January 1, 2026 at Saint Peter the Apostle Church in Naples, FL

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

Is this feast about Mary or about God? We ought to think about that. When we say that Mary is the mother of God, the focus should shift to the identity of her son. Just seven days after we celebrate the Birth of Christ, we are proclaiming his identity.

Not long after Pentecost and the birth of the church, there began to be trouble over the true identity of Christ. Even among important leader/bishops, the challenge of how to understand and express the nature of a man who was both human and divine caused a lot of polarization. It got the point in some places where violence erupted, and communities were torn a-part. Was Jesus only acting like a human because he was so divine or was he a human that assumed or was granted some divine powers. The issue became so serious that the very unity of civil/political society was at stake.

By the year 381, the Emperor, Constantine had had enough, and he ordered all the Bishops to a small town out in the middle of nowhere away from their urban comforts. He ordered them to sort it out, and eventually they did, but not without a lot of trouble. The result was the Creed that we recite on Sundays and special occasions.   It settled the identity of Jesus by declaring that by the Holy Spirit, the Son of God became man born of the Virgin Mary.

You might think that would be the end of it, but it wasn’t. Now the status of Mary became the point of dispute into the 4^th century when another Council was called, this time at the urging of the Bishop of Rome. Ephesus was the place, and it was 451. Finally, at this Council it was affirmed that Mary was the Mother of God hoping to put a stop to those who called her the Mother of Christ. Of course, pronouncements never really settle anything if you are the opposition, and the controversy took a long time to settle down.

For every one of us, there is still the need to clarify the identity of Jesus Christ and get ourselves in line with what has been revealed. In these days, it seems to me that the Divine Nature has become primary in the faith of too many when in truth neither human or divine is primary. We run the risk of still throwing the identity of Christ, fully divine and fully human out of balance. When that happens, we forget what it really means for God to enter into human life. We forget that God knows how we feel, how we suffer, how we struggle, and what we fear.

The fracture of the Christian Community is still a cause of shame, and for me, Mary is our hope for unity. Like any mother who sees her children at odds, not speaking to each other, and refusing to come together it is my hope that she will call us back together. Today we take time to clarify our own faith in Jesus Christ while at the same time call upon the mother whose children are still not at peace with the hope that we may all be one and joyfully celebrate the mystery that God has chosen to be one with us.

December 28, 2025 at Saint Peter and Saint William Parishes in Naples, FL

Sirach 3: 2-6, 12-14 + Psalm + Colossians 2: 12-21 + Matthew 2: 13-15, 19-23

Many are away from us today having gone somewhere to be with their families. Some of you have come here to join family members for Christmas. There is no way to negotiate this holy season without thoughts of our families. We do so with all kinds of emotions from tender memories to painful ones of loneliness and sadness. Unlike the Holy Family fleeing Herod, we cannot flee our family memories. We have been shaped by them: good, bad, or indifferent. Families can be safe and comforting or fearful and angry, breeding resentment. Some are a mix of both.

We all navigate family waters as best we can. If our memories are positive, we have to listen to God’s call to share what we have known with those whose lives we touch. If memories are hurtful, we find a way to walk with God on a path of healing out of the heartache. If we are still living with hurtful individuals, we can listen to God’s voice that urges us to find tolerance, love, and safety.

A very real family is put before us today inviting us to wonder and imagine how and why they are so “holy.” Thinking that it was because of the Divine Nature of the son in this family boarders on heresy because his divinity never interfered with his real and true humanity. The holy ones here are the mother and the father. Two obedient children of God who know how to listen, ponder, and seek to do the right thing and the will of God.

The real story of this family is untold. We know nothing about their lives together except that they were faithful to the customs and practices of their faith. The only clues we get to what that family life was like comes from things Jesus said and did as an adult. We find him compassionate and tender with a widow whose only son has died. We find him comfortable in many homes, but seemly often at the home of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. In that home we find him unbothered by a little spat between the woman. Of all the parables, the “Prodigal Son” presents a father who acts more like a mother than a wealthy patriarch. I do believe that he spoke that parable out of his own experience at home. Jesus became a human being revealing God because he was raised in a family made holy because they listened to God who called them to compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. That’s what made that family holy. They put on love which is the bond of perfection.

I wonder sometimes if in God’s plan this three-person family is not a reflection of the ultimate Holy Family which we call the Trinity. In that family there is a powerful exchange of love beyond human limits giving us the Jesus who reveals an unconditional and extravagant love beyond our imagination. Jesus was formed by that love, and his mission is to form us and draw us into that holy family.

Christmas is not over. It has just begun, and it will not end when the tree comes down. There is some light in the darkness of these times. It is a light that comes from God who must be hoping that we will allow the light of His Son to shine not just in this holy place but in our homes where we shall become holy as we were meant to be, Peace be with you, friends.

