My friends, each week as the Spirit and I prepare a message, I look to the Scriptures to see what is there for us to ponder.  I continue to think it is important to reflect on the readings that the Church Universal uses in order to tie us, as it were, to the rest of believers.  Sometimes, I think we wonder at what we find there, but we then have the opportunity to unite the themes and “mine,” so to speak, or dig into, what is given, either accepting the message, or trying to clarify that what we, “are to get” –is it this and not that, or what?

   We sometimes see, in letters from Paul, which we know, weren’t all penned by him, and probably reflect more the cultural underpinnings of the times, such disparaging texts as with regard to women, “being silent, etc. and we question whether he wrote these as we know that Paul was often very complimentary of women that he ministered with and of how they assisted him. 

   So, looking at the readings today from Exodus, Romans, and John, along with Psalm 95, I have highlighted the following for us:

• A question that I would assume we all ask, especially in times of trouble comes from Exodus, the 1^st reading today.  We find our ancestors in the faith struggling in the desert and lamenting, “Is God in the midst of us or not?”  As I write this, I think of a dear friend who is walking through a new diagnosis and perhaps pondering this very question. 
• Paul, who in my mind, as I indicated above, doesn’t always get it right, does in fact have a pearl for us today in his letter to the Romans: “Hope in Jesus, the Christ will not leave us disappointed.” These words he wrote to the community in Rome as he assured them that as they struggled to “become all that God has intended,” they would not have to do it alone—God, [Jesus] would be with them.

   He was asking this community and us to believe that Jesus’ Spirit lives and breathes and moves through us.  This perhaps is another good question to ponder this Lent—do we believe this statement?  I shared with my friend who is learning to live with the new diagnosis that as, a wise person once said, “God is closer to us than we are to ourselves.” If we can wrap our “hearts” around this truth, we might experience what Paul is talking about today. 

• Then, we have from John’s gospel today, a wonderful invitation from Jesus to the woman that he meets at the well, and, by all “cultural” mores, should have ignored.  “If only you recognized God’s gift and who it is who is asking you for a drink…”  Jesus speaks of himself as “living water” in this reading, which confirms for the woman in question, as well as us, that we must always “go deeper,” “mining” the wealth that the weekly Scriptures hold.
• Psalm 95 seems to encourage this “deeper look” –“if today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.”  Sometimes we need a tangible reminder of this and for that reason, I have supplied us with stones to carry in our pockets this week. (:

   We know from so many other places in the New Testament that Jesus expects us to go deeper, to see him in those we encounter each and every day.  Our lives as his followers, are truly not about reading stories each week about, “a good and holy man,” with no carry-over into our own lives—“If you only recognized who it is who is asking you for a drink, for some food, for a bed, for respect, and so on…”  Friends, it only matters that Jesus gave himself as gift so many, many years ago, if we can then see him today in the imploring of the needy in our midst.  “Open your eyes and see, [he says], the fields are ready for the harvest!” 

   Again, studying and reading about Jesus in the Scriptures only makes sense if we carry over that message to the present and act.  With regard to the prayer of Psalm 95 today that we “harden not our hearts,” the alternative is that we would respond from, “hearts of flesh.”  This is perhaps the only thing that can once again make our Church Universal something that is truly vibrant in our world. 

   It is “hearts of flesh,” not of “stone” that recently passed House bill 28 in Minnesota which reinstated the right to vote to citizens on parole.  It would have been a “heart of flesh,” not “stone” that would have moved our current bishop in the Winona/Rochester diocese to “even” respond to our board’s letter and subsequent request that he join us for a meal to discuss the reality of our All Are One Catholic parish on his very doorstep.

   Our brother Jesus became, “one with us” to show us the best ways to live out the wonderful gift that each of our lives is.  His hope, I am most sure, was that as we looked around our world, following his example, seeing any suffering—the homeless, the down-trodden, the abused, we should see the deeper presence, there, of him.  Truly, that can only be done with a “heart of flesh.”

   This month of March has been designated as one to remember women—all the women who have been important, meaningful, helpful and often, unsung in our lives. We all have these special women in our lives, who have made a difference for us, and March is a very good time to tell them so. 

   I would personally like to give a shout-out to the Rochester, Minnesota Franciscan Sisters and Cojourners for sponsoring an evening to hear the stories of two Catholic women who followed their God-given calls to ordination as priests, one in the Methodist church and the other within the Roman Catholic Women Priests—me.  They also go on to say that the stories of the two women are “our” stories.

