August 2, 2026

I am on vacation this weekend away from Naples but offer these thoughts for those following.

Isaiah 55: 1-3 + Psalm 145 + Romans 8: 35, 37-39 + Matthew 14: 13-21

One of the few stories recorded by all four Evangelists, this event in a deserted place is a treasure for us all. It happens in a lonely place that Jesus and the disciples reached by boat while the crowd made it on foot. It is no wonder they were tired and hungry. It is an act of compassion on a people who are away from home and without food.

The Matthew version we tell today differs a bit from all the others. Here, Jesus has just received word that John the Baptist is dead, and there is every reason to believe that Jesus needs to withdraw and grieve or reflect on what it means for him and his own future.

We are left to understand this event in two ways.

First, it is a lesson for the Church about compassion which must be accepted as obligatory for all who follow Jesus. The Church as an institution has more or less responded to this example not always sufficiently, but consistently. Yet, while there is power in the collective effort of the Church, that institutional effort easily becomes an excuse for doing nothing personally, and that will not do. We really may not say: “Let the Church take care of the hungry.” Notice that Jesus expects his disciples to do something personally. It’s not all up to him.

Second, there is a lesson here as we see this is a eucharistic story. In John’s telling of this story, that element is unmistakable. It is his intention. All the language is there: he blessed, broke, and gave.

We must not miss how the story ends. There is no mention of an amazed crowd as we find with other miracle stories. There is no comment about the fame of Jesus being spread about either. Most likely, this is because by the time this Gospel was put into writing this story had become completely common and known to all often being recited with the church gathered at the Lord’s table. It ought to still speak to us in the same way, and especially to those who are hungry and those who find themselves lonely and in a deserted place.

July 26, 2026 at Saint Peter and Saint William Churches in Naples, FL

1 Kings 3: 5, 7-12 + Psalm 119 + Romans 8: 28-30 + Matthew 13: 44-52

Listening to these two parables weeks ago left me wondering about this all this searching, and I don’t mean searching for my keys or my phone as I do every day. A lot of us do that. I know people who are never searching. They have found everything they want, and they are happy, for a while, until what they found breaks or goes out of style. At the same time, there are even more people searching every day for food, shelter, and safety. In the middle of all that there are young people who seem to be searching too and while some are searching a for job or for someone to love them, many, from what I observe, are searching on the screen of their phones. Does anyone know what for? They don’t seem to be finding it.

The first of these parables takes us back into a field for the third weekend in a row. There was first that parable about seed being thrown everywhere and generously. Then, last week there was that parable about the weeds. All three of these field stories are really speaking of the Word of God. That is the seed scattered everywhere that needs to compete with the evil. Now comes these parables also about the Word of God that once discovered is worth everything and when embraced brings a joy that all other things failed to provide.

The last of these parables puts a value on God’s Word. It is of great price Matthew tells us. Searching for the Word of God, the Word Made Flesh is for wise and hope-filled people. Matthew puts before us today these two people who are wonderful models of faith. They are restless and searching. They are far from satisfied with the way things are, and they are willing to let go of old things and perhaps old ways to search deeper for that priceless gift of God.

All of us need to keep or start searching once again deep into the mystery of God’s Word among us. I would like to think that motivated by the power of God’s Word, we may once and for all find ways to end some people’s search for food, shelter, and safety. Rather than running all over the place looking for some new devotion or that latest vision, we need to dig deep into the Word of God. It stirs a hope that keeps faith alive and is the only search that matters, brings joy and lasts forever.

July 19, 2026. At Saint Peter, Saint William and Saint Agnes Churches in Naples, FL

Book of Wisdom 12, 13, 16-19 + Psalm 85 + Romans 8: 26-27 + Matthew 13: 24-43

“Kingdom Parables” I call them. We get three in a row this month, and this is the second, and all three of them have us out in the field: first with seeds, now with weeds, and then next weekend with a hidden treasure. I love the way this parable captures the attitude of our day toward things we don’t like. When the question is raised about how the weeds got there, BLAME rears its ugly head. “The devil did it.” There is always someone or something to blame.

However, that is not the point here. This parable, unique to Matthew’s Gospel, really speaks to us about evil not necessarily where it comes from or who did it, but what we do about it and how we live with it. There is an ethical question being raised by these servants. Should they pull the weeds? Their desire to do so reveals a too simple understanding, and the planter corrects that. The presence of the weeds or the presence of evil means that the wheat must now compete in a field with a plant that provides no nourishment, feeds no souls, but uses precious resources.

That planter responds that the good seed must just always contend with the bad, the pure with the impure. There is suggestion here that we must simply live with the weeds until the harvest comes. This planter’s advice invites us to reflect on the risk of unintended consequences, or what some circles call, “Collateral Damage.” Most of the time it only makes the evil worse. This is not to suggest that we just ignore evil, but that we begin get our act together and compete with it letting our good works and the truth prevail until the angels have their day.

