May 17, 2026.

This homily will not be delivered. I am away from Naples.

Acts of the Apostles 1: 1-11 + Psalm 47 + Ephesians 1: 17-23 + Matthew 28: 16-20

I recently read a great story about Jesus returning to heaven after his death and resurrection. It seems that the Archangel Gabriel who started it all, if you remember, was surprised to see him back so soon. Thirty-three years is not a long time, especially when you think about the importance and proportions of the task he had been given. Gabriel says: “Back so soon?” Jesus said: “Well, I would have stayed longer, but they crucified me.” “They did?” said Gabriel. “I guess that means you failed.” “Not necessarily,” said Jesus. “You see, I called together a little group of disciples. They will carry on my work.” “And what if they fail?” asked Gabriel. “I have no other plans.” Jesus answered.

There is no other plan. What those of us left must discover is that the Ascension of Jesus is his liberation from the restrictions of time and space. It does not represent his removal from the earth, but his constant presence everywhere. A sense of the presence of Christ with us does not change the world for us, but it should give us the courage to face the world.

The transformation of this world back into the Paradise that God intended depends upon us. There is no other plan. It is not a daunting task. It is a privilege. When we witness, stand up and speak about truth, justice, love and peace, we bear witness to and carry on the work of Jesus. We witness to truth by living truthfully. We witness to justice by acting justly with others. We witness to love by acting lovingly with others, and we witness to peace by living peacefully with our neighbors. It’s not such big challenge when we get down to the core of it. We might simply remember and draw encouragement from what Mother Teresa said once: “I don’t pray for success. I pray that I may be a faithful witness.”

May 10, 2026, at St William Parish in Naples, FL

Acts of the Apostles 8:5-8, 14-17 + Psalm 66 + 1 Peter 3: 15-18 + John 14:15-21

The quid pro quo world in which we live and in which we hear these words of Jesus Christ presents a problem, and we need to ask ourselves, “Does enjoying God’s loving and abiding presence really depend upon my keeping Jesus’ commandments? If it does, I have a problem, and I suspect I’m not the only one. Jesus being lifted from earth and drawing all people to himself does not depend on anything we do or fail to do. This is not a reward for being good. It is a gift not a prize. We must get out of that mentality. God’s plan does not depend on us. When Jesus speaks these words, he is attempting to inspire trust among us. These words are intended to assure us not threaten us. He is not laying down conditions for receiving the Spirit. It is a gift to us, not a reward or some personal possession.

Think of this. That word, “condition” has a lot of definitions. It could mean “something necessary” as in “It is necessary that you keep the command of Jesus for him to ask the Father to send the Advocate.” However, there is another way to define “condition” as a “way of being.” In other words, it is like describing what condition we are in, and that is where John is going with this. Those whose way of being is to love Jesus and keep his commandments, have the gift of the Spirit for without it it would be impossible to stay in love and keep the commandments Jesus has given us.

I think it helps to remember that in John’s Gospel “love” is always a verb, not a noun. It is not a thing, it is a way of being, a condition we’re in or a way of acting that comes from a deep intimacy with the God Jesus has revealed to us. This is the consequence of the Incarnation, the Word Made Flesh. Jesus is comforting and assuring those disciples with a description of what they will be like after he departs. It is a description of the Church, a Spirit filled faithful people who love, serve, reconcile, comfort and inspire.

Choosing every day to obey that commandment of love making it our very way of being in this world requires a little teamwork, and that’s why we are a church. What Jesus asks we cannot do unless the Spirit abides with us and sets up shop among us. A Spirit-filled church with the abiding presence of Jesus is all we need. Many in this world cannot see Jesus any longer, but we can because he lives in us now by the presence and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

May 3, 2026, at St William on Saturday & St Peter on Sunday

Acts of the Apostles 6: 1-7 + Psalm 33 + 1 Peter 2: 4-9 + John 14: 1-12

In John’s Gospel Philip is a main character. He is named twelve times as opposed to once in the other three Gospels. He is the first disciple to lead someone to Jesus. He is troubled that there will not be enough when asked to feed the crowd. He is the one the Greeks seek when they come wanting to see Jesus, and he is the one present with Andrew as Jesus prays that his hour has come.

