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Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Mar 12, 2025

Geological Time Includes the Present

Darkness had long since fallen as we made our way along a winding road beside a lake. We were on our way home from a wonderful wedding celebration and the driver was watching closely for animals, as well as for rocks that might have fallen onto the road from the steep hills along the road. He remarked as he drove that one of his children had told him of a geology professor who had advised his class always to remember that “Geological time includes the present.”

Reflecting on this insight, I realized that God’s time is like geological time in that respect – or maybe it’s vice versa? It includes the present.

As we begin these weeks of Lent, it’s good to remember that God is in this for the long-haul. We tend to think of times and seasons in our lives as having a beginning, a middle, and an end. But really, our lives are a long story, with parts and themes that weave in and out of the narration. The same is true for the history of God and humanity.

Moses and the Israelites traveled through the desert for forty years. Their release from captivity in Egypt had been totally unexpected. Granted, they had begged the Lord for relief from the forced labor and other conditions that had been imposed on them by the rulers of Egypt, but something as dramatic as the Passover and their release into the Sinai Peninsula was totally unexpected.

Who were they now? Where were they going? Who would be in charge? How did the Lord figure into it all? Moses had gone up to the mountain, into the cloud, and spoken with the Lord. His appearance was transformed by that experience. But what did that mean for everyday life?

Moses gathered the people as a group as their time in the desert together was drawing to an end and reminded them of the history of the Lord’s intervention that had led to their freedom. He again spoke to them of the Lord’s instructions for how they were to live. The ancient covenant with Abraham was still in effect. The narrative was ongoing. Their present time was part of God’s time and plan.

As they entered into their new land, planting crops, raising their flocks, they were not to forget the Lord’s care for them. They must remember to give thanks always for his care. So, as the first fruits of the land matured, they must be offered to the Lord as a thanksgiving gift at harvest time. They had received much from the Lord. The story of the Lord’s love and care for them was continuing, in a different setting and with different “props,” but the same Lord was providing for them still and yet.

Now, having set their gifts before the Lord, their God, they were to “bow down in his presence.” The story of their lives continued uninterrupted. (Deut 26:4-10)

Jesus too passed through many phases and seasons of life. His birth was unplanned by his parents. He had lived as a child, grown up revering the Lord, become a good Jewish man, learned a trade, become a regular fellow who was respectable and trusted as an adult. It was a relatively normal life, once he got past the first surprising beginning.

And then something unexpected happened, much like finding a big rock on the road by the lake or having an elk step out onto the road on a dark night. A prophet, who happened to be his cousin, began preaching along the Jordan River. This river stretches from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the Dead Sea in the south. The people had crossed the Jordan River when they first entered their land. It was the eastern border.

Jesus went down to the Jordan along with many other people. He listened to his cousin John speak of the coming of the Anointed One, the one long promised, who would restore the relationship with God and bring a new kingdom into being. Folks expected it to be a kingdom with rulers like those who would be replaced – the hated Roman conquerors.

Many prophets through the years had promised the coming of the Anointed One, the Messiah. Who would he be? When would he come? Would it still be many years in the future or would it be now?

Jesus entered into the water to be baptized and both he and John got a big surprise. The heavens opened, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him like a dove, and a voice said, “This is my beloved Son.”

What a dramatic turn in the life-story of a carpenter from a small town in Galilee! Wisely, Jesus didn’t just head home. Instead, he went out into desert lands to pray, to fast, and to begin to process what that all might have meant.

Forty days, he remained in the desert. He was thirsty and hungry. A voice, a tempter, whispered into his ear, “Command this stone to become bread.” Try it out, see what kind of powers you have now. You’re hungry, maybe you should do something about it…

But Jesus understood that was not the route he was to take. There’s more to life than bread.

Then the tempter offered him power – power over mighty kingdoms. Only one string attached, “I shall give to you all this power and glory … All this will be yours , if you worship me.” Again, Jesus didn’t take the bait, though many a person in history has, even in our days.

Finally, since Jesus kept responding that only God is in charge of such things, the tempter took him to a high point on the temple and suggested that God would protect him if he simply jumped off – angels would catch him. When Jesus again rejected the idea of putting God to the test, the tempter left him “for a time.” Not forever, just for the time-being. (Lk 4:1-13)

Jesus’ life-story took some very unexpected turns. He learned a lot in the process. Yet he remained faithful to the experience of discovering the Father’s love for him and the mission to share that wonderful news.

As the story of God’s presence and care for humanity continued to unfold, many came to hear and believe the good news of that love. They shared the joy and the challenges of sharing the story. The story turned out to be bigger than initially thought. It wasn’t like one rock sliding down a hillside. It was more like a hillside sliding down into the sea, reshaping a coastline.

St. Paul wrote to the people of Rome, reminding them of God’s presence throughout history and the ever-widening ripples of that presence. Not only is the Lord come for the Jews, he has come for all peoples. He is not an earthly ruler. Much more deeply, the Lord, the Word, is very near – in the heart and in the mouth. Words of faith are spoken and works of love are shared. In this we find salvation. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rom 10:8-13)

We receive this word today as a promise given, received, and on-going. God’s time and Geological time include the present.

How do we live this in our lives today? Where are we called to love? Whom are we to respect and care for? How do we welcome people from other nations, the poor, the sick, the homeless? How do we respect each other and value the talents of each? Where will our legacy be found?

May we remember the Lord’s loving presence, the faithfulness of the One who loves us, and reach out in love to all the peoples of the world as we enter into and move through this season of Lent. God doesn’t love us just because we are perfect or powerful. We are loved at all times. We simply need to remember to be the stones on the hillside which he needs as he shapes and reshapes the world into a Kingdom of Love.

Readings for the First Sunday of Lent – Cycle C

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Oct 13, 2024

Wisdom’s Surprising Abundance

I love reading the comics each morning with breakfast. Sometimes I laugh (there’s a reason they’re called “the funnies”) and sometimes I nod my head in agreement. I share them with family and friends and sometimes cut them out and put them on the refrigerator, so I don’t forget the wisdom or the chuckle they embody.

This morning, Pearls Before Swine, by Stephen Pastis, offered a beautiful perspective on wisdom.

There is a character, a donkey who has a grey beard, wears glasses, and stands upright on the top of a hill waiting for folks to come with questions about life. This character is known as the “Wise Ass on the Hill.”

In today’s strip, he comes down off the hill and walks along a sidewalk, entering a café where two of the other characters are having tea and coffee. They ask why he is not up on the hill and his response is prophetic. “There is no past. There is no future. There is only the present moment… Hug your loved ones… celebrate the moment that you’re in.” (To read the entire strip and the rest of its wisdom, visit the site.)

The message of this character today speaks deeply to me and is consistent with the messages in the readings for this Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

The book of Wisdom was written about 100 years before the birth of Jesus. It was written in Greek by a member of the Jewish community in Alexandria, Egypt. The words are attributed to King Solomon, known as “The Wise.”

Solomon tells us, “I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of Wisdom came to me.” Wisdom was more important to Solomon than power or honors, better than gold or silver, health or beauty. Her splendor outshone everything. Yet, he assures us, “all good things together came to me in her company.” She is, in fact, the mother of all of them. (Wis 7:7-11)

The rest of chapters 7 through 10 speak of Wisdom, Solomon’s request for her guidance, and her role in protecting her followers. Wisdom is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, shared with all who seek her help and presence in life. “She is an aura of the might of God and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty… And she, who is one, can do all things, and renews everything while herself perduring…” (Wis 7:25-27)

To hear Solomon speak, as is believed in many traditions, the good things of life come as gifts from God for those who are faithful. Follow the rules and you will be blessed, you will be rewarded in a positive way. Break the rules, and you will suffer, either now or in the future.

But there’s more to it than that.

Bad things do happen to good people. Why?

Silver and gold, wealth and influence, somewhere safe to live, health, friends … all can be positive in their own way. Yet all can be barriers to wisdom as well. If I never have to worry about where the money will come from to pay a bill, I might think it was because I have been judged worthy to have no need for help. If I live in a safe community, with good housing, schools, public services, and access to health care, I might think it’s only because I have worked hard and now deserve these blessings, all on my own. I might even begin to worry that someone else will work harder than I do and take it all from me. Or someone might receive what I have as a gift, rather than working hard themselves.

