The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

October 4, 2026 – Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Matthew 21:33-43

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
Download this simple process to Prepare for Sunday using the Observe, Judge, Act Method

I am not the first to point out that Jesus was a great teacher. He could take complex ideas and thoughts and explain them using familiar images and illustrations and stories to communicate deeper truths. We find many examples of this in Matthew’s gospel. He uses scenes of life that those who listened to Jesus would be familiar with. Today he speaks about one of the major business operations in his homeland, the challenges of running a large vineyard. 

 He wanted to inform his listeners (and us) about how God set up human life in a way much like how the owner of a large vineyard would organize his operation. In today’s gospel we learn that God is like the owner of the vineyard, and we are the workers who are to care of the vines so that they would produce good grapes that can then be made into fine wine.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

September 27, 2026 – Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time  - Matthew 21:28-32

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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 Last week we thought about one of the more challenging of Jesus’s parables where there seemed to be a mistake made in justly paying workers. Those who worked all day received the same earnings as those who worked just briefly. Today’s gospel parable seems to make more sense. Two sons are asked by their father to do some work for him.  One said he won’t do it and then did the work. The other says he would do it but in the end doesn’t. Jesus asks which one was the better son. The answer seems obvious. The one who did the work is the better son.

The phrase that came to my mind was “actions speak louder than words.” I looked this up on the sometimes reliable internet and learned that the phrase is first attributed to St. Anthony of Padua in the Twelfth Century, who is more known for finding lost objects. It is also words spoken by Ben Franklin and Abe Lincoln. I vaguely recall my parents using some version of them to me. In other words, there is genuine wisdom there.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

September 20, 2026 – Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time  - Matthew 20:1-16

 REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Today’s gospel is one of the most challenging ones in the whole Bible. And to further complicate matters, it is attributed to Jesus himself. In brief, the gospel for this Sunday describes various groups of workers being hired to work in a landowner’s vineyard. Some are hired early in the day. Then midday an additional group joins the workforce. And finally, close to quitting time, a few more are hired to finish the day’s work. Must have been a good size vineyard.

As was the custom back then, the owner of the vineyard gathered all the workers, and after thanking them for their good work, gave each worker the wages that all had agreed on. That’s when it gets messy. Each worker had agreed to work for the same amount (let’s just say it was $20), but as the narration makes clear, those who worked a full eight-hour shift (a guess) were confused and they complained. They felt that should get more than the late day workers.

And to make matters even more challenging, Jesus concludes this parable by stating the last shall be first and the first shall be last. So how are we to understand this? I offer three ways we might understand this parable.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

September 13, 2026: Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time  - Matthew 18:21-35

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
Download this simple process to Prepare for Sunday using the Observe, Judge, Act Method

To be a genuine follower of Christ implies that we be persons who forgive others, especially those who in some ways have hurt us. Or inconvenienced us. Or have been unkind to us. Or even owe us money, which apparently even happened in the time of Jesus.  In other words, the list of possible reasons to forgive others can be viewed as very long.

Failure to forgive almost inevitably distances us from others. It’s like being stuck in the mud of remorse or anger which prevents us from moving closer to those who have harmed us. Or even separated us permanently.

The Nazareth Page-A gospel meditation for your home

September 6, 2026 – Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time- Matthew 18:15-20

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Today’s gospel contains one of my most treasured and sometimes my least favorite gospel passages. I refer to Jesus saying that whenever we are with one or two others, God is there as well. 

 First, here is why I like it. God is present in all our pleasant social encounters. As married for over sixty years, I know that God is there every single day. Whenever I am with one or more of our children, there too is God. When I greet a neighbor, God is right there. The same when I shop at Costco, God looks on as I load a very large box of cereal into my cart.

 There are two aspects of this worth reflection. First, I am assured that God is aware of me. Even when I am distracted and have no conscious thought about God. There are so many distractions, especially when shopping. Admittedly I can go a whole day without thinking about the immediate presence of God. In fact, I may not be at all conscious of God’s presence for days. That is a definite loss.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

August 30, 2026 – Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time  - Matthew 16: 21-27

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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As the public life of Jesus unfolded, his closest disciples began to wonder what would be asked of them should they decide to accept his vison of what’s important in life. Certainly, they sensed that he was different from other teachers. He was unique and they were drawn to him and sought his friendship. So, one day they had the courage to ask him in a very straightforward way what would be required of them to truly remain his disciples after he was gone.

We are not told what they were expecting to hear but since much of his “work” so far involved teaching and helping others, they likely assumed that he would invite them to continue to do much the same. And perhaps they too would gain the popularity he seemed to enjoy in almost every place that he visited.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

August 23, 2026 – Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time  - Matthew 16:13-20

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Today’s gospel highlights Peter’s “confession” that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Then Jesus informs Peter that he will be the rock upon which the church will be built. An amazing declaration.  And also the church will prevail against all that are against it.

This affirms a direct connection between earth and heaven. What is joined on earth will be joined in heaven and whatever is separated on earth will be separated in heaven. And that’s where I begin today’s reflection: the reality of a comprehensive inter- connection between what happens here on Earth directly becomes part of heaven. (And who knows where else, given that God has created the whole cosmos?) All reality can be and is connected. The divine with the human, God with all creation. As it is in Jesus. And now Jesus is stating that connection to Peter.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

August 16, 2026 – Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time  - Matthew 15:21-28

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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The woman described in today’s gospel had two things going against her when she decided to ask for help from Jesus. First, she was a Canaanite which was an indigenous group living alongside the Jews in ancient Israel. So, she would have been considered an “outsider.” Second, she was a woman, and much like many societies of that time (and often our own) she would be thought of as second class. Nevertheless, with determination and courage, she seeks out Jesus and asks for his help.

But the help she sought was not for herself, but for her daughter. Another distinctive aspect of this narrative. And while at first Jesus seemed uninterested in helping her, he was clearly impressed with her persistence. Eventually the help from Jesus that she requested was given.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

August 9, 2026 – Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time  - Matthew 14:22-33

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Surviving rough white water rafting was not something I had much experience with until a few days ago. Our eldest daughter was visiting and she was investigating local places in the mountains and waters of northwest Montana where we live. It was decided to try white water rafting on a challenging river bordering Glacier National Park. I told her that was a good choice.

Then she asked if I’d be interested in going, too.  I had previously done this many years before when we lived in Colorado. But that was about forty years back. My body had changed over those years. But being one not wanting to appear old (although I am) and fearful (which I try not to be), I said “why not?”

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

August 2, 2026 – Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Matthew 14:13-21

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
Download this simple process to Prepare for Sunday using the Observe, Judge, Act Method

Today we are once again escorted to a hillside gathering where lots of people had come to hear the words of Jesus. And we are also told that after Jesus spoke perhaps a little longer than they were used to, they were hungry. This event, often called “the multiplication of the loaves” is one of the few times that an event involving Jesus is recorded in all four gospels. It must have been considered a very important event in the life of Jesus.

 As I gather my thoughts for each Nazareth Page, I typically read each gospel a few times and sit quietly with them wondering what’s important for us to think about all these years later in the Sunday gospel. While my reflections are saved somewhere in my laptop, I never reread past ones. I want my words to sound and feel fresh. No leftovers.

 Here’s what struck me today like a bolt of lightning. It was what Matthew mentioned right after Jesus blessed and broke the bread and gave it to his disciples to pass around to the hungry masses. His exact words being “… who in turn gave them to the crowds.” In other word, feeding the hungry throng (or any other act of helping others) is usually not a matter of resources, but rather one of actually helping others, or of distribution. Jesus needed a distribution system for this miracle of his to be successful.