Today we hear Thomas speak as a representative of the group, and Jesus answers him as such. When Philip tries the same move, Jesus gets personal with him. Jesus has made it clear that he will return to the Father. The disciples are stalling almost as though their questions can delay what is not only inevitable, but also God’s plan. And so, Thomas and Philip ask questions that are a bit silly, and it annoys Jesus. With that he scolds a bit and then reaffirms his intimate relationship with the Father offering all who follow him the same relationship.

“Show us the Father” says Philip, and with those words he speaks for many in this world who wonder “where is God” when tragedies happen and death and evil rage uncontrollably. They wonder, like Philip what God is like and what if anything God is doing.

The response of Jesus to Philip is echoed to all of us who too often get stunned by violence, fear, a personal tragedy that leaves us stunned and wondering how this could happen to us raising that question, “Where is God when we need God?” What happened to that part, “Whatever you ask in my name?” He says to us, look at my works, what I do: changing water into wine, healing the servant of a royal official, healing a paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda, feeding 5,000 with five loaves and two fish, walking on the water, restoring sight to a man born blind, and calling Lazarus from the tomb.

More than these works, Jesus points us to where we might look when we find it hard to believe his words. Wherever Joy and abundance replace embarrassment and scarcity, hungry people are fed, calm overcomes a storm. It is astonishing. Christian people can do what Jesus did and more, and many have over 2,000 years. This is where we must look to see what God is up to and where God is to be found.

The issue is whether we will do what Jesus did or not. It is up to us. The fact that we can do them is due to the fact that Jesus completed the very work God set him to do which was to show us the Father, show us what the Father is like and what the Father’s love can accomplish. To Thomas and to Philip he gave that task, and they have passed it on to us. No one should ever wonder why God has abandoned them as long as we hear their cry.

April 26, 2026, at St William, St Peter & St Agnes Churches in Naples, FL

Acts of the Apostles 2: 36-41 + Psalm 23 + 1 Peter 2: 20-25 + John 10: 1-10

As you probably know the number seven in the Sacred Scriptures carries with it a message much greater and more important than a numerical count between six and eight. When it shows up in the Scriptures it always brings a sense of completion and fullness. John uses sevens very skillfully to bring the new creation (seven days) into the present. Seven Signs make up the framework of this Gospel: turning water into wine, healing the son of an official, healing the paralytic, feeding 5,000, walking on water, healing a blind man, and calling Lazarus back to life. In the book of Apocalypse attributed to John there are seven seals and seven cosmic events. So, if I were to give you a test today, one question would be, “How many times in John’s Gospel does Jesus say: “I Am?”

Each of them is a profound declaration Jesus makes to describe His divine nature, role, and relationship with his followers. So today he speaks to us declaring that he is The Gate, and he does not mean an object. His role as The Gate is to save and give life to those who come to him. The function of The Gate is “Life”. “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  There is nothing here to suggest that anyone who does not know Jesus Christ cannot be saved. The message here is for those who do come to The Gate. What happens to them? They have life, and the verb is in the present.

What is important for us to realize is that John does not confine “eternal life” to some heavenly afterlife. Having life abundantly is what we have who have come the The Gate, and that is what we hear today. John uses “life” as a present gift Jesus offers to believers. This life that Jesus offers refers to a quality of life that we experience now. So, The Gate is a portal to an abundant and full life. This is what Christ offers us, a new life to be lived right now: a life without fear, a life filled with  joy and gratitude, a life filled with hope in the face of danger or tragedy, a life lived with confidence that God will provide what we need, with an assurance that we are never alone, and that mercy and forgiveness are what we can expect when we remain faithful and live in the freedom of God’s children.

What John says to us today is, “Come to the gate.” “Come to life” “Come for the gift that the Father has given us in Jesus Christ.  

April 19, 2026, at Saint William Churches in Naples, Fl

Acts of the Apostles 2: 14, 22-33 + Psalm 16 + 1 Peter 1: 17-21 + Like 24: 13-35

We hear today a Gospel story so familiar that most of you could pass it on without hesitation. That familiarity however comes with the risk that we fail to explore the wonder of this important Gospel story. There are four people here: the stranger, Cleopas, someone without a name, and Peter. We know about Peter and more will come in Luke’s Acts of the Apostles.  That stranger the two meet on the road has no name leading us to acknowledge who this is that enters as an invited guest and then becomes the host at that table since he is the one who takes bread, breaks and distributes it. As Luke tells this story, there is still another person unnamed whose identity ought to make us curious enough to wonder and think more deeply.