When wealth, respect, following the laws, and doing all that has been required of us don’t protect us from bad things, we question the reason. When all is going well, we assume it’s because we are being rewarded for being good people.

The young man who approached Jesus, asking what he would need to do to inherit eternal life most likely shared this understanding. Jesus reminded him of the commandments of the Law. The man responded that he had followed them since childhood. Jesus loved him and his commitment in obedience to the Law. Then he added one more thing. ”Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

This was a bridge too far. To give up what he had, what he had worked for, what his family status gave him, that was too much. “His face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.”

There was a gate in the wall that surrounded the city of Jerusalem. It was very small, mainly for people and perhaps a donkey or horse. It was too small for a camel to pass through easily. People called it the eye of a needle.

Jesus turned to his friends and spoke words that ring true today, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Startling words – “who can be saved?” blurted out the disciples. Jesus’ response? “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.” Those who give up everything for Jesus and the gospel (the good news) will receive all they need in this life and eternal life in the next. (Mk 10:17-30)

Will it be easy? No. Will there be misunderstandings and opposition? Yes. Does wisdom preclude a comfortable life? Sometimes. Do riches take many forms, sometime in disguise? Yes. Does God keep promises? Yes, absolutely.

The word of God, living and effective, can discern all that people are thinking. Nothing is hidden from the word. This word brings the gift of wisdom to us and looks for its fruit in our lives. Whether faithful or not to that word, all will be known in the end. (Heb 4:12-23)

Wisdom is a gift that lives deep within a person. It serves as a guide in decision-making and a source of comfort when things move in unexpected directions.

This week, let’s resolve to live in wisdom, in the present moment, hugging those we love, celebrating the blessings we have received, and sharing them with those we meet. Wisdom is freely offered to each of us. May we have the grace to accept the gift and live in wisdom’s freedom.

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

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Aug 18, 2024

The Living Bread from Heaven

One morning, a very hungry toddler sat down to eat her breakfast. One of her favorite foods was applesauce, home-made from wonderfully sweet apples. She was proud of her growing skill with a spoon and ate most of the applesauce using her spoon. But then the bottom of the bowl appeared. It became more and more difficult to scoop out the applesauce with her spoon, but there was more left to enjoy. Not one to waste a bite of something as wonderful as that applesauce, she held her spoon in one hand and lifted the bowl to her mouth with the other, happily slurping down the remainder of her applesauce.

We humans eat lots of different kinds of food. Some are special treats. Others are things we have been told are “good for us,” though we may not particularly like them. Most things we don’t really think much about at all. They are simply part of our everyday lives. We eat because we are hungry. We eat because we enjoy the food. We eat because those around us are eating and we enjoy the social nature of the experience. We eat because if we didn’t, we would not survive. For most of us, the latter is not our primary reason for eating.

The foods we eat are transformed by our bodies into the elements needed for us to grow and to live our lives. We must have the basic building blocks in order to continue. Energy needed for life comes from the food we eat. Without it, we would die. Even with food, the time comes in each person’s life in which we die. Food as we know it is not sufficient to maintain life forever. And after we die, our bodies return to the earth and recycle back to basic elements that can be reused by another organism.

Our toddler is part of a long-standing cycle of food and its uses.

Given the centrality of food in human life, and its social nature as well, it’s not surprising that when folks think about an afterlife, or a supernatural (or transnatural) world, they often include imagery of eating. Banquets are part of the mythologies of peoples around the world. The ancient Hebrews and Christians were no exceptions.

Wisdom’s banquet

Wisdom, a highly valued quality and indicator of maturity, is personified in the Hebrew scriptures. Wisdom was with God from the beginning, present at the creation of the world. Wisdom continues to act in the world and in our lives to the present day. Wisdom is perceived as feminine. For Christians, the Holy Spirit is identified as the Spirit of Wisdom, an integral aspect of the ever-dancing, swirling Trinity of Love, our God.

In the book of Proverbs, we find Wisdom hosting a banquet at the home she has built. Proverbs presents many sayings and examples of what is required of those preparing for service in government – those who will serve in the King’s court. Manners, codes of behavior, rules of civility – all are spelled out in this book. By the ninth chapter, those ready to serve, those who have matured sufficiently, are invited to Wisdom’s banquet. However, not only those who have met the expectations of their society are invited. She invites those who lack understanding, those who might not be seen as clever: “Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed!” Those who accept the invitation, will live and grow in understanding. This food is not physical food. It has a different purpose and leads to a different conclusion. It leads to maturity in thought and action. (Prv 9:1-6)

Physical food for a Spiritual outcome

The crowds around Jesus after he had fed so many in the wilderness were totally uncomprehending when he explained that he had not come into the world to provide miraculous quantities of fish and bread for them. On the contrary, he himself was actually living bread from heaven. His own flesh would be the food that would bring life to the world.

The claim was not well-received. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

But Jesus didn’t back down. “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.”

Then Jesus shifted the conversation quite dramatically. He linked the eating of his body and blood to eternal life. “My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”

How? Why? What?

“Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.”

We have moved into an entirely new realm. This is not normal food. The life about which he is speaking is not the normal human life here on Earth that we all experience. This is something totally different. Because the life of the Father flows through Jesus, a share in his body and blood is a sharing in the life of the Father. The body and blood of which he speaks are not the human, physical body we typically recognize as we interact with each other, rub the sleep out of our eyes in the morning, and enjoy our morning applesauce!

It was not until Jesus’ final supper with his friends before his death that it became clear what form that food and drink which are his body and blood actually would take. When he blessed and shared the final loaf of unleavened bread at his last Seder and the cup of wine after the meal has been eaten, the Cup of Thanksgiving, then gave them to his disciples, and explained that these were the food of the New Covenant, his body the bread broken and shared and the wine his blood, that of the sacrificial lamb, that his earlier words began to make sense. Until then, few who heard his words believed him anything more than a madman.

Because the life of the Father is shared with the Son, and we are invited to share in that life as we eat the bread and drink the wine that have been blessed and changed – his body and blood – we can share in their eternal life. This food leads and strengthens us for the journey of transformation and growth in maturity to the eternal table of the Lord. (Jn 6:51-58)

A New Way of Living

Living as children of God, sisters and brothers of Jesus and of each other, Followers of the Way, proved to be challenging, especially as the Good News broke down the barriers between the Jewish people and the Gentiles (all the rest of us). How does one live as a wise person rather than a foolish one? How does one know what the will of the Lord is? What traditions are to be followed? What new ways will enter our everyday activities?

St. Paul cautioned the people of Ephesus that there are many ways in which people can stray from the will of the Lord, many ways to act foolishly. The behavior which is not foolish is that which is filled with the Spirit. Lady Wisdom’s banquet hall, though not mentioned by St. Paul, welcomes those who seek her, with prayer, hymns, singing to the Lord, and giving thanks at all times.

The giving of thanks is not to be limited to times when things are going well. Paul says, “giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.” Things don’t always go well, in terms of our human evaluation of them, but God brings good out of all things. Our sharing in divine life did not and does not exclude all suffering. We share in the whole life of Jesus in our communities and our everyday activities.

As we go through our days this week, enjoying our applesauce eaten by spoon or slurped out of our bowls, spending time at work and school, finding companionship with our families and friends, and sharing in the Bread of Life, the Body and Blood of our Lord, may we give thanks for all we have received and for the Spirit of Wisdom who shares in and rejoices in our lives.

Readings for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Jun 30, 2024

Justice is Undying

We hear a lot about the notion of justice, especially when someone innocent is hurt or killed. Voices are rightly raised demanding that those who harmed the victim be punished for having done so. In this idea of justice, punishment for the wrong-doing balances out the injury to the victim and the scales are balanced once again. So, in this mode of reasoning, if a person is killed, then the killer should be killed or at the very least imprisoned for life. If other members of the community see the punishment, they will be less likely to commit the same offense.

