December 1, 2024 at St. William and St. Peter Churches in Naples. FL

Jeremiah 33: 14-16 + Psalm 25 + 1 Thessalonians 3: 12-4:2 + Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36

For those of you not here in Florida during hurricane season, you might not appreciate what happens when a storm is approaching. Plywood is the big item at hardware stores, and batteries are nowhere to be found. Sandbags are actually sold at Walgreens. The grocery store gets crowded. Bottled water is in short supply, non-perishable foods fly off the shelves, and for some reason that I fail to understand, toilet paper disappears. We are warned over and over again to be prepared, and the intensity of the warning gives someone who has not been here long fear that the final catastrophe is coming, and no one will survive who stays. The Gospels last week and today can easily give us the same fear. 

What I’ve begun to realize is that the more often these storms come with these dire warnings, the less I pay attention to them, and that may not be a very good plan. Because, it might carry over to these Gospel warnings as well. We hardly think about or anticipate the end of time and the return of Christ as though it might actually happen, at least in our time. So, we carry on as though it will never happen, at least in our time, and that’s not a very good plan. I think it might cause us to miss something.

The earliest Christian communities felt very certain that the end was near and that Christ was going to come quite soon. When it didn’t happen as they expected, there was disillusionment and doubt began to creep in spoiling their joyful and charitable lives. It is for that reason that the Gospel writers all address the return of Christ at the end with a great deal of intensity and urgency not to frighten people, but to encourage them with wonderful words like: “Stand erect and raise your heads. You are redeemed.” 

Now Luke actually says, “Your redemption is at hand.” So, we hear and interpret this message thinking in terms of time or “chronology.” We too often think that this means “soon” Or “tomorrow” or “next week.” Some translations will make that thinking more likely by using the word, “near.” I would like to suggest that there is another way of hearing and thinking about what “near” or “at hand” could mean.

I find it more helpful to think that “near” means vicinity, or location, not “soon.”  This is far closer to Luke’s message that “The Kingdom of God is among you. (Luke 17:21) 

When “near” or “at hand” becomes immediate locale, rather than tomorrow, then sure enough, the Kingdom of God is upon us. It is around us. It is near, even here, and when Luke says that this generation will not pass away until these things have taken place, he speaking to us. Understanding that “near” is locale rather than a tomorrow that never comes gives us more reason to take our preparation seriously because it is all around us, not yet to come.

We are living in the final and new age when the gates of heaven have been thrown open. Death has been overcome. Goodness and kindness have won a victory of evil and sin. Time is what passes away, not us. What the Gospel announces is simply the end of time which I think is why the sun shall be no more since the sun is our measure of time. It will not be needed. What has begun in Christ Jesus is the new creation. Death was not part of God’s plan with creation, so, it’s over with.  We shall not die, but change and move into Divine Life.  We need only to raise our heads, look around. See the signs of God’s goodness, love, and mercy. We already live in the Kingdom of God when we live we live like God’s children. Our redemption is at hand. It’s time to rejoice and live like it.

November 24, 2024 at Saint Peter the Apostle Church in Naples, FL

Daniel 7: 13-14 + Psalm 93 + Revelations 5: 1-8 + John 18: 33-37

At a shallow reading of just the words, it would be easy to think that it is Jesus who is on trial here. We are so familiar with the Passion from all four of the Gospel writers that the unique nuances of each one blend together, and that is unfortunate because we lose the important message each writer has to deliver. In John’s Gospel, it is not Jesus who is on trial.

The Jewish leaders are on trial. It is important to see a difference between the “Jewish leaders” and the Jewish people. The Jewish people have been following and listening to Jesus all along. They have been the grateful recipients of his healing power and compassionate presence. But these leaders do not have the welfare of their people at heart. They enjoy a measure of freedom and power given them by the Roman government. They benefit financially from their cooperation with that oppressive empire. They impose and collect taxes related to the temple, and who knows how much they kept for themselves.

Pilate is on trial here. The prisoner asks the questions. Pilate is unwilling to live according to the truth. As a Judge he is judged as a failure. Do not think for a minute that he hesitates and wants to save Jesus. He has one thing on his mind and that is himself. He has one job. Keep the peace. He cares nothing for the Jews. In fact, everything about him suggests that he despises them, mocks them, teases them, and threatens them. He manipulates them to make himself look good and keep his job. This talk of a king and a kingdom is something he can’t allow. There is only one king in his life, and it is Caesar.

Besides the Jewish leaders and Pilate though, we too are on trial here as John sees it. What brings us to trial is this matter of a King and his realm. “Are you a king” asks Pilate to which Jesus responds, “My kingdom is not of this world.”