It might surprise you at first as I suggest that there are many scholars who believe that this other companion is a woman. It makes some sense because all through Luke’s Gospel women are repeatedly in significant roles. Not naming her reflects the culture at the time when women were not counted. Personally, I think that without any real biblical evidence artists have always painted this scene with two men limiting our imagination and causing less of Luke’s message to come through to us.

This is domestic scene. A couple have returned home and have welcomed a stranger. They have made a journey that is more than a walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus. It is the journey all disciples must travel, from knowledge to encounter, from information to transformation. This is a movement from head to heart that continues to their feet has they rush back to tell the others what Peter has already declared, “The Lord has risen.” None of this would ever have happened had they not welcomed that stranger into their home that day.

It is the classic experience of something being too good to be true, and it challenges that attitude that if something can go wrong it probably will. What we proclaim today with this Gospel is what we find all through the Scriptures, stories about things that are too good to be true. Abraham and Sara in their old age have a baby. Moses, a murderer leads God’s people to freedom, David, the least likely of his brothers become the king. A persecutor named Saul takes the Gospel beyond Jewish boundaries to the Gentiles. Maybe things that are too good can be and are true. Sometimes I like to think that another name for God ought to be “Surprise”. When it comes to God, what seems too good is exactly what it is.

For many, hope is a cruel and dangerous emotion. So, they dare not let down their guard and believe. Fear becomes the greatest obstacle to belief. For that reason, the risen Christ often says: “Fear Not” as he offers Peace.

The news we share today is that there is something true that seemed too good. It is true that sinners like us have hope for a place in the Kingdom of God. It is true that in welcoming a stranger we may experience the presence of the Risen One. It is true that for any disciple who has received that broken, blessed bread, sadness will be overcome by Joy. Having made that journey from knowledge to encounter and from information to transformation, from head to heart all of us ought to be up on our feet anxious to tell others what we know to be good and true. Death and the fear of it have been conquered.

April 12, 2026, at Saint William Church in Naples, FL

Acts of the Apostles 2: 42-47 + Psalm 118 + 1 Peter 1: 3-9 + John 20: 19-31

There is a problem with these verses of John’s Gospel, and I am quick to admit that I have contributed to the problem over the years by focusing on Thomas. We like him – he’s a lot like us with his attitude and doubts. Remember, disbelief is not the only way to understand doubt. It can also mean hesitation, and I think that’s what’s going on here.

However, Thomas is not the focus of these verses. The risen Christ is why John tells this story, and what he says is a powerful message to us who understand that we have been given a mission. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” is not just a command given only to those in that room. It is a command to all of us, to the Church. We have been put in this world, in this faith, in this Church as peacemakers.

Understanding what “peace” looks like when Jesus speaks of it ought to make us a bit cautious giving us reason to take a deep breath. The peace Jesus offers has nothing to do with tranquility and harmony. The peace Jesus offers is what cost him his life. His peace invites the lion to see the lamb as a neighbor and friend, the Jew speak with the Samaritan, a prostitute dine with a Pharisee, a Democrat, Independent

and Republican enjoying dinner together, a Muslim and a Baptist at prayer in a Catholic Church.  In other words, the peace that Jesus brings and insists that we spread is a new way of being in the world.

When we stop to think about it and examine what is asked of us, it becomes clear that we are not capable of doing this alone. The power of sin is simply too great. By ourselves, we always want to fit in, keep our social status and preserve our privilege and good name. All of this is threatened by the peace-making activity Jesus expects of us. We need help, and these verses reveal where and how that help will come: by the Holy Spirit. That is why he breathes on them. They can’t do it alone. It is a kind of Confirmation not unlike our own. So often the grace, the power, and the gift of the Holy Spirit is forgotten, ignored, and barely called upon.