December 25, 2025 at Saint Peter, Saint William &Saint Agnes Parishes in Naples, FL

Isaiah 9: 1-6 + Psalm 98 + Titus 3: 4-7 + Luke 2: 1-20

Shepherds get Center Stage in these verses from Luke’s Gospel that we have heard countless times. I’m not sure about you, but I remember very clearly jumping at the chance to play one of the shepherd roles in those Christmas pageants so much a part of Advent in our parish school. Most of us guys wanted that role because you did not have to sing or remember any lines. There were no feathers, wings, or haloes to mess with because all you had to do was wear dad’s bathrobe. Most importantly of all, you did not have to stand close to and look admiringly at the girl playing Mary because she was “Sister’s favorite.” Romantic as the scene has become at the hands of artists over the centuries, there is something about these shepherds that gets lost in all the Carols, Manger Scenes, and paintings. Luke is not entertaining us with this story. He is revealing something to us to ignite our imaginations and move us to act.

The birth of Christ was a rude interruption for everyone in these scripture stories that have been passed on to us. They start with an aging priest named, Zacharias and his childless wife, Elizabeth. Just when they thought it was time to settle down and quietly retire, they hear news that changes everything. Then it is Joseph whose sleep is interrupted with troubling news about the woman he was to marry, forcing him to decide to do what is right or do what customs required, leaving her alone in disgrace. The young woman herself has had her own life plan interrupted. They are just only ordinary people who find their lives and plans suddenly overturned. Just like us.

Today the story of shepherds is told to us. We ought not miss the fact that they were at work, doing what they always do, tending the flocks entrusted to them when they are interrupted in the night. The most dangerous of time when predators are about is the night. Yet, they have heard something, good news it seems, and they take off wanting to see this thing that has taken place. With that, we know what Luke is up to with this story, and what may happen to us when we really want to see and understand Christmas.

Wanting to see is the first movement of faith. Remember the Apostle Thomas? In order to believe, he wanted to see what the others had already seen. It was the same with the shepherds. They went to see what they had heard about. While Jesus may praise those who believe without seeing, there is no ignoring what seeing can do when it comes to faith. What Thomas and those Shepherds saw was Christ the Lord. Faith, my friends is not some ideology, creed, or collection of rules. Faith is Jesus Christ.

I believe that most of us have faith because we saw someone whose life made the Gospel credible. Their life, values, and joy let us see Christ the Lord. I also believe that there are people everywhere in this world longing for something beautiful that they cannot or have not yet seen. We need to hope and pray that when they see us, they may come to faith because they have seen Christ the Lord. We cannot simply celebrate the Son of God coming into human life unless it is our life and our flesh that he assumes as well, so that in us they may see Christ the Lord.

In a day or two most of us will return to our fields and flocks like the shepherds, back to our normal routines and responsibilities. All of that will be the same, but we cannot be the same people. We ought to leave here humbly like the shepherds, forever changed by Christ Jesus, letting people know about Christ through the way we live our lives. We need to make real and celebrate something far more wonderful than a birth in Bethlehem. What we must truly celebrate is the birth of Christ in all our hearts, souls, and lives. When that begins to happen, God will be praised and glorified, and God’s people will live with hope, Joy, and Peace.

December 21, 2025 at Saint Peter the Apostle Parish in Naples, FL

Isaiah 7: 10-14 + Psalm 24+ Roman 1: 1-7 + Matthew 1: 18-24

It is Joseph’s day. Joseph the dreamer. Joseph, an obedient man who responds to dreams rather than demands. Joseph the righteous man whose righteousness comes from trusting relationships rather than rules. His righteousness is based on love, not on law. In a right relationship with God, which is what being righteous means, he becomes faithful to God, not to the ways of this world.  Confused and scared, wanting to do what is right, he trusts his intuition and imagination.

Our Sacred Scriptures a filled with stories of dreams and dreamers, and all the dreams in Scripture have something in common. They represent the intrusion of God into a settled world. They are an unplanned surprise communication in the dark of the night that opens sleepers to a world different from the one they inhabit in the day. These biblical dreams are an intrusion that makes the dreamer restless and uneasy with the way things are until the dream comes true.

These dreams are the way God frees us from the mess of this world and pushes us into new life. That’s what happens to Joseph. Of all the figures in the story we tell in this season, he is the most like us. He is one with which we have the most in common. We know what it’s like to have plans go awry. We know what it’s like to have someone we love surprise us in ways that call for trusting our intuition. We know what it’s like to be confused and have to decide what is right.

He seems so passive in this drama, but as this story closes, Matthew gives Joseph one final great moment, he names Jesus. In doing so, he is proclaiming what we all need to hear at times when we are confused or scared: God is with us. Joseph stands before us today reminding us all of our true vocation, radical obedience that can only come from true humility lived in fidelity. The birth of Jesus is a birth of a new world as the old one shakes and falls into darkness. We are celebrating more than the birth of Jesus. This about a new birthday for the world where dreams of peace make us restless and ready to change whatever is in the way. Where dreams of joy awaken us to laughter and hope.