Of course, it’s not quite as simple as all that. Identification of the guilty party is not always simple or accurate. An entire genre of literature, for example, is based on the idea that it’s not easy to identify the culprit when someone in a community turns up dead! If the penalty is death, then innocent people will die when they are falsely accused and convicted. Even life imprisonment for those who are actually innocent is a terrible injustice. And taking away a second life doesn’t bring back the original victim…

What then does it mean when we hear in the Book of Wisdom, “Justice is undying?” Does this mean that God is a judge who is always watching and ready to punish every mistake or smallest failing? That is certainly the image some folks have had of God. But is it really an accurate picture? Who would want a God like that?

When reading scripture, it’s important to remember that the writings were originally composed in a different language, in a far-past era, by members of a different culture than ours. Many of the same issues we face in terms of interpersonal relationships are similar, but many aspects of our lives and our understanding of reality, including cause and effect, are different. Even the meaning of a word as seemingly obvious as justice can be different.

The Book of Wisdom was written in Greek by an anonymous Jewish scholar in Alexandria, Egypt, sometime between 200 BCE and 100 CE. Its purpose was to encourage fellow Jews who were living outside Palestine to be faithful to the Covenant. It is written in verse, following the patterns of Hebrew poetry, and includes references to the Exodus, the wisdom of King Solomon, God’s mercy, and the foolishness of worshipping idols.

In the very first chapter, our narrator calls all to justice because justice is the key to life. Justice is the characteristic of living in right relationship with God. “God did not make death,” our narrator proclaims, “he fashioned all things that they might have being.” It is only through the envy of the deceiver, the devil, that death came into our world. (Wis 1:13-15, 2:23-24)

What does it mean to live in right relationship with God? Does it mean to walk around with our hands raised in prayer, looking down on those who don’t share our beliefs exactly? Does it mean hoping to be part of some small “faithful” remnant of God’s chosen ones when the last day of judgement comes? Does it mean hiding away in the mountains or in the desert, so we won’t be tempted by worldly pleasures?

For most of us, these are not ideal options, nor are they the way God wants us to live in justice. We are called to care for each other. To be kind to those who are treated as inferior. To reach out and share what we have with our neighbors. To speak a word of support for those whose rights are being trampled. To welcome those who flee violence in other areas and help them begin a new life in safety in our communities. To help the child who struggles with reading or arithmetic, reassuring them that they are not stupid, just that they learn in different ways. To forgive the person who has hurt us. To ask forgiveness from the person we have hurt. So many, many ways we are called to life in justice, in right relationship with the God who created all of us for imperishable life.

Jesus healed the sick, including when he wasn’t aware that healing was needed. When a woman in a crowd recognized him and touched his cloak as he passed by, she was healed of a condition that had made her an outcast for twelve years. Jesus did not consciously heal her. He noticed her touch in the crowd because he felt the healing power go through himself to her. But he did not react with anger at being touched by a woman, by someone who was ritually impure, whose very touch defiled him as well. He spoke kindly and reassured her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”

At the home of Jairus, he prayed over a twelve-year-old girl who had been ill and just died. Her father had come to Jesus to ask him to visit their home and heal his daughter. Jairus was an official of the local synagogue. Yet he reached out to this traveling preacher and asked for help. Jesus sent all out of the room except for the child’s parents and family. He took her hand and called her back, “Little girl, I say to you arise!” And she got up and walked around. (Mk 5:21-43)

Did Jesus do these kinds of things so people would say good things about him or follow him around praising him? No. He typically told the people he healed not to tell others about it. Did they keep quiet? Some might have, but I think mostly they didn’t. Can you imagine having a great source of suffering healed and it not be noticed by family and friends? Then how could one not tell of the wonder and the healer who had given that great gift?

The Christian community in Jerusalem had many hard years of struggle. They were outcasts in their own city and country because they followed The Way of Jesus. Often members of Christian communities outside of Israel sent gifts of money and supplies to Jerusalem to help the members of that first community. St. Paul urges the community in Corinth to send gifts from their abundance to help supply the needs of those in Jerusalem. He cites the example of Jesus, who became a human in order to share our lives and bring us to the richness of divine life in the Kingdom. He reminds them that God provides for all, as long as we share, just as during the Exodus, manna fell in the wilderness and was enough for all to share. We too share as we walk in justice with our God. (2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15)

As we move through this week, may we be alert to the needs of others and offer a smile, a hand, a word of encouragement, forgiveness, and even a share in the riches we have, however great or small. Together we are on a journey with the Lord, whose justice is undying, a journey of solidarity and right-relationship with each other and our God.

Readings for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on May 19, 2024

Covenants Renewed and Transformed

The feast of Pentecost began as a harvest festival in Israel. By the time of Jesus’ life, it had become a festival celebrating the gift of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, when Moses went up the mountain to meet the Lord and returned with the tablets of the Law. It was a festival celebrating and renewing the covenant between the Lord and the Jewish people.

Fifty days after the Resurrection, and after Jesus had been taken from their sight at the Ascension, the apostles and close followers of Jesus were gathered in a room in Jerusalem to pray, as Jesus had instructed them to do. This day was the feast of Pentecost. A loud noise began in the room, like a mighty wind on a mountain top, and flames that looked like tongues of fire appeared over the heads of those gathered there. On Mt. Sinai, there had been a loud wind, flames, and a loud voice signaling the presence of the Lord. Now these were being experienced in a room in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit swept into each person in that room and they were transformed. No longer frightened and hiding in fear for their lives, they began to praise the Lord boldly and speak of what they had seen and heard, using languages they had never before spoken.

Folks outside noticed the uproar and wondered what was happening. Jews from all over the world were there for the feast and noticed that what they were hearing was in the languages of all the surrounding countries, including Rome. More surprising, what they heard was the disciples telling of “the mighty acts of God.”

The reading from Acts of the Apostles for this feast of Pentecost stops at this point, but the actual story goes on. Peter went out and spoke to the crowd, telling them about the Resurrection and the new covenant that God was establishing with all who would believe and follow the Lord Jesus. Large numbers of people believed and the growth of the community began in earnest on that day.

This day of Pentecost was the fulfillment of a promise Jesus made before his death. St. John speaks of the promised Advocate who would come and testify to the disciples of the truth that Jesus had taught them. They in turn were to go out to the world and testify to what they had heard. Since so much of what Jesus had taught them was still hard to comprehend, the Advocate, the Spirit of truth, would come and guide them to understand it. In this, the Advocate would make clear the meaning of what Jesus had received from the Father and shared with them.

This process of understanding all they had heard was only beginning at the first Pentecost. Many controversies, many changes, many years of discussing and coming to new understandings awaited the community. When folks with one set of ideas came to town and began to teach ideas different than those initially presented by Paul or the other apostles, it became necessary for these leaders to remind members of the communities that were in turmoil what the fundamental teaching was. One major conflict revolved around how much of the ancient Jewish Law was to be required of new members of the community, particularly those who were Gentiles. Did they need to become Jews? What did it mean to live by the Spirit? Did that mean by the ancient Law or something else?

St. Paul devoted many of his letters to dealing with these questions. How do we recognize life in the Spirit? Paul explained that living by the spirit meant denying many kinds of actions we commonly see among humans – actions that have negative effects on life in community or family. Instead, living in the Spirit would result in what he called “the fruit of the Spirit … love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” These things are all signs of the presence of the Spirit in our lives. We receive the gifts we need to serve the Lord in the ways He calls us to serve the community. And together we become one body of Christ.

All of this brings us to some important questions. What does it mean to live in the Spirit today? Has that changed from what it was in the past? Was it all set in stone nearly two thousand years ago? Or are there new understandings that can come to us today?

How does our covenant with God become renewed and transformed through the centuries. At the time of the Apostles and early Christians, there was an expectation that Jesus would return in glory within at most a hundred years or so, maybe even sooner. But that didn’t happen.

As our community of faith has continued and grown through the centuries, many men and women have pondered these questions. Many wise ones have written their thoughts, observations, insights into living in the Spirit. The teachings have been organized, categorized, shaped into traditions and ways of doing things (laws). They have grown and developed along with the growth of knowledge in science, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, literature, and all the many areas of human inquiry.