   If we really believe that the Spirit is continually renewing the face of the earth, then we as Jesus’ followers must be open to how that same Spirit is working, in so many different people and places to bring about the kin-dom. 

   In conclusion, I would challenge each of us during this month of March, dedicated to remembering and celebrating our women and girls, to “mine”—dig into the whole issue of “sexism,” alive and well in our world.  If you are a woman and don’t think there is a problem—this challenge is for you.  If you are a man and don’t realize that by the very nature of the way you happened to have been born, you have a “step up” in society and Church, above every woman, then the challenge to you is two-fold! 

   I believe the truth of this uneven playing field was explained so well after the selection process for the Democratic Candidate for president in 2020 by Elizabeth Warren.  She was asked if “sexism” played a role in this contest, and she basically said that a woman would be put down regardless of her take on this issue.  If she stated that women were and are held to a higher standard than are men as they strive for these positions, (sexism), she would be called a “whiner.” If she went the other way and denied that “sexism” was afoot, then all her female supporters would say, “What planet are you living on?!” 

   Friends, sexism is alive and well when candidates are considered, less on their abilities to lead and more on their presumed, “fragileness” of character. You may recall at the Democratic Convention in 2016, celebrating Hillary Clinton as the 1^st woman candidate of any major party where male reporters commented, not on the rightness of her candidacy and her lifetime qualities and remarkable talents to do the job, but ON WHAT SHE WAS WEARING!!! This type of thing would never have been mentioned if the candidate was a man.  And unfortunately, these attitudes run deep, so that often times we aren’t even aware of them. 

   One of the most wonderful gifts that I ever received for ministry came from a Southern Baptist minister who was my supervisor during my residency in Clinical Pastoral Education to become a chaplain. I had been struggling with the fact that women should be allowed to become priests in our Church and this same supervisor said to me one day, “Kathy, you don’t need permission from anyone to do what God is calling you to do!”  This was in 1994 and it took me a while to follow, but his words were the affirmation I needed to act when the time became right.

   This example of women “trained” to “need permission” from men to follow God’s call is called, and is, sexism, and it is alive and well in churches when women’s gifts for ministerial roles are discounted and they are denied access because of how they happen to have been born. 

   Interesting isn’t it that the same types of “taboos” that Jesus dealt with in his time, still run amok today? This is the kind of thing that Jesus calls us, in our lives, as his followers, to address.  When something in your heart and soul says, “This is wrong, we must speak out, whether for women, men, the poor, the sick–whomever! 

 Amen? Amen!

My friends, today’s Gospel passage that I just proclaimed gives us the beautiful story of the Transfiguration.  This event was a special grace given to Peter, James and John because they would later need this knowledge and the accompanying strength that it gave to truly proclaim to others, especially in times of doubt, that their friend and brother, Jesus of Nazareth, was and is, the Christ—the Anointed One, the Messiah, whom their people had so long awaited. 

   Peter, the impetuous one, who many of us love for that very reason, speaks with abandonment, the joy he feels in this moment: “How good it is that we are here” –a sentiment perhaps, for life in general.  He further expresses his joy by wanting to make it more permanent—wanting it to last: “With your permission Master, I will erect three booths, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah!”

   But Peter, like us, must be reminded that the time for this “more permanent joy” is not to be realized now, but must await a time, in the future, when the work of bringing justice for all is accomplished—a challenge I definitely felt as I finished reading, Subversive Habits, by Shannen Dee Williams, documenting racist treatment of black women within white Catholic orders of sisters, an action that was reflected in the general culture of our country, unfortunately.  

  The gift that Peter and the others received was intended to help them more effectively share Jesus’ message with the people—for them as for all others who will receive Jesus’ call to serve, it was and is, never just about the person receiving the call/gift.  What the three experienced on the hillside was a theophany—Jesus’ self-revelation as God.  James, John, and Peter shared something very special and with all such things for which we are not worthy, and have done nothing to deserve, as Paul speaks of in the 2^nd reading today from Timothy, there comes a responsibility to use the gift for others.  The three were entrusted with a special gift and Jesus’ expectation was that they would take the “good,” and use it for something even better–to draw many to follow in his path. 

   In the early days of my own priesthood, there were those hierarchical folks within the Church who accused me and other women priests of being after “the power,” and I could always answer truthfully that it was never about power for me personally, but about service for those who felt unserved within our Church, me included.  My prayer then, and now, has been that I could always serve in this role with humility, knowing that the gift and privilege is not at all about me, or for me, alone.  My hope in these disagreements with others, especially male priests, is that they would likewise shine their light of introspection upon themselves with regard to power, and strive going forward, to work with all who called to serve, for the greater good of the People of God.   