History easily shows that followers of Jesus have been tempted again and again to desire a kingdom that is very much from and in this world. Christians have tried to fuse commitments of worship, faith, and justice with a certain political agenda. The thinking and the passion of some to turn this nation into a Christian nation denies two things: the very principal of a secular democracy that protects the right of every person to practice any every religion and the very words of Jesus: “My kingdom is not of this world.”

A disciple of Jesus is called to a difficult but important kind of detachment. For good reasons we become attached to the kingdoms of this world that provide security and identity. These attachments that could be called “patriotism” can be dangerous if left unquestioned. Without any critique, atrocities take place, genocides, holocausts are ignored with dire consequences for the human community. Power is seductive and a great temptation. It is this very ideal of a powerful King that Jesus calls into question. Instead of being served like a king in this world, King Jesus serves. Disciples of Jesus resist being attached to the Kingdoms of this world, because they seek first the kingdom of God knowing that in the midst of any anxiety, God will provide for all our needs and our best identity.

John gives us a Jesus who is a social prophet who criticized the economic, political, and religious elites of his time. Jesus had an alternate social vision. He is guilty of acts of compassion and justice, caring for people, and addressing the causes of their misery. Jesus points to a kingdom where everyone has what is needed to survive; where none are superior based on status and privilege. The world is waiting for our allegiance to the real king to finally make a difference.

November 17, 2024 at Saint Peter the Apostle Church in Naples, FL

Daniel 12: 1-3 + Psalm 16 + Hebrews 10: 11-14, 18 + Mark 13: 24-32

Time is a human invention. It is so basic to our way of life that we often forget that time is something we’ve made up. Some experts believe that the measurement of time began with agriculture since knowing when to plant required a calendar. We know from history that the first mechanical clocks were found in monasteries replacing the sun dial because they worked in the dark when monks kept their obligation to pray at fixed hours of the night. 

We have discovered that time is precious with so many activities and obligations crowded into our day. It is so precious that anxiety and sometimes fear of the future creeps into our lives so much so that many will hear the words of this Gospel and be convinced that the end of time is near and it will be terrifying. I’ve always found it amusing to hear self-appointed prophets announce the end of the world. Shakers thought it would be 1792, but John Wesley preferred 1794. With all the hymns he wrote, I’m amazed he did not write one about that. For Jehovah Witnesses it was 1915, then 1918 five times later they said it would 1994. I questioned one of their missionaries about that when they came to my door in 1996. He wandered off a bit confused.

Jesus talks about the end too using the language and images of his day taken from the Old Testament. I suspect that if he were to speak to us right now about the end of time, he would probably use scientific terms and images. We’re more used that than the Old Testament. He might describe the sun using up its energy and this blue rock we’re on would turn to an ice cube and fly off into the universe. He might talk about us destroying everything with a nuclear explosion or some asteroid crashing into this planet.

What we ought to do with this text though is not waste time trying to guess when the end will come, and it is just as useless to try and imagine how. What Mark is calling us to do is not look up into the sky or run around preparing for some cataclysm as though we were preparing for the next hurricane. Mark is urging us to transform our time to the time of God. Mark has no desire to frighten us, but to renew our hope during times of chaos and confusion. He writes to remind us that some of the things we treasure, like our careers, the IRA we depend upon, and even our health will one day be no more. Our separation from them may well be bitter and distressing, but if we are rooted with faith in God’s providence remembering that our precious time on earth could be used to draw us closer into the transforming presence of God, there is nothing to fear.

Mark’s Jesus does not picture the future in detail. No one knows the time of redemption, and he is not telling us what it will look like. All he needs us to know is that suffering will not be the last word — that the one who stands at the end of history is the same one who stood at its beginning. Holding to faith in Jesus Christ, using the Gospel as the compass of our lives will see us through. With every change in direction, with every wrinkle of age, with every changing world and passing stage, we shall always inherit the promise of the Resurrection. That is how Jesus Christ faced his own end in time, endured his own suffering, and that is why he came from a tomb where there was no time into the time of God.

November 10, 2024 This homily is for publication only as I am at St Gregory Abbey in Oklahoma

1 Kings 17: 10-16 + Psalm 146 + Hebrews 9: 24-28 + Mark 12: 38-44

More often than not, we are often tempted to read or hear the Gospel as an historical text that tells us about how things were a long time ago safely distancing ourselves from issues being confronted the Gospel writer and the words and behavior of Jesus. It is a spiritually dangerous practice that runs the risk of having us receive the greater condemnation Jesus speaks of this week.

There is no way to pretend that the focus of this Gospel and its message is for someone else or some other time. The issue Jesus confronts here has gone away with time. And while on the surface we might like to think that the issue is hypocrisy, we would be confusing a symptom for the disease. What gets the attention of Jesus is not really the pompous behavior of the scribes. It is the fact that under their watch the poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer. That is what was happening to the widows. They got poorer while those expected to oversee their care are getting rich off of them. It’s not a problem from the past, and Jesus still speaks clearly and forcefully about this matter finding it intolerable. An institution, a community, a church that is formed to be counter cultural must find in these verses a serious challenge and a call to action.