Our world here is too settled in its ways, too comfortable with power and success. It is into a settled world like this that God comes to disturb us all with what is possible for a people who will dream, seek always to do what is right, and remember that God is with us.

December 14, 2025 at Saint Peter the Apostle Parish in Naples, FL

Isaiah 35: 1-6 + Psalm 146 + James 5: 7-10 + Matthew 11: 2-11

John the Baptist is with us again this week, but not standing on Jordan’s Banks. He sits in Herod’s prison wondering and struggling, not just about why Jesus does not come to his aid as he has for so many others, but because Herod still sits on his throne. He wonders why the Romans are still there, and why the God he expected to stoke the great fire is so very silent and still.

I don’t think any one of us has any difficulty understanding how John feels. We have all been there. On one level we are surrounded by Christmas lights and carols. Cookies, candy, and gifts of all kinds are being shared as we are invited to sing: “Joy to the World.” Then, we turn on the evening news and have every reason to share John’s feelings. We pray and pray and pray for some divine intervention to restore someone’s health, and they slip away from us leaving that feeling John has sitting in that prison alone. Nothing happens.

This Gospel today suggests that looking for Jesus in a crib or even in a Tabernacle might not be the right place, while Saint Paul encourages us to have the patience of farmers. The message Jesus sends back to John is sent to all of us who struggle and wonder about how long it is taking for the Kingdom of God to show itself, and how long it is taking for God to act. Maybe we are not looking around well enough.

Things are happening all around us, but in our impatience, we miss them. Because of research and wonderful discoveries, I am standing here at 83 with a medical condition that took my father’s life at 64. Many of us see clearly because cataracts have been removed. Every Tuesday, a powerful force of people armed with love are feeding homeless people right up the street. Missionaries are leaving their homes and families thousands of miles away to come here and serve our Church. Teachers sacrifice greater salaries and opportunities to help our children develop their potential. Every one of these examples, and there countless more, reveal the nativity and action of Christ among us.

It is not just Christ that has been born, but all creation is born again now able to participate in Divine Life. With the patience Saint Paul speaks of, we keep going. We keep praying. We keep living because we are the sign of God’s presence and action in this world. We cannot lose patience with ourselves. What we do out of love makes a difference. When we use our God-given talents in the care and service of others, there is no reason to wonder or struggle any longer like John in that prison.

With all the boldness of Jesus Christ, we must speak out in truth and act with audacity to continue the life-giving risky work of Christ. We need to consecrate time to ponder the Word of God to better understand God’s ways among us. We must reflect and pray with others who hear the same call. We live in a new creation born in Bethlehem, and we are called and expected to be the light that shows Christ among us.

December 7, 2025 at Saint Peter and Saint William Parishes in Naples, FL

Isaiah 11: 1-10 + Psalm 72 + Romans 15: 4-9 + Matthew 3: 1-12

“Repent” say John. He said it “In those days” and he says it in these days. The whole idea of repentance, at least among church people and a lot of preachers is connected with guilt. People would repent to absolve themselves of guilt that comes from sins they know they have committed. There is probably no changing that mentality, at least today, but John’s idea of repentance has nothing to do with guilt. For John, repentance is an action. To repent is not to feel bad, but to think differently and then act differently.

For the first and only time in the Gospel the Pharisees and Sadducees are together. They are not easy company.  On every religious or political issue, they took opposite sides. They represent different classes and different intellectual and theological traditions. This dramatic confrontation with the Pharisees and Sadducees should make it clear to us that the Kingdom of Heaven is going to be a threat to everyone and every earthly kingdom. Anyone who thinks that religion or faith should not confront or conflict with earthly Kingdoms has missed the point here. What John predicts here is not a reform movement but a revolution. Suddenly Herod’s slaughter of infants makes sense. and this new age should bother everyone.

The conflict that John addresses is not with one party or another, but with everyone and everything that resists God’s heavenly kingdom for the sake of the little kingdoms we create to preserve our privileges or keep things as they are because we think we know it all and know what is best.

John goes after the false idea that being a descendent of Abraham may protect or guarantee safety or salvation. One’s allegiance to someone or some earthly institution will not protect or guarantee their safety or salvation. Refusing to find a new identity in the Kingdom of God will result in the experience of that “unquenchable fire.”  What it takes, what John insists upon is a new way of thinking and with it, a new way of acting.

Yet, all of us are so busy running down our enemies these days that we, like the Sadducees and Pharisees, have become comrades in hostility to God’s Kingdom. We like to think that our enemies are God’s enemies never realizing that we and those we oppose may be equally distant from God’s Kingdom. We get so committed to the victory of our own party or ideology that we totally forget about the Kingdom of God. My observation is that both sides are always claiming God’s favor and find motivation from the assumption that what they will is God’s will.

As John sees it, God’s wrath did not come from one against another, but will be felt by both for a shared opposition to God’s reign and the stubborn refusal to change the way we think. The only appropriate response is real repentance. From that will come great fruit, life, joy, and peace.