   You will recall from last Sunday’s homily the work of Sister Sandra Schneiders in defending her sisters in religious life against the investigations of their lives and missions in the world in 2010.  She said the same to the powers-that-were, at the time, basically looking at women Religious and their lifetimes of dedication and reflection upon ministry, and the renewal asked of them by the 2^nd Vatican Council, challenging the hierarchy of the Church to focus their attention upon themselves instead of upon women who were earnestly trying to live prophetic lives in the footsteps of their brother, Jesus. 

   This brings us to our first reading today from Genesis.  Here again we see the theme of this entire Lenten Season—God’s gracious goodness lifted up for us in the exchange between God and Abram.  When we see what is being asked of Abram, who will later become, Abraham, we realize that there had to have been a strong relationship already between him and God—why else would Abram be so willing without any question or argument to pick up family and basically leave all that he knows for a strange land and situation?  Even so, given the already existing relationship, it couldn’t have been easy for Abram to do.

   It is good for us to remember that what God asked of Abram was momentous in the culture within which he lived. A person in this culture was closely connected to family—one’s people.  The place from which a person originated was seen as paramount—one didn’t leave that place lightly.  God was basically asking Abram to leave his past, present, and possible future behind! And Abram said, “yes.” 

     This theme of God continually bestowing blessings on the Chosen People, which we really should see as all of us, is one that continues through all the readings today. Paul in his letter to Timothy speaks of this “lovingkindness” as pure gift, and as I said above, not because we have deserved or earned it.  Paul uses a Greek word, to further explain this pure goodness—charis, which translates as grace.   Paul then moves us into the 2^nd theme for this weekend, which is, a new beginning.  Through God’s magnanimous gift of Jesus we have the hope of new life.

  Our humanity is raised up and made perfect by Jesus becoming one of us and it is Jesus who calls us to holiness, to being our best selves Paul tells us. Our choosing to walk in Jesus’ footsteps is the final theme for this weekend—in fact; choosing to follow Jesus is what we should always be about in our lives as Christians.  It is what Sister Sandra was challenging the “accusers of wrong-doing” with regard to women religious, to look at.  She and the Religious she was defending had to 1^st follow the call of Jesus, even if, and especially if, doing so, went against Church law. 

   Coming back then to the Transfiguration, it is an event that is good for us to reflect upon on several fronts.  First off, if we needed something to confirm for us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, there is much here to confirm it.  Jesus, knowing the culture and beliefs of his time, would have been aware that he needed to choose a high place for such a revelation. “Location is everything,” the realtors tell us—high mountains were thought to be places where gods dwelt. 

   Most scholars now believe that Jesus’ purpose was indeed to reveal himself as God while he was yet on earth—to help these first believers to know truly who he was.  Appearing glorified in the presence of Moses, the lawgiver, and Elijah, who represented the prophets, and himself, who completed the equation, of all that the people had waited for, had to have been a tremendous strengthening of faith for James, John, and Peter!  Jesus shows himself to them as God incarnate.

   These followers of his, clearly can’t take it all in—how could they?! Peter speaks out of his compulsive nature— “Rabbi, it is good that we are here!” Yes, Peter, it is, but you can’t stay yet—this is a respite— a time away, to become solidified in what you are being called to and for.  God then instructs them further— “Listen to… Jesus’ words.” 

   So, my friends, coming back to this time of Lent, taking the readings for today, and trying to make sense of them, we must at least come to the conclusion that times such as the 40 Days of Lent are not meant for looking down on ourselves, pounding our breasts, and feeling guilty, but more so, about realizing the gift our God has given us in Jesus—not as One sent to die for us, but One who came freely, to live for us, to show us the way. And while true that following in his footsteps, may lead to our own, “crucifixions,” as it did for him, that was never God’s intent in sending him!

    With the knowledge that, “we are loved” by our Creator, rather than a God determined to have reparation for human failings, even including the death of Jesus, we will be much more strengthened and prepared to love others—to in fact use this one tool—yard stick, as it were, to measure the “rightness” of any action we ever question doing in life.  Is this about love?  If not, we have our answer. 

   Paul tells us, “Do not be ashamed…of God” and Jesus reminds us that we have nothing to fear.  So Lent, then, my friends, is intended to be a special time to look at how, “each of us is” in our world—to check if our actions are, “just about us,” or are we, in addition, “about others” in our world?  Amen? Amen!