The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home 

August 18, 2019 – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Luke 12:49-53

The ancients believed that the world was composed of four basic elements: earth, water, wind and fire. We might say today that this theory was pre-scientific, but still, there is a wisdom contained in their view. These elements made up most of what they experienced. They lived on the earth. Water came to provide them with food and drink. The wind brought the air they breathed. But what about fire? Well, certainly it warmed them during the cold and some groups used fire for preparing food. But there was also the fire of destruction. Thus, fire can be the source of both blessing and destruction.

In a common prayer to God’s Holy Spirit, we ask that the fire of God’s love enkindle our hearts. I am also reminded of what the Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin wrote almost a century ago: Someday, after mastering the winds, the tides, and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire.” In that sense fire becomes a powerful symbol for God’s love and our own. In the words of today’s gospel Jesus says, “I have come to set the earth on fire.” Not a fire of destruction, but rather one of creative love. Recall the words of the disciples at Emmaus when visited by the risen Christ: Were not our hearts burning within us?

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home 

August 11, 2019 – 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Luke 12:32-48

I live less than a mile from our local volunteer fire department station. It’ a modest facility. Two trucks and an EMT emergency vehicle. No one lives there but when the call goes out, these first responders are there in a flash. They carry special phones so they can be alerted at any time of the day or night. I asked one of them how often they are called, and he said maybe once or twice of week. But there’s never a predictable pattern. Then I asked how often he thinks about that phone he carries wherever he goes. He said, “Maybe a hundred times a day.”

Today’s gospel is about always being ready to respond to God’s call, like our local first responders. Jesus talks about masters who come and go and servants who are always on duty. Jesus says it is wise to be aware of the master’s concerns and the work expected, even when he is away. If he returns and finds his servants playing cards when they should be working in the fields, well, it won’t go well for those servants.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home 

August 4, 2019 – 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Luke 12:13-21

I was driving by an open field near where I live and wondered what was going on. The land was being cleared of trees and bushes. Perhaps a new housing development was being built for low income people, a major need in many places. Then I saw a sign erected at the edge of the property. “New public storage units coming soon.” I wasn’t surprised.

At least once a year, our town of a few thousand residents builds another of these facilities. And they seem needed because there are so many. I occasionally wonder what fills these locked units. Furniture in between moves? Seasonal equipment for yards or gardens? Summer stuff during winter? A friend of mine stores all his hobby stuff in one of those units. Still, I had to wonder whether many of us, myself included, may just have too much stuff.

The message of Jesus in today’s gospel may not have increased the popularity of Jesus, especially among the more well-to-do. It is aimed at those who, simply put, have too much. They are well-heeled, as we say, and are greedy for acquiring more riches. Really, as much as they can. Sound familiar?

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home 

July 28th, 2019 – 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Luke 11:1-13

It is said that our prayer life provides a window to our souls. One of our family customs is to take turns leading the prayer before meals. Especially when our older children (who live elsewhere) are present for a family meal, I often nominate one or another of them (especially the one I might be worried about) to lead the prayer. This is my ingenious way of finding out what’s going on inside them. Often worries are expressed or fears are named in their prayers. In other words, I find out things about them and their lives that would ordinarily be secret but come forth in prayer. Sometimes, they will simply recite the standard, “Bless us O Lord …” and then I worry even more.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home 

July 21, 2019 – 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Luke 10:38-42

Women were thought of as second-class in the time of Jesus. There are not a few instances in the gospels where their names are not even mentioned, although they should have been. What was the name of the woman at the well? The woman accused of adultery? The woman who anointed the feet of Jesus? There are, however, instances when women are named. Today’s gospel is one of those times. As soon as Martha and Mary are mentioned, many know what follows.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home 

July 14, 2019 – 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Luke 10:25-37

I never like to be reminded of the story Jesus told in today’s gospel. It makes me feel uncomfortable, inadequate, less than I should be. That’s partly because the good Samaritan is not only “good,” but an example that cuts into the center of our selfishness, our narrow view of responsibility, the way so many of us live our lives by looking the other way.

There are parts of the story than really unsettle me. First, the religious people in the story ignored the poor fellow who had been left half-dead along the side of the road. A priest and a Levite, who made their livelihood by being religious according to the customs of those times. Not only did they not help the wounded traveller, they walked to the other side of the road so that they would not even see him. They were creating an excuse for themselves should anyone criticize them for their indifference. Religious people can be very adept at creating excuses.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home 

July 7, 2019 – 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

I have a small file folder where I keep newspaper clippings that mention someone in our family, especially their accomplishments, however small they may be. For instance, my dad was a good athlete, so I have yellowed accounts of his winning a decathlon championship in his twenties and a golf tournament in his forties. I also have more recent clippings of our children winning races or contests. I keep these because like most of us, I like to think of the successes of those I know, especially if they involve members of our own family.

In today’s gospel we read about Jesus sending out a rather large contingent of followers, seventy-two in all, who were tasked with letting others know that God’s kingdom is at hand. The hoped-for era of God’s presence and power among them had begun. So, expect change. And apparently change was occurring.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home 

June 30, 2019 – 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Luke 9:51-72

I think that there’s a bit of a procrastinator in all of us. It’s certainly there in our children. I make a simple request of them like clean the garage, pick up the mess in the yard, straighten your room, set the table or do the dishes and I expect immediate action. In the history of our family immediate response to my requests happened maybe twice – or even less. Of course, when I look in the mirror, I see the face of a convicted procrastinator. My annual, monthly, weekly or daily “to do list,” rarely gets immediate attention, if at all. Important matters almost always intervene, easily becoming excellent excuses for me to delay what I was supposed to do. Sound familiar?

In today’s gospel Jesus calls his disciples to follow him – right away. Let’s get going, he says. Don’t make excuses. The Kingdom of God is now in play. The game is on. Its demands are there right now. So, let’s get going. Don’t waste the precious time being given right now. Opportunity knocks.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

June 23, 2019 – The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)
Luke 9:11-17

Last summer our family from near and far gathered at our home in Montana for my birthday. We were celebrating a major mile-marker, the one somewhere between sixty-five and eighty-one. You can guess which one. The central celebratory event was quite naturally a meal to which were invited family and a few friends. The actual meal was preceded by relaxing beverages and it culminated with a huge cake covered with flaming candles and the usual song. It would be hard to imagine such a gathering without food and drink. And mostly, of course, family.

Today’s gospel recounts one of the many meals Jesus celebrated with his close friends and anyone who had interest in him – or he in them. This one was perhaps the largest, a cast of thousands. There are eleven communal meals described in Luke’s gospel. His opponents (and he certainly had some) criticized him because he ate with known outsiders and sinners (according to their judgment). Even they knew the power of sharing food with others.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home 

June 16, 2019 – The Most Holy Trinity - John 16:12-15

While it is surely a challenge for us to attempt to understand God as a Trinity, there are some wonderful matters worthy of our thought as we try to grasp this, perhaps the most profound of the truths of our Christian faith. In fact, as soon as we think we fully understand God we are surely wrong. Still, let’s float a few ideas which, while not “the last word,” they can serve as a few first words of partial understanding.

Let’s begin with the thought that there is diversity yet unity within God. And in that diversity, there is total agreement, complicity and cooperation. An early heresy in the church claimed that there were two gods, a harsh and fearful god of the Old Testament and a loving God of the New Testament. This erroneous belief about God might have contributed to the spread of anti-Semitism, even among Christians. In response to this error, while there are certainly a variety of descriptions of the divine scattered through Holy Scripture, there is no foundation to believe that they describe the actions of two different deities. God is One.