Christ the King. What does it mean for us to say that Christ is King? We don’t have kings and queens whose actions affect our daily lives. The majority of humanity does not. Yet we speak of Jesus as King of the Universe.

This feast celebrates the reunion of the human with the divine. The readings remind us of the ways kingship and down-to-earth relationships with ordinary people go together in God’s world.

We begin with the story of how David, a former shepherd boy, came to be king of all the tribes of Israel. (2 Samuel 5:1-3) David was anointed by the prophet Samuel to be the second king of Israel while Saul was still king. He was the youngest son of his parents and not at all seen as a person who might one day be king. However, the Lord told Samuel that each of the older brothers was not the one He had chosen. Finally, after Samuel had met and rejected each of the older boys, David’s father called him in from tending the sheep. Samuel anointed him immediately and David went back to tend the sheep.

As time went on, David left the sheep to take supplies to his brothers in Saul’s army. There he defeated Goliath, then as time went on, led soldiers against the enemies of Israel, avoided being hunted down and killed by King Saul’s armies and allies, and eventually was asked to be king of some of the tribes. After Saul’s death, the leaders of the tribes joined together and asked him to be king of them all. They noted, “The Lord said to you, ‘You shall shepherd my people Israel and shall be commander of Israel.’” This man, who had literally been a shepherd, was entrusted with the care of all his people. There was no hereditary monarchy yet in Israel. Saul’s sons did not inherit their father’s throne automatically. A man with the common touch, who knew a life of caring for animals and people, became the leader and ruler of the tribes.

St. Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, (1:12-20) reminded his brothers and sisters to thank the Father for making them ready to share in the life of God’s kingdom, for rescuing them from the power of darkness and transferring them to the kingdom of the beloved Son. He quotes a beautiful statement of the role of Jesus in history: the image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation. Creation came about through him. All things are held together in him. He is the beginning, the firstborn, head of the church, the one who holds all together. And how can this be? “All the fullness was pleased to dwell” in him and “through him to reconcile all things for him.” Jesus, through his death, made peace between heaven and earth once again. This King, this word that brought all into being, didn’t hesitate to become a human being, a “common person.”

As Jesus hung on the cross, a sign was placed above his head. The sign read: “This is the King of the Jews.” It was a mocking notice to all who passed along the road that opposition to Roman rule would not be tolerated. Those passing by saw the sign and taunted Jesus, “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.”

St. Luke described the scene for us. (Lk 23:35-43) Two men were crucified with Jesus. One of them joined the folks who were taunting him, but the other spoke up. He reproached the other man and then spoke directly to Jesus. “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus did not look down on or condemn the man who was being executed for having committed a serious crime. Instead, he promised, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Jesus had the “common touch.” He was an ordinary person, who just happened to be the one in whom the fullness of God was also dwelling. He brought the Almighty and the created ones into union again. He was and is a King in the best sense of the word. He is also one of us, in the best sense of what that means.

Today we celebrate the gift of such a King. We are called to live as he did and help build the kingdom through our daily lives. He led the way. We follow and model our lives on his. And in times of trouble, he reaches out from the place of suffering that he experienced and holds us tight, helping us bear our pain and remain trustingly in his embrace, until we too are raised to new life. He did it for the thief on the cross. He does it for each of us too. We give thanks for this great gift.

Readings for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe – Cycle C

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Oct 16, 2022

For the Glory of God, or the Good of my Soul

God answers all prayers:
Sometimes He says Yes,
Sometimes He says No,
And sometimes He says …
You’ve got to be kidding!

These words graced a placard in my mother’s kitchen for many years. I’ve always liked it, though it arrived in the kitchen long after I had grown up, so was by no means a constant presence during my childhood and adolescence.

We hear often that we are to pray in good times and in bad. We are to ask God confidently for what we need. We are to believe with mustard-seed hope and move mountains through our faith.

Many examples of prayer and faith are before us in Scripture. One memorable case occurred not too long after the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea and begun their travels through the Arabian Peninsula. (Ex 17:8-13) Amalek, king of one of the peoples living there, led his soldiers in battle against the Israelites. Moses sent a younger man, Joshua, to lead a group of men out to battle against the Amalekites. He himself went up to the top of the hill, taking the staff of God with him. This was the staff which had been used before the Exodus to show God’s might to Pharaoh and convince him to let the people leave Egypt. It was the staff used to part the Red Sea as well. It was a sign of the presence of God with the people long before the tablets of the Law and the Ark of the Covenant came on the scene.

