My friend José tells me often, “I think it was God who brought us together.”
I agree.
Two years ago, the Presbyterian Outlook published an article where I shared my experiences with José after a year of Friday-morning meetings at the Livermore (California) Public Library. We are now in our fourth year and have become good friends over these years. José has worked hard and made significant progress in reading, writing and speaking English. And God continues to bless our relationship.
In the earlier article, I wrote that José asked to read an adult book in English. I asked him what he reads in Spanish, and he told me he reads the Bible. I wondered if he would like to read the Bible in English, and he said he would, so I gave him a copy of the Contemporary English Version. He read 10 to 20 verses from the Gospel of Luke each time, and although we don’t read every Friday because we have just one hour, and other tasks to work on, we have completed Luke and will next read the book of Acts. This year, on the Friday before Holy Week, we were at Chapter 23, the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. José read, fluently and with little help, all 56 verses.
“Bit by bit, I’m doing better,” he said when I complimented him for doing such a good job reading. What a difference it was compared to reading Chapter 1. It was so appropriate to be reading this chapter before Holy Week. The next time we met, José read Chapter 24. We celebrated having read the whole Gospel, but even more, we celebrated Jesus’ resurrection, which proclaims that death is not the final word, and we can be hopeful in the saving grace of our Lord.
Last year, the library’s literacy staff offered a special activity for all adult learners to write brief stories, which would be published in a small paperback book. I introduced the opportunity to José, who decided he would like to participate. Writing was not easy for him, so he dictated his story to me. He read what I typed and made a few edits before submitting the final version. José’s story was about how he and his daughter, Diana, during the pandemic, created a TikTok channel of short video clips. Today, their channel has 5.5 million followers, which makes them influencers that corporations seek out to represent their products.
After the book was published, the literacy staff planned a Saturday afternoon authors’ reception and book signing. The staff chose 20 writers – including José – to read their stories, which was momentous for José because it was the first time he read something in English for others to hear. After the readings and refreshments, attendees could visit with the authors and have their books autographed. It was a glorious day. As we were leaving, José and his wife, Maria, invited Pat and me to join their family for dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant. It was wonderful to spend time together sharing stories about our lives. José and Maria were especially interested to know Pat’s and my secret for being married for 68 years.
On the first Friday of January, we talked about our Epiphany traditions. José was surprised that we celebrate Epiphany in our church. He read the Matthew narrative of the three kings’ visit to the baby Jesus bearing gifts to honor him. Maria grew up in Mexico, where they celebrate Epiphany, or Three Kings Day as it is known there, with a wonderful tradition. Children receive gifts, and family and friends gather for a day of festivities. One of the features of the meal is Three Kings bread, which is a sweet bread baked in an oval, covered with glazed fruit, symbolizing the kings’ crowns with jewels. Baked in the bread are little plastic dolls symbolizing the baby Jesus, hidden from Herod.
On Saturday, José called to say he was in the parking lot of our apartment complex, and he had a gift for Pat and me. The gift was a large loaf of Three Kings bread. Pat and I were surprised and grateful for the gift, which we ate on Epiphany Sunday and for several days thereafter. It was delicious, and we found six little dolls in our loaf.
José attended church almost every day during Lent. On several Fridays, he shared the lectionary text that was the focus for the priest’s homily and wanted to read it in his Bible. He shared his thoughts about the passage and asked questions for us to discuss. José wanted to know how we Presbyterians celebrate Lent and if Pat and I had any special Lenten traditions.
Our sharing every Friday is very personal. Early in Lent, José shared that his older brother had recently died. He said he was wondering if he should keep our Friday date and decided it was important to come to share his sad news because he knew I would understand his grief. On that day, my role changed from Teacher Don to Pastor Don.
I celebrated my 90th birthday on April 6. The following Friday, José came with a fancy birthday cake, and Maria and Diana came later to sing Happy Birthday and give me special greetings and hugs. I wonder how much longer I will be able to make the Friday trek to the library. I can’t imagine not being with José on Friday mornings; our time together is a highlight of my week.
Recently, José shared with me a story about a weekend retreat he and his family attended in April. He and Maria invited the retreat’s priest leader and a few friends for breakfast on Monday morning. There was some discussion about the ways non-Catholics treat Catholics, which tended to be primarily negative.
“I told them that is not always true,” José said to me. “I have a teacher friend who is not Catholic, and he never speaks bad words about Catholics. He listens to me when I speak about my faith in Jesus and shares what he believes. We read the Bible together, and we both love and worship God.
“I think there are others like my teacher friend.”
May it be so.