As we today deal with new questions that arise from the realities of our lives, as well as some very old challenges dating from the dawn of human history, how do we know what the Spirit is guiding us to do? What do we bless? What do we reject? What do we seek to transform? How do we determine which is the option to which the Spirit is calling us?

We can go back to a fundamental insight from Paul – when we are under the Spirit, we are not bound by old laws that do not lead to the blossoming and development of the fruit of the Spirit. If it’s not loving, joyful, peaceful, and so forth, then it may not be of the Spirit. But if it is, and if it includes more people and opens the gates to loving patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, kindness, and self-control, then we know the Spirit is present.

God’s time is not our own. The gifts of the Spirit and their fruits are ever new in our lives. The covenant is continually being renewed and transformed. We open our eyes to the insights of our contemporary world. We recognize that many things we humans believed in the past might not have been totally accurate. We admit that we don’t yet know everything. And we keep our ears and eyes open to see where the Spirit will lead us now.

It’s Pentecost. We rejoice this week that the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, is here among us – teaching, guiding, laughing, playing, and bringing joy and peace to our hearts.

Alleluia.

Readings for the Feast of Pentecost – Cycle B

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Feb 25, 2024

Put to the Test by God

The twelve-year-old boy rushed breathlessly into my classroom and came straight up to me with a question that had been on his mind for days. “He didn’t kill him, did he?” he demanded to know. He was the older son in a troubled family and had only consciously heard the first part of the story of God’s test of Abraham’s faith during Mass on the Sunday before our class. I’m sure the entire reading had been proclaimed, but he had not heard it. He had waited until we met on Thursday afternoon, worrying about this terrible command God had given to Abraham – to sacrifice his only son. How could this be? What kind of God would do such a thing? How could a good God require the killing of a child? He had been so shocked by the mere thought of God asking a man to kill his only son that he stopped hearing anything more right at that point. He had not heard the rest of the story at all and was deeply relieved when I assured him that in fact, God had not allowed any harm to come to Abraham’s child.

This story of the testing of Abraham (Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13,15-18) and many others like it are deeply troubling to us. Why would anyone ever think that our God could or would demand the blood sacrifice of children? Why would Abraham have believed that about God?

One of the great challenges we humans face is to be able to conceive of a reality dramatically different from the one in which we live. How can we imagine a person who never loses his or her temper? How can it be possible always to be forgiven? Wouldn’t the fear of punishment be needed to force people to follow the rules? And how can anyone establish that fear without actually punishing someone severely and publicly for misbehavior?

When we listen to the readings from both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, it’s important that we realize we are looking back in time to a very different day and age. Additionally, we are looking from the perspective of a different culture, with different understandings of human behavior and the nature of God.

Abraham lived in a time in which all the people among whom he lived had their own local god or gods whom they believed guided and protected them. These gods were very much like the people who worshiped them: territorial, jealous, protective of those they considered to be their own, impatient, always demanding proof of the good will of others.

The gods of the peoples among whom Abraham and his family lived sometimes required the sacrifice of firstborn sons as proof of loyalty and obedience. They required families to prove their faith by sacrificing a child, typically a son because sons were seen as more valuable. It was rare for families not to have children, so this rule was not hard to enforce.

Abraham would have seen this practice and assumed that the God he first met back home in Mesopotamia would want the same kind of sacrifice from him. Blessedly for Abraham and all of us who follow in worshiping his God, this is not what God requires. Sometimes, we are asked to make tremendous sacrifices. Other times, what we are asked to sacrifice is not life-shaking or life-changing. Nevertheless, when we are asked to make a sacrifice, it is not something easy for us to do. If it were, it wouldn’t really be a sacrifice now, would it?

When Jesus was born, he was truly human and truly God. One hundred percent on both fronts! Not a demi-god – half human and half divine. Fully human. Fully divine. As a human, Jesus did not know everything. He learned like any child what was expected of him as a man. He lived like everyone else, not at all remarkable. Yet when he heard God’s voice at his baptism in the Jordan River, he knew all had changed in that moment. He began to understand how dramatically things had changed. The kingdom had come. His mission was to proclaim it to all who would listen.

Some people welcomed the news. Some were frightened by it. Some thought it too good to be true. Some worried that they would lose their positions of influence. Some probably worried that the Romans who ruled their country would again kill thousands of people for rebelling against the Empire. The notion that a prophet, anointed by God to preach the coming of God’s kingdom, would not be a threat to Roman power was unheard of. Of course they would see it as a threat! How could the threat be minimized?

Jesus needed to testify in Jerusalem to what had happened to him, to the leaders of his community, the priests and teachers at the temple. The kingdom of God was here now. It was essential for them to hear this good news. So he began his journey, teaching and healing as he went along. A group of people accompanied him. Some were with him for a long while and became close companions. Others came for a while and left when his words became frightening or impossible for them to believe.

One day, when he had become very aware of the danger of execution he would be facing in Jerusalem, he went up to a mountain top with three of his closest friends to pray. Mountain tops have often been places where God and humans have met. This day was the same. Jesus and his friends were visited by two historical figures: Moses who received the Law from God and Elijah the prophet who was carried away by a heavenly chariot at the end of his life. Jesus himself began to shine with an unearthly light, his clothes whiter than any bleach could make them. The disciples saw Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah. Then they saw a cloud that came and cast a shadow over the mountain. God often appeared in a cloud and this was no exception. The voice that came from the cloud told them Jesus was his beloved son. They were to listen to him. (Mk 9:2-10)

Interestingly, God spoke similar words to Abraham about his son Isaac, referring to him as “your beloved son.” Abraham’s willingness to give all to God was rewarded with God’s returning of the son to him. An animal was offered in sacrifice instead of the child. (My young student was much relieved to hear that good news!)

When Jesus himself faced the decision whether to complete his mission and bring the good news to the authorities, risking his own death in the process, or to drop the whole thing and go back to being a village carpenter in Galilee, he chose to move forward and take the chance. It was not an easy choice and it cost him his life. But God his Father did not allow it all to end with that suffering and death. God brought Jesus through death to a return to life – a life that will never end, the life of the Trinity.

St. Paul and other early Christians explained that with the resurrection, God forgave all of us for the times we do not obey the divine will. Christ intercedes for us, because he is one of us and has lived a fully human life. He knows what it is to be human. (Rom 8:31b-34)

In a very real way, our God who created humans, was now not so totally envisioned in the human terms that cast him as if he were a jealous, controlling, person. Instead, he came to be known as one who understood and forgave all, because he had come to be one of us through the life of his son the Word of God, Jesus. God knows what it is to be human, so God can and will forgive all who ask for forgiveness. We are put to the test, but so is God. God never fails the test of love. God was even willing to go through with the sacrifice of his Son Jesus, so that all of us would know how much we are loved and could trust deeply in that love.

As we continue our journey through Lent this year, may we remember that God is truly with us on the journey. We are not alone. Our sacrifices, big and small, are noted. Our reaching out in love to those we meet along the way is an essential part of God’s plan for all of us. And God sees each of us as a beloved child.

Readings for the Second Sunday of Lent – Cycle B

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Jan 14, 2024

Called by God to be …

Members of Christ, Temples of the Holy Spirit, Called by God.

Each of us is especially treasured by God, created to be unique, and given gifts to share freely. Yet, since we are born into families and cultures with characteristics and expectations that are shared by many others, we don’t always recognize our uniqueness or our inherent value. We hear and observe that we are like our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins in many ways. We join together with others of our general age and interests, finding comfort and encouragement from our peers, as well as challenges that make us examine our own values and require us to make choices that are not always easy.

When and how do we hear the Lord’s voice calling us to the unique service only we can give? Sometimes the call is obvious. Often it is a subtle urging and growing sense that a certain path is to be followed or that a particular dream is ours to bring to our world.