Moses took two men with him up to the hilltop, Aaron and Hur. He raised his hands in prayer to the Lord on behalf of the Israelite defenders. As long as his hands were raised in prayer, the Israelites were winning. When he tired and lowered his arms, the battle went against them.

As the hours dragged on, Moses got very tired and finally sat on a rock, with Aaron and Hur helping him hold up his arms in prayer. This made it possible for the physical manifestation of the prayer to continue. With this backing of faith and God’s help, Joshua and his men defeated Amalek and his people by sundown.

In this example of Moses in the desert, the physical action of raising hands in prayer is presented as essential to its efficacy. Does this mean that unless prayer is accompanied by physical action it will not work? Not at all. Prayer is any communication with God. It can be silent, still, and very personal. It can also be expressed physically and in groups through lifting up one’s hands, kneeling, dancing, singing, or other forms of movement.

Jesus was well aware that not all prayers are answered immediately or necessarily in the way the petitioner hopes or expects. Yet he encouraged his followers to continue praying and not give up or get tired of doing so. He told the story of a widow who had to deal with an unjust judge. (Lk 18:1-8) Widows had no real social standing and no one to support or advocate for them. Women had to have a man to protect and speak for them. This woman had no one.

The judge to whom she appealed for help in a case was not interested in anything but his own benefit. He had no interest in helping the powerless widow. After all, it could put him at a disadvantage in dealing with the powerful adversary she was facing. This would not be the first time something like this had happened, nor would it be the last.

But Jesus put a new twist to the story. The woman did not give up. She kept going before the judge and demanding justice. Finally, the judge got tired of her constant demands and appearances before him. He gave her what she wanted.

Jesus noted that God is not like that unjust judge. God cares about people and will pay attention to those who seek help. God will answer their prayers.

Then Jesus wonders, will the Son of Man actually find faith on earth when he returns? Son of Man is a title referring to the Chosen One of God. He used it in reference to himself and wonders if there will still be people who are following his teaching and work for justice when he returns again. Will people like you and me still be filled with faith and trying to live as he taught?

St. Paul touches on the same theme in the letter he sent from prison to Timothy. (2 Tim 3:14-4:2) He reminds Timothy and all of us of the examples and stories of faith and prayer passed down to us through the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as through the teachings of the apostles. We turn to Scripture for understanding of God’s presence in our lives and world and what that means for each of us. We learn from the stories of our ancestors in faith so we are ready to carry on the good work begun by those who came before us. Their example also helps us to persist in our beliefs and behavior, so that the kingdom will continue to grow and spread in our world. The work does not/did not end with the death of the apostles or even of the rest of the first believers. It continued through centuries and millennia, reaching even to our times.

So how do we deal with the reality that it doesn’t always seem that God hears or answers our prayers? A child might say, “I asked God to help me on the test, but I still couldn’t remember the answer!” An adult might pray for a child to return to church again. A person might pray for a better job or for the healing of the illness of a loved one. Many prayers are not answered the way we who offer them are hoping and/or expecting.

Yet there are times when after a great disappointment, and the seeming refusal of God to answer a prayer, something much better happens – something that is totally unexpected. A window opens when a door has slammed shut in our faces.

I go back to a key experience of my growing up years. We always attended a novena to St. Francis Xavier in March. My grandparents had shared this tradition with my parents when they were children and my own parents’ first date was to attend the Novena of Grace. Nearly every year we spent nine days celebrating the Novena. There were two prayers that were offered each day. The first is a prayer that includes mention (silently) of whatever the individual’s petition/request is. In the prayer, petitioners ask St. Francis to go to God and request a particular favor on their behalf. This is not a request for the saint to grant the request. It’s more like asking a big brother or sister to go talk to Mom or Dad on my behalf!

The prayer ends with a statement that I try to remember and encourage you to remember too. “But if what I ask is not for the glory of God, or the good of my soul, obtain for me what is most conducive for both.”

God answers all prayers. Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes the answer is “You’ve got to be kidding!” And to this I would add, sometimes it’s, “Try this instead, I think it will work out better for all.”

I think this is the mustard-seed faith we must have. We don’t always know what is best. God does. And even when we mess things up, God is still there, loving us and bringing something good to birth. And eventually, mountains move. We can count on it.

Readings for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Oct 9, 2022

Two simple words that open new worlds

Thank you.

These two simple words are among the most powerful in any language. As parents, we teach them to our children from the time they first begin to use words, along with “please” and “you’re welcome.” Even before they can speak the words, children who learn baby sign language can begin to use the signs for them correctly.

