Month: December 2020

January 1, 2021 at Saint Peter the Apostle Church in Naples, FL

Numbers 6, 22-27 + Psalm 67 + Galatians 4, 4-7 + Luke 2, 16-21

We come into this holy place today to bear witness to our faith and begin a new year in the place where our hope will be strengthened, where we shall celebrate again and again the great mysteries that reveal God’s love for us.  We begin this year as we have in years past by reading aloud a Gospel that proclaims the mighty name of Jesus. It is a Gospel that sets before us the truth of what we celebrated a week ago, a truth that is the reason for our hope and the source of our strength: God is with us. … more »

December 27, 2020 At St. Peter & St. William Churches in Naples, FL

Genesis 15, 1-6 & 21, 1-3 + Psalm 128 + Hebrews 11, 8, 11-12,17-19

Luke 2, 22-40

For Luke, the fact that Joseph and Mary were law-abiding people fulfilling what was required at the time of a birth, this story is important. But, in this place and at this time, that’s not so important to us. Other details he provides are because, he puts before us two elders placing this child right into the history of his own people. From old Abraham and Sara in that first reading to old Zechariah and Elizabeth the unexpected parents of John the Baptist, we see God’s promise fulfilled. … more »

December 25, 2020 At St. Peter & St. William Churches in Naples, FL

Isaiah 9, 1-6 + Psalm 96 + Titus 2, 11-14 + Luke 2, 1-14

More years ago, than I care to think about, my school was putting on the traditional Christmas pageant.  Believe me, none of us boys were the least bit interested in being angels. Not because it would have been out of character, after all everyone knew that I was the perfect angel from the beginning. It was just a matter of those white dresses and the wings. The little kids were better at that. Then there was the role of shepherds: it wasn’t a bad role. … more »

December 20, 2020 At St. Peter & St. William Churches in Naples, FL

2 Samuel 7, 1-5, 8-12, 1 6 + Psalm 89 + Romans 16, 25-27 + Luke 1, 26-38

These are troubled times for people longing for God. It’s been so for quite some time before an invisible virus upset out comfortable way of life that was often predictable and even somewhat controllable. Slowly and gradually this scientific age of ours has eroded away all possibility of the mystical and the miraculous preferring what is predictable and measurable. Anything beyond our control troubles us and soon makes us anxious. When we don’t know something, we can’t live that way, so we spin out conspiracy theories and pretend that we know something when we really don’t. … more »

The Third Sunday of Advent

December 13, 2020 At St. William Church in Naples, FL

Isaiah 61, 1-2 & 10-11 + Psalm Luke 1,46-38 + 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 -24 + John 1, 6-8 & 19-28

Something invisible has crossed every boarder on this earth revealing how intimately connected we are across our entire planet. We cannot help but be moved and saddened by the number of families who will celebrate this Christmas without someone greatly loved, and we cannot help but be troubled by those who deny the truth that the actions of one have real effects on all. We are all one body and one people whether our skin color is the same or our language. … more »

December 8, 2020 At St. Peter & St. William Churches in Naples, FL

Genesis 3, 19-15, 20 + Psalm 98 + Ephesians 1, 3-6, 11-12 + Luke 1, 26-38

Sometimes I think that the idea behind this feast suggests that because Mary was “conceived without sin” suggests that she had no choice that day, that her life was so planned out by God that she could not have said “no” and gone on with her life just as she had planned. I’m not so sure that is the case, because I am very sure that God who gave us all the gift of freedom would not take away that gift from anyone. … more »

December 6, 2020 At St. Peter & St. William Churches in Naples, FL

Isaiah 40, 5, 9-11, 19 + Psalm 85 + 2 Peter 8, 1-14 + Mark 1, 1-8

The first two words of Mark’s Gospel are important for anyone who wants to be open to the power of God’s Word. Does anyone here remember what those two words were? They are the same words that open the Book of Genesis, the story of Creation, and reveal the wonder of God. They are the same first words of John’s Gospel too. There should be a drum roll when we hear those words: “The beginning”, says Mark as he proclaims the coming age of the Messiah, the beginning of a new work of God as original and stupendous as the creation of the universe. … more »