Samuel, for example, was still very young when he was called. His mother was already old and barren when during a visit to the temple she asked the Lord for a child. The next year when her son was born, she recognized the great gift she had received. She and her husband consecrated their son to serve the Lord at the temple when he was old enough to leave them. He worked with Eli, a priest who served at the temple, learning how to serve in that role and care for the Ark of the Covenant which was there. God was present among his people where the Ark was present.

One night, Samuel was awakened by a voice calling his name. (1 Sam 3:3b-10, 19) Naturally, he assumed Eli needed something and hurried to him. Eli woke up when Samuel came asking what was needed and sent him back to bed. The same thing happened three times. By the third time, Eli figured out what was going on. He told Samuel that if he heard the voice again, he was to respond, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” When the voice awakened him a fourth time, Samuel did as he had been instructed. The Lord spoke to him directly and called him to service as a prophet, one who would speak the Lord’s words to the people and lead them in the Lord’s service. This was before there were kings in Israel. The prophet’s words were intended to be taken as the Lord’s guidance for what to do as a people, in good times and in bad.

No one expected Samuel to become a prophet. He was not in any sort of training program for this role. He was still very young. No one would have thought to listen to his words as those of the Lord. Yet that is what happened when the Lord chose him for the role. He served for many years as the Lord’s prophet. Eventually, when the people were determined to have a king like the neighboring peoples did, he voiced the Lord’s warning that kings were over-rated and would not be a great idea for them. True as this turned out to be, the people were determined, so with the Lord’s help, Samuel selected and anointed Israel’s first king. When that one didn’t work out well, the Lord sent Samuel to anoint David as successor to Saul. But that’s another story.

Bottom line, the Lord called Samuel. Samuel didn’t go looking for the job!

Two of John the Baptist’s disciples were standing with him one day when Jesus walked by them. (Jn 1:35-42) John commented, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” What a strange thing to say about a person, but John had never pretended that his role was to do anything other than to call people to repentance and to prepare the community for the coming of the Anointed One, the one sent by God to restore the ancient relationship between God and humans. By John’s time, most expected someone who would lead the country to freedom from domination by foreign powers, but still, he recognized Jesus and pointed him out to his own followers.

Andrew and the other disciple followed Jesus. He noticed them and asked them, “What are you looking for?” Notice that he spoke first. When they asked where he was staying, he invited them to come and see. After a few hours of conversation, Andrew left and got his brother Simon. He told Simon they had found the Messiah and brought him to Jesus. Again, Jesus took the initiative. He greeted Simon by giving him a new name, Peter, the rock.

These three men heard the call of the Lord when they met Jesus. At least two of them had been looking for the Messiah whom John had foretold, but they had no idea he would show up the way he did in their lives, inviting them to come and have a chat. Simon had no idea his future would be completely changed when his brother urged him to come and visit with Jesus.

Many, many other people have heard the Lord’s call through the centuries. The traditions and expectations of their cultures have shaped their understanding and practices when interacting with the Lord. Sometimes the cultural patterns and behaviors have not been compatible with their new life as sisters and brothers of the Lord, children of God. This was the case in Corinth, where St. Paul admonished the new Christians to recognize and remember that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20) They are not to behave as if there were nothing special or sacred about them. God has loved them and claimed them at a high price, the sacrifice of his Son.

God calls each of us too. Some have said that God doesn’t call people directly anymore, but in my experience, that is incorrect. God does call people. Sometimes the call is subtle. Sometimes it’s more direct. Sometimes we say no. We’re always free to do that. When we do, God has been known to chuckle and say, “OK, do it your way!” If you ever hear God say this, do yourself a favor, try it his way! It’s sure to work out better in the long run.

We are called – to be members of Christ’s body, temples of the Holy Spirit, and bearers of the love of God into our world here and now. It can be a daunting challenge. But when the chips are down, none of us is alone. The Lord is always with us, inviting us to stop by and have a chat or to join him on the road for a chat. On we go… together!

Readings for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B

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

The Lady Wisdom at the Gate

Come with me for a little walk today. It’s a walk through our daily life. We’re going to visit some old friends and some new ones too. Along the way, we’ll see some people we don’t know. One person in particular whom we hope to see will be a model and guide for our journey, the Lady Wisdom.

This Lady whom we hope to see is described in the Book of Wisdom. She is “resplendent and unfading … readily perceived by those who seek her.” This gives us hope for our journey. If we are seeking her, we will see her.

So where do we look for her? And when are we likely to see her? Will she be found in gatherings of teachers and students who are seeking the mysteries of the universe? Will she be present at fine restaurants and banquets where leaders of industry and government meet and share a meal? Will she be at department stores, among the fine clothing and perfumes? How about in the kitchen as we sit and visit after dinner and then clean up the dishes?

Wisdom herself tells us that she will help us find her. (Wis 6:12-16) She will sit outside our door in the early morning, waiting for us to get up and venture out into the world. We might not see her though. We must be looking for her if we hope to see her, keeping our eyes open. What will we see as we go on our way? The homes of our neighbors. The trees and flowers in the gardens. The people getting ready to go to work and school. Those coming home after working through the night. Will we see their joys and sorrows too? Will we notice their hopes and the places they are in need of encouragement and healing?

This Lady Wisdom meets all who seek her as they travel through the day. She makes her rounds and visits all, bringing love and hope and joy with her as her gift. In the process, she opens our eyes to see the needs of others and their joy and gifts as well.

We don’t generally think of wisdom as being masculine or feminine in our daily lives. We think of wise people as those who know many things and make good choices that lead to happy, successful lives. But in scripture, particularly in the Books of Wisdom and Proverbs, Wisdom is more than that. Wisdom is feminine and intimate. There are at least three words that are translated as Wisdom in the Scriptures, but the one in question here is characterized by a sense of intimacy with God. Wisdom is connected with the divine. She is radiant, reflecting the Lord’s light. Wisdom leads us to union with God through our connection with all of creation and all of God’s people.

Wisdom helps us see hope in difficult times. When people we love become ill or die, Wisdom helps us trust that they will rise through the gift of the Lord. (1 Thes 4:13-18) When we meet others who are having hard times financially or personally, Wisdom helps us walk with them, sharing their burden and helping to make it easier. We won’t always be able to resolve the problem or make it go away, but being present can be the most important gift we can give. Moral support in hard times cannot be purchased.

Wisdom also helps keep us on our toes, ready to meet the Lord when he comes. When we have met him in our daily lives, in our contacts with folks who may need a help to support their families, with those who are seeking a safe place to live and raise their children, with those who hope to go to school and enter a career, with those who are sick or dying, and so many, many more, we will be more like the wise virgins of Jesus’ story, who had the oil they needed to keep their lamps burning late into the night. (Mt 25:1-13)

Many years ago, a group called the Medical Missionary Sisters produced an album called “Joy is Like the Rain.” One of the songs was titled, “It’s a Long Road to Freedom.” It is ringing in my head this day. “It’s a long road to freedom, a winding steep and high, but when you walk in love with the wind on your wings, and cover the earth with the songs you sing, the miles fly by.”

When we walk with Wisdom on our journey, we walk in love and the miles do fly by. The Lady Wisdom sits at the gate waiting for each of us to notice her and journey with her through our days. May we be blessed with open eyes to recognize her.

Readings for the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Oct 8, 2023

Not All Grapes are Grapes

In one corner of our back yard when I was growing up there was a plant whose leaves were sharp like those of holly. The bush had small flowers in the spring and blue berries in summer and fall. We were used to picking and eating huckleberries in the fall. They looked a lot like the fruit on this plant, though the leaves were different. But this plant was called Oregon Grape, and we never ate the “grapes” that grew on it. We might have tried the berries, but my mother cautioned us that they really didn’t taste good, despite being called grapes and looking like grapes. The bushes just grew in the corner of the garden as a part of the unchanging shrubbery. Not grapes at all, it seems.

The grapes we hear Isaiah describe in his story of the vineyard remind me of the Oregon Grapes in our back yard. However, in Isaiah’s story, the owner of the vineyard was expecting real grapes, ones that could be eaten or made into wine. (Is 5:-7) He cleared the land, planted high quality vines, took good care of the plants. He even prepared a wine press – all with the expectation that a good harvest would follow in the fall.