“Thank you” establishes a mutual relationship between two people. A gift has been given and received. In the acknowledgement of the giving and receiving, a relationship is established that with time becomes mutual. Sometimes I am the giver. Sometimes I am the receiver.

There are many ways to express gratitude. When in person, a big smile and the spoken words are very appropriate and common. When the giver and recipient are not together, it’s a bit more challenging. Phone calls, letters, texts, and so forth are all ways of conveying gratitude.

I think one of the big challenges we face as people who live in larger communities and not in small family villages is the best way to express our gratitude. The moment in which a gift is received is not always the one in which it is possible to offer a personal response of gratitude. Gifts are placed in the mail and sent around the country and the world. When they arrive, they are opened in the privacy of home. It’s not always possible to call the sender immediately. Then a day or two pass, then a week or two, then it gets embarrassing that so much time has passed and nothing sent to the one who has given us the gift. Sometimes we’re so overwhelmed by the generosity of the gift, that we don’t have the words to express our amazement and gratitude, so we delay until it seems too late to say anything. It’s not, but it feels that way and so we don’t.

Naaman finds healing

This challenge is not new to our lives and times. In the time of Elisha the prophet, Naaman, a military commander in the army of King Aram, suffered from a skin condition that was called leprosy. It may or may not have been the condition we now know as Hansen’s disease. Any condition that made the skin splotchy in color or with flaking or scaly texture was called leprosy. Lepers among Israelites had to live away from the community until their skin returned to a normal condition.

Naaman was not an Israelite. He was from a neighboring country. But one of the servants of his wife was a child who had been captured from an Israelite village during a raid. The child noticed his skin condition and suggested that Naaman might be healed by the Israelite holy man and prophet. Naaman traveled with his own king’s permission to visit the king of Israel and ask for healing. Eventually, he was directed to Elisha, whom he and his large retinue visited in the desert. Elisha did not come out to meet Naaman. Instead, he sent instructions that Naaman should go to the Jordan River and plunge into it seven times in order to be healed.

The Jordan River was not a pristinely clean waterway. It was muddy and not at all appealing. Naaman was used to beautiful, clean rivers. He felt quite insulted and was inclined to turn around and go directly home. Fortunately for him and for us, his advisers suggested that he give it a try. After all, if Elisha had asked him to do something hard, he would do it. Why not try the easy thing? So Naaman went to the Jordan and plunged into it seven times. When he emerged after the seventh plunge, his skin had been restored to the condition of a child. The lesions were all healed and the skin looked young again.

Naaman returned to Elisha to give his thanks and offer payment for the great gift he had received. Elisha refused to accept any payment. The healing was a free gift from the God of Israel. Elisha had simply been the channel through which the instruction had passed.

Naaman was blown away by this notion of God’s care and healing with no price attached. He asked Elisha to allow him to take two mule-loads of soil from Israel back to his home country. He intended to place the soil over the ground there and build an altar on top of it. In this way, he would be able to worship the God of Israel who had saved him. Elisha granted his request.

Why did he need to take soil with him, you ask? Well … it’s because in those days people believed that gods were local. They only ruled in certain areas. When you left that territory, the god you had worshipped was no longer going to be able to protect you. This was one of the amazing discoveries that Abram had made centuries earlier when he traveled from Ur of the Chaldees to Palestine and found that God was there too! Naaman had not had this experience of a God who was present everywhere. He took some soil home so he could worship the Lord to whom he now gave his allegiance. He had received the gift of faith in the Lord. (2 Kings 5:14-17).

A Samaritan finds healing

Lepers continued to be isolated from the community in Israel into the time of Jesus. We may shake our heads with amazement at this practice today, but the past two years of experience with COVID-19 around the world make this ancient reaction to contagious disease more understandable. When there is no known cure for a disease that is easily transmissible and for which no one understands the transmission process, isolation of the ill person is the fastest and most certain defense for the larger community. In ancient times, skin conditions, including Hansen’s Disease, were difficult or impossible to treat and could lead to serious deformities and death. Until all the skin looked the same again (either with no lesions or completely covered with lesions), the individual could not rejoin the community. Priests had to certify that the person was once again whole before they could return to their families and normal community life.

Jesus was traveling on his way to Jerusalem, according to St. Luke, when ten lepers met him at the edge of a village. (Lk 17:11-19) They called out to him, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” They had heard of his power to heal and hoped for this gift themselves. Jesus didn’t touch them or approach them directly. Instead, he called out to them, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” Without any evidence of healing having been received, they headed off to find the priests. It was only as they traveled forward that they realized they had been healed. With great amazement and joy, nine of them continued on the journey. But one of them stopped, turned around, and went back to find Jesus. The man spoke of the goodness of God for healing him, fell at Jesus’ feet, and thanked him.

