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

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

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

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:
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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.  

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

July 26, 2026 – Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time  - Matthew 13:44-52

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

There are many references to “treasure” in the Bible. These images are used to emphasize what should be most important in our lives. Like what values get us up in the morning? When faced with decisions large and small, what moves us to make a good choice? What specifically do we judge as very important?

In the time of Jesus finding a treasure in a field would be considered extremely fortuitous.  Acquiring a large perfectly formed pearl would be a true blessing.  And Jesus implies in today’s gospel that we all have our own list of what we would consider genuine treasures.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

July 19, 2026 – Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Matthew 3:24-33

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

We seem to be living during a time where the act of judging goodness and evil in others is like an epidemic involving most all of us. Of course, this is especially witnessed in the political arena where judgments relating to political favorites and foes is commonplace. This also results in our dividing people into those who we think are good and those who are not. We label people and divide them into the good and the bad. Politically we do this by placing some on the right from some on the left. In fact, such judgments can consume our thoughts as we look upon others as either good or bad, right or wrong, dangerous or helpful. We think it’s our God-given right to make these judgments.

Today’s gospel somewhat addresses this matter of human judgment though a parable Jesus uses to describe how human judgment of each other’s goodness and evil can be deceptive and even very inappropriate.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

July 12, 2026 – Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Matthew 13:1-23

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

Today’s gospel contains one of the most recognizable gospel lines in the New Testament. “A sower went out to sow.” You likely know what comes next. It’s an image Jesus used to help us understand the process of learning and living the teachings he came to offer us. For me this directly relates to my own teaching career as a theologian.

Let me elaborate. The first group of students given to my care were first graders. I was a young seminarian, and I was assigned an opportunity to teach youngsters that offered little danger that I would corrupt the little ones assigned to my care. That was more than sixty years ago.