Most of us have no concept about the real disparity that exists all around us either because it bothers us and challenges our security and privilege or because we just don’t know what to do about it. It’s upsetting to be reminded that most people in this world struggle to keep food on the table, pay bills and taxes, keep homes from foreclosure or pay their rent much less have any health insurance. There are some who will say they don’t want to hear about this in church because they come expecting to feel good. We might wonder if their Bibles include Chapter 12 of Mark’s Gospel.

Cutbacks are always on the table for some politicians while the burden of those cutbacks are always born by the people who are hidden and voiceless. That is what Jesus is observing here. To prevent new taxes on the rich, the handicapped, the homeless, the addicts and the working poor suffer more, and who speaks for them? Jesus does, and it should be for all of us who follow him.

This old priest is becoming more and more aware of a trend that I find deeply distressing. Social Justice is something we hardly hear about anymore in the western world’s church. To fill the gap and the silence there is all kind of talk and programs about piety and holiness, holy hours, and pilgrimages. Meanwhile, nothing changes for the very people Jesus cares about the most. They suffer silently.

Most of the abuses they suffer are not done with evil intention. They are not personal. No one wants to hurt a poor widow or a hungry child. In fact, we easily get emotional about it, but rarely do we get rational about it. The scribes were not hateful. They were part of a system that was be perpetuated from generation to generation. They did not create it. It was a system that ran on its own. The only way to stop it was for there to be a desire to stop it.

We hardly notice that we are part of a similar system that takes advantage over the vast majority of people in this world. All the privileges we take for granted really come at someone else’s expense. We shop for the what is least expensive and pride ourselves on being thrifty. Meanwhile, people we never see or hear about are working in sweatshops, some are children doing that in unsafe conditions when they should be in school or just out playing. People are dying in wars that really being fought over gasoline. Exploitation is the issue, and blind greed, power, and privilege fuel it without question. 

This is a hard text to read, to hear, and explore humbly and honestly. We cannot be a humble and faithful follower of Jesus Christ without embracing his concern and his passion for justice. A religion without a mission for justice is phony and a sham. The holiest people I know were never particularly pious, but they were passionate for victims of exploitation, the poor, the forgotten. Many of them, in our life time have been real martyrs murdered because the powerful in positions of leadership have seen them as a threat to their privilege and wealth. What are we to make of this? What is it Jesus asks except for us to find and work with leaders who will fire up a desire to change, and help us be willing to pay the price.

November 3, 2024 This is homily if for this publication only as I am at St Gregory Abbey in Oklahoma

Deuteronomy 6: 2-6 + Psalm 18 + Hebrews 7: 23-28 + Mark 12: 28-34

The text we are given today is the simple straightforward essence of our faith. Our personal reflection on what can bring us close to the Kingdom of God is right there, Knowledge of God’s love. Yet, we ought to wonder if “close” good enough. Entering the Kingdom of God requires something more, and while it might be simple it is far from easy. If it were easy, there would be no need for a commandment.

Jesus insists that you cannot love God without loving others and upholding justice and dignity for all. When that justice and dignity for another person is denied or withheld, there is no love of God. At this point the cost of the Kingdom is right in front of us. There is a price to pay for following Jesus and for entering the Kingdom of God. Close is not good enough.

What is before us all through Mark’s Gospel is the mission of Jesus Christ to reconcile the world to God, to mend this world’s brokenness and restore the dream of God for a world where all are fed, where water is clean for all the thirsty, where young and old are cherished, where all of God’s children know respect and dignity no matter their race, gender or sexual orientation. 

It is not difficult to understand why no one dared to ask any more questions. Stunned by the enormity of the task and conscious of our frailty and our brief time on this earth, the majesty and mystery of God’s Kingdom can leave us heartbroken so out of reach it has become. Yet, when we choose to be with and for someone when another is suffering or in need, there is always a sign of hope that this world so desperately needs. A phone call to someone we have missed or forgotten, helping a neighbor before being asked, encouraging a young person with a smile or compliment while they look for their place in this world, taking dinner to a grieving family, all these simple things take us into the Kingdom of God. 

Easy as these may be however, there are more difficult things asked of us as well. Challenging the status quo is perhaps the supreme example of self-giving love that gives evidence that we are growing in grace and commitment. There are deeply rooted attitudes, behaviors, customs, and even some man-made laws that violate the basic dignity God’s children. The courage to speak up, and even act up is the kind of love we see in Jesus Christ.

No wonder there were no more questions, and why should there be? Since Jesus has come among us, there is no more need for questions or for talk. It’s time to act.