At this point, Luke tells us that the one who returned was a Samaritan. As you will remember, Samaritans and Jews did not get along with each other. They avoided each other as much as possible. Jews sometimes even traveled far out of their way to go around Samaria when they traveled between the Galilee and Judea. Yet the one who returned was from Samaria and was grateful. Jesus spoke and asked, “Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” He told the man, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” This non-Jew, this man who was not one of the Chosen People, had received the gift of faith and gratitude because he said, “Thank you.”

Paul continues in faith

Several decades later, St. Paul was nearing the end of his life. He had become a Christian a few years after the Resurrection of Jesus, and after being one of the leaders of the first persecution of Christians. He had spent nearly thirty years traveling through the Middle East/Asia Minor, preaching the Good News of Jesus’ coming and of the Resurrection. Now he was in chains in Rome, awaiting trial as a Roman citizen for treason. He was facing death. He wrote to his friend Timothy, who was one of the many men and women who became Christians due to his teaching and ministry. “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendent of David…” (2 Tim 2:8-13)

We too speak in our liturgies of remembering the Lord. Part of what we do at each Eucharist is to remember and enter again into the mystery of this coming of Jesus into our world and the reuniting of our humanity with the God who loved us into being.

Paul notes that the gospel, the good news, for which he is suffering as if he were a dangerous criminal, cannot be chained. Nothing can stop it. It has been passed on to others, who will themselves continue to pass it on to more people. His continued witness will help strengthen them in faithfulness and trust. “If we have died with him we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him…”

It’s our turn to be grateful

Jesus has come. Salvation is here. Our response of gratitude and service to others will pass it forward to those we meet. Whether we respond in love and service or not does not change the reality of the coming of salvation to those who will receive it.

May we be found among those who have accepted gratefully the gift of salvation, of becoming one of God’s children, a sister or brother of Jesus and of all those created by our Father.

Today, I send my thanks to you who read these words for the time you spend reading them, to those whose vision made possible this means of sharing the good news, and to those who have encouraged me to write.

I thank those who have supported me from childhood into later adulthood: my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, husband, children, grandchildren, extended family, teachers, friends, and others – and all those who formed and loved them. We are all part of a great web of being, sustained in love.

Thank you. Two simple words that open new worlds of connection. May they be our common entry into a life of deep joy and inner peace.

Readings for the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Sep 18, 2022

God’s Got Friends in Low Places

Country music has never been one of my go-to forms of entertainment. It’s not that I don’t like it. No, it can be quite entertaining. It’s just that there are a lot of other genres I find more enjoyable. I like to sing along and the sadness of so many of the country music stories just doesn’t often fit my mood.

So, it struck me as funny at the wedding reception of one of my children to hear the song, “Friends in Low Places,” by Garth Brooks. I’m not sure I had ever heard it before that day, but I really enjoyed dancing to it as I thought of some of my friends in low places – places where most of the guests at the wedding might never have had the chance to find friendships.

Two of these friends lived in the cemetery behind one of our local churches. It was a cemetery that had fallen out of use and was not being tended well. Graves dated back to the mid-1800s and the records of who all were buried there had been lost in a fire in the 1930s. John and Mary, not their real names, camped at the bottom of a small hill beside the cemetery. They took care of it.

Both were alcoholics. Both were chain smokers. I think John may have used other drugs as well. I don’t think Mary did, but she had/has a bipolar condition that doesn’t respond to medication. So, she self-medicates with alcohol and tobacco – not a totally socially acceptable way to handle life, especially for someone who really can’t work a steady job.

John had a family in another state, but he had long since left. His alcoholism and other problems got in the way of maintaining healthy family relationships. He died of a heart attack on the levee beside the river in his late 40s or early 50s. His father had died early of a heart attack too, I learned from Mary.

Where to bury his ashes became the big question. Mary was able to arrange for the parish priest to conduct a prayer service for him in the cemetery where they had been living. I was there with my young daughter. One of the men kindly shared his coat with her because she was cold. Their friends were surprised to learn that I was familiar with the Okanogan Valley in Washington, having grown up with close family friends there and having thinned apples at an orchard there one summer. They had worked in the same area as migrant workers, thinning and picking apples. There wasn’t a place to bury John, but at least we had a service for him and I made memorial cards to share with all.

A while later, it was arranged for John to have a burial spot on the edge of the cemetery, where he and Mary had lived for so long. I hope when the day comes to bury Mary, that she will receive a spot next to him. She still very much loves him.