It is not easy being a peacemaker in a world marked by war all over the place. It is not easy to be a peacemaker in a society that incarcerates a vast number of men and women and then forgets about them. It is not easy to be a peacemaker in a country where guns are prevalent and too many children’s lives are scared by violence at home, at school, and at play. Nevertheless, in the power of the Holy Spirit, Christian people can and do follow Jesus in this radical peacemaking work, trusting that Christ is working in us, and that the glimpses of peace we are given now and then stir our hopes and strengthen our resolve to continue until that day when Christ will come again to perfect his work and confirm the fullness of his peace.

April 5, 2026 at Saint Peter the Apostle and Saint Agnes Churches in Naples, FL

Acts of the Apostles 10: 34, 37-43 + Psalm 118 + 1 Corinthians 5: 6-8 + Matthew 28: 1-10

You would never catch an important detail here unless you read the resurrection reports of Mark, Luke, and John at the same time. There is something different here that can give us hope and lasting joy. In the other Gospels, when the women arrived, the stone was already rolled away. In the Gospel of Matthew, the stone is still in place, and the angel rolls it away while they are standing there. Matthew is revealing a new Jesus who does not need to have the tomb open. This is a Jesus who moves through that stone, who moves through anything that might keep him from returning to the father.

My friends, all of us live from time to time as though we are intombed and unable to really be free to live and finish our journey to the Father. Broken promises, shame, guilt, loved ones lost because of our greed or our refusal to forgive are all huge stones that leave us trapped and alone. These things and more are like that stone that once kept Christ locked in a tomb. As Matthew tells it today, nothing can keep this man of love away from us. He passes right through that stone. This man of love, this man who gives human flesh to God’s love is with us still, and that is why we crowd together today to rejoice and celebrate the truth that God is with us, and no matter what barriers, sins, stones or doubts we have Christ can pass through them continuing to show us the way to the Father.

I pray with you today that the one who passed through that stone may pass through stony hearts made so by disappointment and pain. I pray with you today that the power of God’s word may lead us all to discover that we are never alone no matter how many or how great are the stones we may have piled up in front of us. We rejoice and sing Alleluia today because we are free, forgiven, loved unconditionally, and God the Father will allow nothing to keep his love and his son away from us.

It all began with a breath, that moment of human awakening. God breathes out, and suddenly Adam breathes in. There is life, and it is good. Then in a moment it is finished. Paradise is lost by one bad decision. While it may be finished, it is not over. A new Adam breathes out, and says: “It is finished.” But, it is not over. Both of them breathe love. What began in Genesis is not finished. What began there was love giving birth to love. So, through the Word, the first Adam came to be; but because he did not love, that Word became a second Adam. Here at the cross, the great work is finished. Here is the one person who did and who was through the centuries what the rest of us failed to do and be. Quite simply and wonderfully, he loved the Father, and the Father loved him.

It all began with a breath, and it ends with a breath. It is finished, but it is not over. He who breathes his last still breathes once more upon us. At the moment of salvation when love is at its best, he breathes out, so that we may breathe in that love, that life, that Spirit he “hands over”, as John says it in his Passion narrative: “He handed over his spirit.”

Creation begins again. Those who have not loved receive the breath of love. It is as though we take a deep breath to sing out the hymn of creation in praise and honor of the very God whose love is never withheld even from the countless Adams and Eves who have failed to love and to live. It is never a love that is earned or given like a reward. It is a love that is pure and simple, granted as grace to every Adam and every Eve who have stepped foot in this garden God has entrusted to us.

A story is told of Peter who is finally in heaven looking around. Suddenly he sees Judas walking toward the gates. Judas has a box. In the box is rooster. Peter says, “You have no business here.” Judas opens the box, and the two look at one another and both begin to weep. Their tears however are tears of joy, not shame or sadness, and two sinners embrace. Because the Spirit has breathed upon Peter the breath of life, Peter can breathe upon Judas and every other Judas and find what is sometimes simply too much to imagine: total forgiveness and mercy. So, as I said, it all began with a breath. One breathes in, and the other breaths out. When Jesus breathes his last and says: “It is finished” he does not mean it is over. It simply means he has given over his spirit to the rest of us.