There is one more little piece of wisdom in this parable that may escape us because we like to think of ourselves as the wheat, the good seed in this world or as the ones who should serve as God’s assistants and clean things up. You may judge for yourselves after some reflection, but I know that I am one of God’s plants, a complicated mixture of good and evil that I can’t always pull apart. Remembering that keeps my mouth shut when I want to criticize someone, and it tempers my too quick judgements about what or who is really good or bad.

To my relief, I remember that God does not rely on our actions. We rely on God’s merciful, steadfast patience to leave us here in the field, tangled up as we are rather than be pulled out early.

July 12, 2026. At Saint Peter and Saint William Churches in Naples, FL

Isaiah 55: 10-11 + Psalm 65 + Romans 8: 18-23 + Matthew 13: 1-23

It is not likely that Jesus actually supplied the interpretation of this parable to the disciples. When Jesus did speak this parable, it was to teach something about God and God’s generous behavior throwing seed abundantly and generously everywhere without fussing over the potential. In that time, seed was precious, and not something to be waisted without some expectation of its fruitfulness. So, his parable was a surprise to people who were so picky about the soil and where they planted. That’s not how God works, says Jesus.

It is likely however that someone who added this interpretation did so because the intended readers needed to concentrate more on their receptiveness rather than on God’s behavior, and it may still be so today.

Anyone who has ever planted a garden knows that good soil does not exist on its own. It needs to be turned. Rocks have to go. Weeds must be pulled. Seeds may need to be covered lest the birds eat them all. When it comes to God’s Word sown in us through this Liturgy or our own prayerful reading, something is required of us not just for readiness, but for that harvest to come.

So much of our lives makes the risk of a harvest failure possible. Career goals and the business required to be successful is a threat to the seed. Broken relationships, grudges, anger and resentment are like the rocks the writer speaks of. Addiction, bad habits, judgements about others and selfishness need to be pruned or uprooted for the seed to have a chance. We all have some rocks and thorns in our lives to examine because they threaten the harvest that we think of as the Kingdom of God.

A little fertilizer almost always makes a difference even with the best of soils. Like wise laborers who tend the gardens of this earth, we can cultivate our lives, our souls, minds, and hearts with some compassion and tenderness that will surely bear the fruit of peace as the Holy Spirit brings forth its first fruits in us.

July 5, 2026 at Saint William Church in Naples FL

Zechariah 9: 9-10 + Psalm 145 + Romans 8: 9, 11-13 + Matthew 11: 25-30

We seem to be living through an age of anti-intellectualism that has created a big split between what I will call scholars and workers, for lack of a better term. It’s not to suggest that scholars do not work, but I think you may know what I am struggling to describe. Some political observers and commentators call this, “Popularism.” What it seems to boil down to is that many people look upon thinkers and scholars as being “out of it” or being somehow “elite.” The other way around is just as observable with the highly educated looking down on those who do not share their interests, ideas, and values.

Jesus is talking to us today about this. While he upholds the value of wisdom, he turns what wisdom looks like on its end. Jesus does not think that having a string of letters after your name or a great resume means you are wise. He suggests that the wise are those who live according to the way of the Kingdom he came to reveal, and he did that with his Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus speaks of “little ones” lifting up infants as a model because he wants wonder to remain central to our relationship with God. Wonder and awe are sure signs of Wisdom. Educational systems that grind on with grueling attempts to bury mystery with data robs the scholar of real wisdom. At the same time, the business, the noise, and distractions of everyday life exhaust and leave others with no curiosity, wonder, or imagination. For both, the ability to find joy in watching a butterfly or a sunset gets lost. It’s almost as though we need permission to sit and watch and wonder even if it means we are not engaged in productive work or serious study.

My friends, when wisdom takes on human flesh, it is Jesus Christ. In other words, s Wisdom, Jesus becomes a yoke – a way of life – whose life-giving power transforms our deepest desires into passion for God’s just and merciful reign over this world. As Wisdom, Jesus provides us with a yoke that, when we take it upon ourselves, heals our deepest hurts and pains to that our lives can find purpose and wholeness. The more we take on the Wisdom of Jesus Christ, the more intimately we are drawn into the intimacy Christ has with the Father.

Intelligent, whole human beings can still celebrate wonder. A desire for greater knowing goes hand in hand with our recognition that God’s world still holds new insights and discoveries for unfolding the truth. Anyone who thinks they know the whole truth is far from wise. If being humble is knowing more fully our true selves, then perhaps some of our most precious learning about God will come to light as we look within.