One day, about a year after he died, Mary saw me as I walked across the cemetery after Mass. She has a very insistent manner of planting herself in front of the person to whom she wants to speak and there’s no doubt but what the conversation will occur! She had had a dream and it was worrying her. John had appeared in the dream. He was in a mobile home, on the bed, and was smiling at her. Was he OK? What did it mean? They had always dreamed of maybe one day having enough money to buy a mobile home and have a roof over their heads. Why this dream now?

I assured her that it was wonderful news. He had come in the dream to let her know that he is OK. He’s with God. He has a home now. I wish you could have seen the smile of joy dawning on Mary’s face. The one she loved is OK. He’s with God. God has friends in low places. At least one of them has a mobile home now!

Mary is still alive. I saw her again just this week. Her alcoholism has once again resulted in her having to leave the housing that had been arranged for her. She managed to remain sober for over 10 years, but the alcoholism and bipolar syndrome got the best of her again. She’s probably in her mid-60s now and plans to move to a larger city where she lived while she was in college. I don’t think it’s a wise idea. She has friends here who watch out for her and no one in the big city. But I can’t snap my fingers and make things right for her. She told me good night and settled in to sleep on the bench outside the church hall.

I have friends in low places too. Please keep her in your prayers.

The story of friends in low places and of John and Mary came to my mind as I read the selections from Amos, St. Paul, and St. Luke this week.

The prophet Amos warns those who complain about religious limitations on commerce and routinely cheat their clients, especially the poor. The Lord has noticed their actions their bragging about taking advantage of the poor. “Never will I forget a thing they have done!” (Amos 8:4-7)

In Psalm 113, we hear it said of the Lord: “He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill he lifts up the poor to seat them with princes, with the princes of his own people.” Like my friend John, the Lord gives them the mobile home they had always wished they could afford… “Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.”

St. Paul approaches the question of the Lord’s care for all from a different perspective. (1Tim 2:1-8) The Christian community is very small and has little influence on public policy or the rulers of the land. Paul calls on the community to pray for everyone, “for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.” Paul is not hoping just for a lack of persecution of the Christians, he is speaking of the importance of quiet and tranquility in the lives of the entire community of people living in the area the leaders govern. The common good, with justice for all, is the responsibility of leaders. We are saved as we come to know the truth of God’s care and concern for all of us. Jesus, coming as mediator between God and us, is a prime example of one who has “friends in low places.” We must pray for our leaders and for each other – that we all work together for the common good, with tranquil lives for all as its fruit.

Jesus himself told a story that illustrates the point in a rather surprising way. (Lk 16:1-13) It seems there was a rich man who had a steward. The steward was a business manager, responsible for handling the man’s affairs. The steward had not done a good job of it. Things were a mess and the rich man was not happy. He called the steward to his office and demanded a report of all the accounts and their status. He told the steward that he intended to fire him. Now today, the steward would probably just have been fired on the spot and someone else would have to take on the job of sorting out the accounts. But the rich man gave the steward notice. A mercy towards the steward – one we may hope the Lord will extend to each of us too.

The steward, knowing that he was not going to be able to do manual labor and being too proud to become a beggar, had to figure out what he would do with his life from that point onwards. He was certainly not going to be getting a favorable letter of recommendation from his employer that would allow him to find another administrative job! There was no social safety net either!

He was a pragmatic man. So he found a solution. He called in the folks who owed his employer money. In each case, he arranged a credit for the debtor. For one person he cut the total owed in half. For another it was cut by 20%. He did this for all of the debtors. When the employer discovered what his steward had done, he was not angry. Instead, he praised the steward for having acted prudently. I suspect he might even have chuckled a bit when he received the report of what had happened, given his praise of the steward’s solution to his personal challenge. The steward now had friends who would help him in the transition time.

Jesus himself does not condemn the steward’s actions either. He tells those who are listening to learn from the example of the steward. Make friends for yourselves in your lives now. Jesus speaks of “dishonest wealth.” The word that is translated as dishonest wealth is one that refers to wealth or property in general. Jesus is telling us to be careful with the riches we have in our lives today, whatever their form. Be trustworthy with the gifts God has given you. These gifts you have today are very much less important than the great wealth of the kingdom of God and all the gifts of that eternal kingdom. Use them carefully. Share them generously. Treasure God’s “friends in low places” with whom you come into contact.

Remember these instructions from Jesus with me this week. In many ways, you and I are also God’s friends in low places sometimes. We walk together through our journey.

Friends together.

Find the readings for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C.

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