June 30, 2024 at Saint Peter the Apostle and Saint William Churches in Naples, FL

Wisdom 1 13-15, 2: 23-24 + Psalm 30 + 2 Corinthians 8: 7, 9, 13-15 + Mark 5: 21-43

We began this Mass listening to the book of Wisdom. Just in case you had not settled down enough to focus, let me refresh your memory: “God did not make death. God does not rejoice in the destruction of the living.” God is the author of life. Death, ancient wisdom says, is the work of the devil and people who choose the devil’s way. To me, that is just another way of suggesting that we have more to fear from spiritual death than from biological death. 

I’ve run into a lot of people in this life and I’ll bet you have too who are the walking dead. They have no life even though they are breathing, eating, and working. Because, real life is way more than biological life. It is a kind of fullness, a way of being that comes from intimacy with God. In people who are really alive, there is a kind of divine spark. They really know how to live, and I don’t mean “live it up.” We have all found comfort in the face of someone’s death whose life was full, profoundly rich in friendship, in service, love, and compassion.

When we hear the two stories of today’s Gospel, it is tempting to focus on this Synagogue leader who is so different from the other leaders who will have nothing to do with Jesus. Or, to sympathize with that woman who has suffered for so long and spent all that she had. With nothing to lose, she has one last chance. But, there is another option for us to focus on, and that is the crowd that Jesus sends away. Unlike the Jairus or the woman with no name, they are spiritually dead. Their level of faith is insufficient to face the challenge of death. So, they are dismissed. The contrast between Jairus and his wife against the that crowd is important to see. They hold on to the love of God that makes all things possible. That mourning and wailing comes from people who are afraid. They are overcome by the reality of death, and Jesus puts them out. Jesus does not bring the girl back to life. He awakens her. He takes her hand and with tender words draws her into intimacy with God as he calls her “daughter.”

Think about this too. Blood for us in this holy place is very important and very sacred. From that cup of blood, we have real life, not physical life, but spiritual life. A writer I once studied said: “God owns blood.” So, God’s love stopped the flow of blood in that woman and restored the flow of blood in the twelve-year-old girl. We would all do well, to think of this as we approach this altar to receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ.

“Do not be afraid. Have faith” Jesus says to all of us who must face physical death. There is something far worse than that. It is living with fear rather than with faith. As the Book of Wisdom says today, “God formed us to be imperishable, in the image of his own nature.” 

We come into this church sometimes like sleepwalkers and always as sinners. This place holds the promise of life for all of us. If there is any place where folks are equal, where the poverty that so many face each day is banished, and where power means nothing at all, it is here around this altar where we taste the banquet of heaven. We stand here together as witnesses to the power of faith in Jesus Christ. It might be a good thing to make a little noise about that now and then in contrast to that noisy crowd who ridiculed Jesus. Maybe we could make enough noise with our laughter and our joy to wake up the walking dead and make them wonder how it is we can live so full of love, so full of peace, and so full hope.

June 23, 2024 at Saint Peter the Apostle Church in Naples, FL

Job 38: 1, 8-11 + Psalm 107 + 2 Corinthians 5: 14017 + Mark 4: 35-41

Through the whole Gospel of Mark, Jesus reveals by action and word the power of God and the will of God to save and gather us together. With today’s passage from the fourth chapter Mark wants us to see the power of God over nature. In the next chapter, we will see God’s power over evil as demons and diseases are cast out, and then over death as Jesus raises a synagogue official’s daughter who dies.

It all begins with a boat scene. There are many of them in Mark’s Gospel. He tells us it is getting dark, and immediately we ought to sense that this is not good. Evil lurks when it is night or dark in the Gospels. Then there is an odd little note at the beginning when Mark tells us that they took him “just as he was.” He was teaching, so this will be a continuation of his teaching. But now, Jesus is alone with his disciples away from the Jewish crowds on one shore and the Gentile crowds on the other. With this story and message then, Jesus is directly ministering to or teaching the church, teaching us just as much as that early church for which Mark is writing. Jesus is calming a storm/devil. This
storm” is not about a meteorological event. There were no storm warnings or alerts. The point of his teaching is faith and fear. They don’t fit together.

So, this story is about a crossing, but not from one side of a lake to the other. It is about crossing from fear to faith. These are code words for Mark, “fear” and “faith.” They are a dynamic challenge for disciples even to this day. Are we going to be afraid, or are we going to have faith? Which is going to be?

As Mark tells is, there is no resolution to this story. “Rebuke” is the verb Mark uses as Jesus speaks. It is the same word used to describe the casting out of evil spirits suggesting that it is an evil spirit that threatens them from continuing their mission.

My friends, we ought to keep this story in mind when the storm/devil disrupts the ordinary lives we often enjoy. It happens all the time, and wise is the disciple who knows how to calm fear with faith, and remember that fear, anxiety, and the unexpected are always the work of the evil one. Disciples of Jesus through the ages have faced persecution, natural disasters, or personal struggles.