Imagine the disappointment of the owner of the vineyard when the fruit appeared on the vines. Instead of plump, sweet grapes, he found small wild grapes that could never be made into wine or other good foods for the family or community. It was like finding Oregon Grapes growing on his vines. This fruit was unusable. The vineyard was a total failure. A waste of time and money. What a terrible disappointment.

The owner of the vineyard responded by breaking down the protective walls of the vineyard and letting it be returned to an untended state. The vines were useless, except as food for wild animals.

Isaiah here reminds the people of his time that the Lord’s vineyard is the people of Judah, the house of Israel. If this vineyard of the Lord is not producing good fruit, it will suffer the same fate as the vineyard which produced wild grapes rather than the rich, plump, domestic grapes that the owner had expected. The Lord will stop protecting the nation from their foes. Their land will be destroyed and they will be scattered.

The image of the Lord’s people as a vineyard is ancient. We see it in the psalms, including Psalm 80. “A vine from Egypt you transplanted; you drove away the nations and planted it. It put forth its foliage to the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.” In other words, the people have increased in numbers and filled the new land into which they moved after their time in Egypt and wandering in the desert. Yet they have not always remained faithful and at times it’s as if the walls of the vineyard have been broken down and passersby have taken its fruits. Wild animals have eaten the plants. Nevertheless, the psalmist calls on the Lord to rescue and protect the vineyard and the vines planted there once again. When the vineyard has been restored, the people will remain faithful, the Lord’s face will shine on them, and all will be saved.

Jesus also described a vineyard. (Mt 21:33-43) In this case, the landowner leased out the vineyard he had planted to tenants. The tenants would receive a part of the harvest as payment for their labor. The rest would go to the landowner, as a return on the investment in the land and the vineyard.

When the time came for the harvest, the landowner was away. He sent his servants to collect his share of the harvest. The tenants beat and killed the servants rather than give them the grapes for which they had come. The landowner sent more servants, but the tenants killed them too. Finally, the landowner’s own son was sent to collect the harvest from the tenants. The greedy tenants killed the landlord’s son rather than send the harvest to him.

Jesus asked those with whom he was speaking what the landlord would do in such a situation. (Always good to include your listeners in figuring out what comes next in a story or lesson.) They answered quickly that the tenants would be killed and new ones entrusted with the vineyard.

Then Jesus reminded them that just as the stone the builders had rejected became the cornerstone of the Lord’s building, the kingdom of God would be passed to other people if the people to whom it had originally been entrusted did not care for it and produce good fruit.

So what kind of grapes (or behavior) is the Lord hoping will be harvested? What are the good grapes?

St. Paul tells us that whatever we need, we can ask of God. (Phil 4:6-9) The peace of God will fill our hearts and minds, guarding and guiding them. The grapes we will see in such situations are truth, honorable behavior, justice, purity, beauty, graciousness, excellence, and actions worthy of praise. These are the kinds of grapes our landlord, the owner of the vineyard of the Lord, is hoping to receive. As long as our lives are producing these good fruits, these true “grapes,” the God of peace will be with us.

It’s still harvest time in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern, spring is bringing the hope and promise of a rich harvest. But for us, the harvest is on. The race to finish all that needs to be done before winter storms begin is in full swing. Grapes are being harvested. Will we and our lives be seen as sweet, rich grapes, filled with love and kindness? The Oregon Grapes are ripe too, but once again this year, they will remain on the shrub in the back yard for the birds and other animals to eat. Not all grapes are grapes!

May we bear rich fruit this week, reflecting the loving work of our Father, the vineyard owner.

Readings for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Aug 20, 2023

Mercy that Excludes No One

Did you ever think about whether Jesus knew that his mission was not limited to the Jewish people? I had not really thought much about it, having grown up as a member of the Church. Then one day, I read the story of what happened when Jesus went across the border into an area which was not historically nor actually at that time a part of the kingdom of Israel. The area in question was around the cities of Tyre and Sidon, on the Mediterranean Sea north of Israel.

Jesus’ reputation as a healer preceded him. A woman from that area came to where he was. She was a Canaanite, one of the traditional enemies of the Israelites. She came to ask him to heal her daughter, who was being tormented by a demon. Today we would say she had a mental illness.

Jesus simply ignored her. He did not even respond negatively. Just silence. As if she didn’t even exist. She was a woman and a foreigner. No concern of his.

His disciples were irritated with her. She kept calling after them, requesting healing for her child. They asked him to send her away. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” was his response.

But she was persistent. She bowed before him and begged, “Lord, help me.”

We often think of Jesus as a kind, patient, polite man, but this time he was just plain rude. “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs!” Pretty clear who was being compared to a dog.

This mother did not let that insult stop her. She was desperate for healing for her child. “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”

This brought an insight to Jesus. Healing could be for those who had faith. It is not limited to any religious or ethnic group. “O, woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” The child was healed and Jesus learned an important lesson about God’s mercy and his mission. No one is to be excluded who comes in faith. (Mt 15:21-28)

This was not actually a new idea in Judaism. Isaiah spoke of a similar idea to the folks who had returned from exile in Babylon. Their temple had been rebuilt and now it was possible to offer sacrifice there again. But what about all the time away and the time before the temple was rebuilt? How had it been possible to keep the sabbath holy and to maintain the covenant with the Lord if temple sacrifice could not be offered?

The Lord, through his prophet, told them to take notice of what is right and just. Watch and see how the Lord’s justice is revealed. It is revealed as foreigners join themselves to the Lord and become his servants. All who keep the sabbath and hold on to the covenant will be welcomed to the holy mountain of the Lord. Their sacrifices offered on the altar will be as valid as those of the original community. The Lord’s house is “a house of prayer for all peoples.” No one will be excluded from his mercy. (Is 56:1, 6-7)

St. Paul expresses the community’s understanding of the Lord’s call in his letter to the Romans. He speaks of himself as “the apostle to the Gentiles.” He has been sent to spread the message of God’s love and mercy beyond the Jewish community into the entire world. If the people of Israel had welcomed Jesus with open arms and become his followers, it’s quite possible that the faith would not have expanded out to include everyone. Paul says that in their refusal to believe, their disobedience, his own people had made it possible for Gentiles, all the other peoples of the world, to receive the Lord’s mercy and love. No one is to be excluded. (Rom 11:13-15, 29-32)

As our communities divide into camps with opposing ideas these days, I believe we are again called to ask ourselves if we are truly willing to accept each other and wish each other well. Are we sisters and brothers in the Lord? Are we sisters and brothers, children of one creator. Are we equally loved and forgiven for our small mindedness and smug self-confidence. Too often we say, “I know what is right and you are totally wrong!”

In religious circles, it is especially important to be patient and loving with each other. We may not agree on all topics. Some will be more open to changes in social standards and structures than others. Some may interpret Scripture more literally than others. Some will distrust the findings of social or physical sciences. However, all are children of the same Father, who calls all to mercy and mutual forgiveness.

How do we keep from being a community that turns in on itself when confronted with others who have different experiences of God’s presence and love? How do we remain open and welcoming? Is it by condemning those whose ways are different from ours? Or by setting up rules and regulations to restrict access to the Eucharist and sacraments? Or do we recognize that God is bigger than all of our rules and categories. God loves all of creation and especially all people. He did, after all, according to our very ancient tradition, create us in his own image and likeness,. If that is truly the case, then we are called, like Jesus himself, to be open to those whose ways are different from our own. We are called to offer healing and reconciliation in and between communities. We are called to let the power and unrestricted love of our Father flow out through us to heal those who are suffering, physically, socially, mentally, spiritually.

God’s mercy excludes no one. So we must not exclude others either. Instead, we come together in prayer and Eucharistic thanksgiving to remember and be nourished. Then we go forth into our world and share the graces and blessings received as we allow the love of God to flow out in healing mercy through us.

This week, let’s focus on seeing the goodness and mercy of God in our families, our neighbors, our communities, and our world. All are welcomed in the Kingdom of God and all receive the merciful love of our Father.

Readings for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Aug 13, 2023

Why Did You Doubt?