This age in which we live does not see what we see in the cross. The cheap and popular Gospel of these days proclaims a life of leisure, pleasure, and wealth, of comfort and satisfaction. It runs from and hides the cross turning it into a piece of jewelry. Suffering is to be avoided all costs, like the flu. The Passion and death of Christ is romanticized with Easter Bunnies, colored eggs.

It cannot be so for us. He died, a bloody, terrible death innocent and without sin. He suffered because we will not. He died because we pretend that there is no death, while making idols of youthfulness and youthful beauty never seeing the face of God in an old man or woman whose life has been spent in loving sacrifice. This world still needs the cross and what it says about love and commitment, service and obedience to God’s will. We cannot run from the cross.

The last breath of Jesus is not the last breath of life because you and I have inhaled once again the breath of his spirit. It is not over. The Passion of Christ began with a kiss from Judas, a sinner. This Divine Liturgy will end a few minutes with the hope that the cross offers us all who will repent, take up their cross and follow the one who has handed over to us his spirit. “Come, follow me.” is how discipleship begins, and this Good Day reveals where he is leading us, into the mystery of God’s love where God will once again breathe life into us.

March 29, 2026 at Saint Peter the Apostle and Saint William Churches in Naples, FL

Isaiah 50: 4-7 + Psalm 22 + Philippians 2: 6-11 + Matthew 26: 14 to 27: 66

We have, probably from the beginning, the first time we heard this tragic story focused on Jesus, his last days, hours, suffering and death. We could all tell the story without a book we know it so well and always Jesus is at the center and what we remember most.

Perhaps there is another way to remember this story that is more difficult, and maybe we like the old way because it is so much easier. Maybe we could tell it with disciples as the focus because then it becomes more personal. Instead of telling what Jesus does and what happens to him, we might also look at what disciples did and sadly still do. Their story is really ours. They are bumblers, and they desert when the chips are down.

When Christian life becomes inconvenient, embarrassing or costly we retreat into denial, economic comfort, silence in the face of injustice wringing our hands and convincing ourselves that we could not have made a difference anyway. The disciples tell our story. We stand beside them or run with them at the first sign of danger. They protest when he calls them deserters, but the truth is really in their hearts.

Yet we all really want to do the right thing. We understand what he said in the Garden: “The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Good intentions cannot save us not even right action. Only the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection can save them and save us leaving us to be filled with gratitude and joy. For Jesus has accomplished what we have not, the perfect fulfillment of the Father’s will.

March 22, 2026 at St Peter and Saint William Parishes in Naples, FL

Ezekiel 37: 12-14 + Psalm 130 + Romans 8: 8-11 + John 11: 1-45

Now comes the last of the seven signs in John’s Gospel, and with it a lesson on waiting and grieving. Martha and Mary wait. Even these much-loved disciples and friends of Jesus cannot snap their fingers and have their wish fulfilled. Then Jesus says: “Let’s go” and the final days of his journey to Jerusalem begin. He’s not going to Lazarus. He is going to his death. Along the way, he will bring Lazarus to live again for a while until he finds his way home at last. But not before hope is nearly lost because Lazarus has been four days in a tomb.

A question is always there when hope grows dim. “What if”, and Martha says it with a broken heart. Grief does that to us all. It robs us of hope. Martha may not be the only one asking that question. Perhaps even Jesus asks: “What if” as he weeps. Is it grief over the loss of a friend, or is it the pain of the friends standing around him who are so stricken? Does he feel as though he let them down by not coming earlier?

More likely the tears of Jesus speak to his acceptance of death as an inevitable tragic part of human experience. People are born. People die. Even if Jesus had arrived earlier and healed Lazarus, eventually the man would have died. Certainly, even after Lazarus was raised from the dead, at some point he died again. Death cannot be avoided. On his way to Jerusalem now, Jesus had to be aware that his powerful enemies were out to destroy him. He weeps.

The reasons for his tears however are not as important as the fact that he allowed the tears to flow. He did not do what we are often told to do. He did not hold back tears, bottle-up his emotions, or maintain self-control. We can learn from this story to be free, to cry in the face of something that could prompt those tears and stand without shame or embarrassment with those who grieve and express their pain so openly. The tears, the grief, the sadness must never rob us of hope that is so easily lost in all the emotions around death. Martha’s hope expressed in her talk with Jesus leads him to the tomb where her brother will emerge to live again.