The message is simple yet profound telling us that nothing can truly harm those who trust in the Lord. At the same time, it must awaken our drowsy faith in God’s presence. The most repeated demand in the Scriptures is “Do not fear.” Refusing to be afraid disables the evil one always trying to dissuade us from our mission. When we have no fear, the enemy will tremble in fear.

June 16, 2024 at Saint Leo the Great Church in Bonita Springs, FL

Ezekiel 17 22-24 + Psalm 92 + 2 Corinthians 5: 6-10 + Mark 4 26-34

We hear Jesus speaking today about the Kingdom of God. Now, thinking about the Kingdom of God as if it were a place takes us nowhere leaving us unable to hear the parables he uses to speak to us today. It if were a place, how could he ever say: “The Kingdom of God is at hand?” Once we get over that thinking, we can we can begin to understand the work of Jesus and what he says to us today in these parables. That work is to awaken us to the truth that the Kingdom of God is found in the hearts and lives of all who are committed to faithful obedience to God with lives of love, peace, justice, and mercy.

To disciples long ago who felt discouraged by the opposition and apathy they encountered Jesus speaks these parables. To that early church community that may have thought the Kingdom of God was going to break into reality at any minute, Jesus peaks these parables.

Just as then, so now today, these are words are welcome to anyone tempted to give up and give in to growing impatient with this world and those who will follow after us. We have to remember that this Kingdom of God is not some fairytale place of castles and royal courts. It is a life style set on love and mercy rather than geography. So, Jesus uses images from this earth to stir up hope reminding us that once the seed is planted what is required of us patience and a willingness to wait. We cannot make the seed grow. We can only prepare the soil, and then let God do what only God can do, bring life.

The parable serves as encouragement for those who think their efforts for the Kingdom are fruitless, and a warning for those who think they can bring about the Kingdom by their own projects and programs. The Kingdom is God’s work, not a human achievement. God brings about the growth, which sometimes is hard to see. We cooperate, but we cannot control or hasten the arrival of the harvest any more than a farmer can harvest grain in January. Farming and gardening require two things: patience and trust.

It may seem sometimes that the whole world is in the grip of tyrants and thugs, bombers and terrorists, that there is no honor in our civic leaders, that consumerism is consuming us, and that hospitality and plain decency are things of the past. To all of that, Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is among us, and it is growing night and day imperceptibly. Just because we don’t see it does not mean it is not happening. If you listen to Jesus, there is a note of triumph in what he has to say about God’s reign because the Kingdom is the eternal plan of God, a gift of God, and a matter of destiny.

We must never think that one life is not enough and that a little bit makes no difference. The parable of a tiny mustard seed says that it does. In voting, in speaking up, in a small kindness or a smile, there are always results. Hear these parables as a summons to hope. They reject despair. They call us all to renew to renew our commitment to mercy, justice, and peace in our neighborhoods, this parish, and our families.

June 9, 2024 This Homily was not delivered at Mass as I am out of the country

Genesis 3: 9-15 + Psalm 130 + 2 Corinthians 4: 13-5: 1 + Mark 3: 20-35

In Mark’s clever style, without getting into the dialogue of these verses, we might pay attention to the way he sets the scene because that is as important as the dialogue. Notice that there are three groups of people in this passage. There are two groups outside who should probably be inside. His family is outside, and I think it’s odd that they are not inside close to him. Somehow, they do not seem able to listen to him either because they are afraid of what others will think about their family or because they are jealous that someone from the family gets more attention than they do. Outside with them are those scribes from headquarters, experts in the Scriptures. Instead of being inside engaged in a conversation with Jesus, they are outside fussing over what they heard others were saying that Jesus said. In the meantime, there is that crowd inside sitting with Jesus, listening for God’s will so attentive that they missed lunch because Mark tells us that it was impossible for them even to eat.

Sometimes with the Gospels it is not always the words that speak to us. In this case, these details give us more than enough to ponder as we are left to think about to which group we belong. If we are inside, I wonder if we would be attentive enough and take Jesus seriously enough to even skip a meal, a golf game, or a long nap. The point is, we need to be inside if we are ever going to hear Jesus and listen for God’s will. If we are outside, we might just be there because we are embarrassed or uncomfortable because we know Jesus and are worried about what others may think or say about us if we go inside. There is also that other group picking at and pushing back because someone is asking them to change or give another thought to what they do, believe, and how they act.

As I think more about this scene, it begins to feel like a description of our own times, and why not? The Gospel is timeless. Mark tells us that Jesus is in his home. For now, and for us, that’s the church. There are lots of reasons to be outside. None of them good. There is also a challenge to those who are inside to pay attention – a lot of attention, always in an effort to understand and fulfill the Father’s will.