As humans, we like to have things in our lives happen in predictable ways. Babies learn to expect certain patterns of behavior from the people around them. I cry, someone picks me up and feeds me, or changes my diaper, or helps me burp. I can count on getting reassurance and help when I need it. If I don’t, something is terribly wrong and I will tell the world about it at the top of my lungs!

With older children and adults, life is easier if we know what to expect. What time do I need to get up? When do we eat? What do we eat? Where do I have to be at noon? And so on.

When natural disasters hit, or wars, or even unexpected heat or rain that upsets planned or ordinary activities, we want to know why that happened. Historically, people have blamed the natural disasters on divine activity. The gods are angry, with each other or with us. Think of the stories of Zeus or Thor, who used thunderbolts or a great hammer to fight when displeased.

Middle Eastern peoples also interpreted such happenings as being the result of the displeasure of their gods. This form of explanation was simply part of their everyday experience.

The prophet Elijah ran into trouble with the king when he defeated and killed the priests of Baal. Jezebel, wife of King Ahab, was not amused. In fact, she tried to wipe out all of the priests and prophets of the Lord. Elijah escaped into the wilderness, where an angel gave him food and drink, then sent him on his way to the mountain of the Lord, Mount Horeb/Mount Sinai. On the mountain top, there was a cave. Elijah was nervous about being on the Lord’s mountain. It was dangerous. If you saw the Lord, you would die.

But the Lord told him, “Go outside and stand on the mountain before the Lord…” Before Elijah could do as he was told there was an uproar outside. The wind roared around the mountain. Rocks were crushed. There was an earthquake, then a fire. To the ancients, all of these were signs of the presence of the divine.

But God wasn’t in these physical events. After all the uproar, there was a tiny, whispering sound. That was the presence of the Lord and Elijah hid his face in his cloak, then went out to meet the Lord. (1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-13a)

Jesus’ disciples also had a frightening experience. They had just seen Jesus feed a huge crowd of people with just a few loaves of bread and a few small fish – the lunch of a child who offered to help feed the rest. Jesus had sent the disciples to return home with the boat across the Sea of Galilee, a large inland lake. He sent the people home and went up on the mountain by himself for a little while to pray. (Taking time out to pray by himself was a common practice for him.)

From the mountain he noticed that a great storm had arisen on the lake and the boat was struggling to stay afloat. So he went down from the mountain. Just before dawn, the disciples noticed something coming across the water. They most likely believed there were monsters deep in the lake who caused storms. Ghosts were also easily believable in the middle of a storm. So, when they saw a figure coming across the top of the water, they were terrified.

Jesus called out to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Well, could that be true? Might that be the kind of thing a ghost would say to lure them into a false sense of security? Peter responded, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said simply, “Come.” And Peter went over the side of the boat and walked towards Jesus.

All was well until Peter stopped to think about what he had just done. He had stepped over the side of the boat, in the middle of a storm, on a deep lake and was now walking towards what was either a ghost or his friend Jesus. Since people don’t walk on water, it might have just been a terrible mistake on his part. As such thoughts entered his mind, he began to sink into the water. He called out, “Lord, save me!” and Jesus reached out a hand and saved him, saying “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” The waters calmed and they got safely to the boat again.

The use of the term Lord was significant. That was a term used for God. The disciples recognized who their friend was and bowed down to honor him. “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

Once again, the storms raged, the winds blew, disaster was upon ordinary people, and the Lord was there, quietly reassuring them. Elijah on the mountain, and the Lord was in the quiet whisper outside the cave. Peter sinking in the waters of the lake. “Why did you doubt?” I am here in the midst of it all. (Mt 14:22-33)

We can think we’ve got everything under control. We want to share our faith and our experiences with others. We have a good job, or at least a steady one. Our children are healthy. And then something unexpected happens. We lose a job. A friend gets cancer. A pandemic shuts down the world. Forest fires darken the skies with smoke. Hurricanes and tornadoes destroy communities. And we wonder what we did wrong. Why did God let these terrible things happen to us? Did God do all of this to punish us? Are these indicators that the end of time is upon us?

I think it’s important to remember Jesus’ question, “Why did you doubt?”

What is it that you doubt? What do I doubt? Which promise of the Lord do I need to trust more deeply.

In this week, let’s try to remember to trust that we are loved deeply and unconditionally by our Lord. Whatever happens, it’s not that God is angry and out to get me. It may be that there are unexpected consequences to choices we have made, but God doesn’t set out to punish us. We are free to make our choices and they don’t always work out as we had expected.

Sometimes, the hard or unexpected things that happen are the result of the actions of others. In those times, the Lord is with us too, sharing in our pain and offering loving support to help us get through the troubles. He has been through hard times too. He knows our pain and suffering. He wants to help and offer a hand to lift us out of the waters of doubt and despair.

With Peter, we reach out to his offered hand. We return to the boat, having recognized our Lord.

Readings for the Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Cycle A

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Jul 30, 2023

Wisdom – Thinking with the Heart

“Use your head!” “Don’t be a fool!” “Don’t waste what you’ve got, use it carefully!” “They wouldn’t be in this position if they’d just been more sensible!”

How many times have we all heard these kinds of statements, sometimes addressed directly to us? It’s a common understanding in Western culture that decision making is best done with the mind, a.k.a. the head. We think of the heart as the center of emotions, and emotions are not regarded as the best sources of good decisions.

In ancient Israel, the heart was seen as both the center for emotions and the center for decision-making. When the Lord came to King Solomon in a dream at night and asked what gift Solomon would like to receive, Solomon gave an unusual answer. He had become king at a young age and had to defeat many enemies, including one of his brothers, to establish control over the kingdom. Once that was settled, still a young man, he began to build his own palace and a Temple for worship of the Lord. Up to that point, the tablets of the Law had been kept in the Ark of the Covenant. Now it was time for a permanent home for them and a center for worship and sacrificial offerings.

Solomon recognized his inexperience and the challenges ahead of him in governing a large group of people. So, he asked for “an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.” (1 Kings 3:5, 7-12)

This pleased the Lord, who had expected a request for the usual kinds of things people wanted – long life, riches, conquest of enemies and so forth. But Solomon had asked for an understanding heart. The Lord’s response was heartfelt: “I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now…”

Solomon is known to this day as Solomon the Wise. His reputation for wisdom spread throughout the ancient world and people traveled long distances to meet with him. As long as his decisions were based on the wisdom that came from thinking and listening with his heart, they bore good fruit. Later in life, when he forgot some of his earlier experience with the Lord and good decision-making, things didn’t always go so well. But the reputation from his earlier years remains. Solomon the Wise.

St. Paul spoke of something similar in his letter to the Romans. (Rom 8: 28-30) “All things work for good for those who love God.” Paul used a term in his letter that is often misunderstood today. Predestined.

We tend to think the word predestined means that everything is set up firmly and unchangeably ahead of time. Nothing anyone can do will change it. Some will succeed. Some will fail. It’s like a sports activity in which the winner is determined before the match begins and the competitor who may be better will deliberately compete more poorly, to meet the predetermined setup. On the big picture, spiritual side of things, some will go to a heavenly reward and some will go to eternal damnation. This can lead to a belief that we can tell who is going to be rewarded in heaven by how monetarily successful they are here on earth! Entire cultural systems have been set up based on this premise. We do our best and if we are pleasing to God, we will prosper. If we aren’t pleasing, then nothing we can do will help and no matter how hard we are working, we will be eternally punished.

What a terrible way to go through life! Who would want a God who would treat people that way? And yet, if that’s all we’ve ever heard, that’s likely to underlie much of our understanding of life.

Fortunately for all of us, predestined in the sense used by Paul doesn’t mean the same as what we expect. Predestined in this context means that God has decided to call us and help us become like Christ, ready to be in a positive, loving relationship with God both now and into eternity. Paul assures us all that God has chosen us from all eternity to become like his Son, the one firstborn of the many humans who will join together as sisters and brothers in the family of God. This is something worth celebrating and allowing to be a foundation of our lives.

So, what is this family of God, the Kingdom of God to be like? Jesus spent a lot of time trying to explain what the kingdom is. (Mt 13:44-52) “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field.” The kingdom of heaven is like “a pearl of great price.” Those who find the treasure or the pearl put it back where they found it in Jesus’ parables. Then they go and sell everything they have in order to buy the field (and the treasure) or the pearl. They don’t set up a spreadsheet and compare their assets and liabilities and determine whether this new asset will be more beneficial than sticking with their existing plans. No, they simply drop everything and choose the greater prize, the one they have marvelously come upon.

Jesus tells stories of wheat growing alongside weeds and fish, good and bad, swimming in the sea. Life is not set up with only good things happening to the good people and bad things happening to the bad people. There’s a share of good and bad for all. The trick is, how do we respond? And how do we respond to others whose situation may be more difficult than the one in which we find ourselves? Do we use our heads and try to protect what we already have at all cost? Or do we sometimes go out on a limb and saw madly behind us, hoping to help someone who is struggling or in need of a hand?

Wisdom is thinking with our hearts. As our hearts are soft, or softened, they become more pliable, more ready to love as our Lord has loved.

As we move through this week, let’s pray that areas of our hearts that are hardened will be softened, so that we can hear and think with the freedom and abundance of our God.

Readings for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

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

To Weed or Not to Weed

When I was a girl, we had a big vegetable garden. The largest crop by far was the green beans. We all liked to eat them and we were a good-size family. Mom liked one particular variety of bush beans. She didn’t like pole beans, so we never grew them. The challenge with growing the beans was that there was a fungus in the soil that killed the beans if it got on the leaves. So, every year, when the soil was ready, we planted the seeds and watched the beans grow. As the beans sprouted, so did the weeds. Every year, just the same. As the bushes grew bigger and the beans began to grow, the weeds kept pace with them. That part of the garden looked a fright! But we never pulled the weeds as the beans were growing.

When the beans got big enough to harvest, we picked the first batch. It filled several washtubs and we all sat around the tubs of them on hot summer afternoons, cutting them to put into the jars for canning. We would eat those beans for the entire next year. A week or so later, a second picking would be ready and we again filled the washtubs with them for canning. The difference was that after the second picking, we pulled out both the weeds and the bean bushes. There would not be another picking. By that time of the summer, the bushes were becoming infected and were going to die anyway.

I thought of this when I read the story Jesus told about the farmer who planted good wheat seed in his field and went home to a well-deserved rest. During the night, an enemy came and scattered weed seed in the field too. The scenario was not seen as outrageously improbable to Jesus’ audience. Family feuds were a part of life and such things would and could happen. With a grain crop, it can take a while before it becomes obvious that not everything growing in the field is the grain that was planted. An enemy who can ruin the crop would dishonor the farmer in the eyes of his peers. “How could he have planted weeds along with his wheat? Didn’t he know better? He must not be as good as we thought he was!”

When the treachery was discovered, the stalks of wheat and the stalks of the weeds were completely intermixed. The farmer would have had every right to take action against his enemy and the family of his enemy. At the very least, those who worked his fields expected that he would want them to pull the weeds out, so no one would see that they were growing among the good plants.

But the farmer took a different approach. Like Mom with the beans, he let the weeds continue to grow. Pulling them would have damaged the crop, because the stalks of the wheat would be trampled in the process of getting all the weeds out. Instead, he waited until the grain was ripe. Then the weeds could be pulled and destroyed. The wheat could be gathered and stored in the barn for use during the year.

Jesus explained to his disciples later that he himself, the Son of Man, was the farmer. The field is the world and the good seed represents the children of the kingdom. Those children of the kingdom can be led astray by others who are not of the kingdom, who deceive them and lead them to do evil. At the end of time, the children of the kingdom who have remained faithful “will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” The others will be like the weeds, destroyed as worthless instruments of hatred as were the weed seeds sowed by the farmer’s enemy.

This can be a rather frightening teaching. Would God really judge people so harshly and condemn the wrongdoer? What hope is there for any of us if that’s the way it is?

We get a hint of the answer in the book of Wisdom. This book was written sometime during the last hundred years before Christ. The author was probably Jewish, but Greek-speaking and possibly from Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria was a great center of power and learning in the ancient world.

The author points out that God does not have to justify to anyone else actions He takes, because there are no other, or superior, gods. God’s own power is the source of justice. But that justice is not harsh. God’s mastery over everything leads to lenience to all. God teaches His people through mercy that they are to be kind and merciful themselves. “You taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind…”

Those who choose to turn away from God and refuse to turn back and accept forgiveness, will remain separated, because God has given freedom to each person to choose how to respond. But God is merciful, and at the slightest turn toward the good, God will be waiting with open arms to welcome the one returning.

God is willing to wait, like the farmer with a field full of weeds, until each person, aided by the Spirit, turns to the Father of all, becoming part of the good harvest.

There’s a lesson for each of us here as well. When we are hurt or disappointed or embarrassed by someone else, we too have to decide whether to pull the weeds or patiently wait and hope that the situation will improve with time. Sometimes, things get better on their own. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes, for our own safety, we have to pull the weeds – moving out of dangerous relationships or situations. But other times, we simply need to wait for someone to grow up or to realize that a change is needed. At that point, it’s better not to pull the weed and cut off the possibility of reconciliation.

Let’s pray this week for wisdom to know when to weed and when to wait as we deal with the good times and the challenging times of our lives.

Readings for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

Posted by Kathleen Brewer de Pozos, PhD on Jul 9, 2023

Easy Yokes and Light Burdens

What do you expect of a ruler? Someone strong and decisive? Someone confident and willing to make decisions? Or someone who asks questions and listens carefully to the answers that come even from the lowest social and economic tier of workers?

Zechariah speaks in prophetic form of the ruler who will come to Jerusalem. “Thus says the Lord …” lets all know that these are not the thoughts or dreams of the one who speaks. They are words received in prophecy, oracles that shed light on the thoughts and plans of the divine.

And what does the oracle foretell? “Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!” Why should Zion shout for joy? Because a king is coming who will not be a warrior. A ruler who is just and humble, so humble, in fact, that he will ride a young donkey into town. Kings typically arrived with a great retinue of folks – trumpeters, chariots, archers, foot soldiers, and finally, the carriage in which the ruler rode. Servants and courtiers also traveled with the ruler, to make a luxurious camp or set up housekeeping in the home of a local noble. Rulers didn’t ride donkeys, especially not very young donkeys. They rode majestic horses or in fabulous chariots or carriages.

But this ruler foreseen by Zecharia is to come proclaiming peace to the nations. This one will rule over all the land, not just the land of Israel. All the ends of the earth. When Jesus chose to enter the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey, he was absolutely aware of this oracle and what it would mean to the people of his community. This was a claim to being the one who was to come, the king who would rule the entire world. The people who witnessed his arrival understood clearly what he was saying. So did the rulers of Jerusalem.

What kind of ruler would he be and who would recognize and accept him? Jesus had thought about who would be open to recognizing this long-awaited king. It would not be the wise and learned, the teachers and priests of the temple or the most educated people in each little town. It would be the ordinary folks, the “little ones” who must depend totally on God’s care and help to get by in their lives. These would recognize the Father’s presence in the Son’s love and teaching.

What kind of ruler? That’s the big question. Would this one who knows the Father personally throw his weight around and demand great works of daring and costly sacrifice to elevate his stature?

Jesus answers clearly. “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” I’m not going to demand that you keep working so hard before I love you. I don’t expect you to give me rich gifts and build up my ego. “I will give you rest.” I am humble and will serve gently those who come to me. “My yoke is easy, and my burden light.” I don’t ask for costly sacrifices, or long, unhappy, pressured hours of work. I will be there helping to make our time together pleasant and to share the carrying of life’s burdens.

As we move through this coming week, let us remember and rejoice with Daughter Zion that the Lord has come. The yoke of servitude has been replaced with a shared journey through life. No one is alone. The Lord is always with us, our partner in the yoke, helping us handle the challenges life throws our way and reminding us to reach out to each other in love and trust, so no one is left with an unbearable burden.

“My yoke is easy and my burden light.”

Readings for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

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