The Nazareth Page- A gospel meditation for your home

April 19, 2026 – Third Sunday of Easter - Luke 24:13-35

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Sharing a meal is one of the most common expressions of our shared humanity. From earliest times of human habitations archaeologists search for ancient remains that indicate sites where humans sat around a fire preparing and consuming food that was needed for their survival. In literally countless ways this custom of eating together represents more than just “refuelling” for life’s continued journey. It captures something essential to our lives. Sharing food with others contributes to human joy and solidarity. It strengthens relational bonds and provides moments of joy and gratitude.

The Nazareth Page- A gospel meditation for your home

April 12, 2026 – Second Sunday of Easter - John 20:19-31

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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I have a special place in my heart for the apostle, Thomas, who is often known as “doubting Thomas.” (We share a name.) Not that I doubt that much, but he appears in John’s gospel as one who held doubts about the risen Christ. Doubting is, if course, a very human trait. I doubt all kinds of things. I doubt that many of my favored athletic teams will be national champions. I doubt that I will ever receive a Nobel prize. I doubt that I will ever run a marathon. I doubt that an asteroid will land in my backyard. But some of those things might happen.  I just doubt they will.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

April 5, 2026 – Easter Sunday- John 20:1-9

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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No question is more on the minds of most of us than what happens after we die. We think about this when someone close to us dies, especially if they are members of our own family. As Christians, we are given the clearest answer to this question in today’s celebration of Easter.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

March 29, 2026 – Palm Sunday - Matthew 26:14-27:66

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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We are now entering the holiest week of the year, our celebration of the death of Jesus. It is described in all four gospels, something that is unique in the New Testament. And no doubt, it was the most important week in the life of Jesus. The culmination of all four gospels is the death of Jesus, what preceded it, what then happened and how it ended.

As we listen to or read Matthew’s account of the passion and death of Jesus, we do well to ask whether this awful sequence of events, this terrible suffering on the part of Jesus, this humiliating and painful death Jesus experienced was necessary. Crucifixion was a kind of death reserved mostly for enemies of the Roman state or criminals accused of terrible crimes. It was not for people who, like Jesus, lived good lives. Who were kind and compassionate and no real threat to anyone.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

March 22, 2026 – Fifth Sunday of Lent - John 11:1-45

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Nothing is more fascinating, more something to wonder about and more mysterious than the fact of our being alive. We may not think about this often because daily life can be so distracting as we think about what’s for dinner or what causes that nagging pain in our lower back or the state of the world or how are we going to pay all our bills.

Speaking just for myself, while these distractions come and go all through the day, I try to occasionally take note that I am alive and that I have experienced countless highs and lows through the years. But, of course, eventually I will die. We all will. That thought leaves me with somewhat fearful, but also with hope for more.

The Nazareth Page- A gospel meditation for your home

March 15, 2026 – Fourth Sunday of Lent-John 9:1-41

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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One of the more common miracles Jesus worked was the curing of blindness. And with today’s gospel drawn from John’s always profound gospel, we do well to think about this event not only literally, but also symbolically. Look for a deeper meaning of seeing clearly and spiritually in John’s narration about the life of Jesus.

In the previous Sunday gospel, I focused on the role of water in the gospels and in our own lives. Water is needed for life to exist as we know it, ourselves certainly included. Here follows a few thoughts about “seeing” as part of our spiritual awareness. I begin with a comment about how much more we see these days, especially through the lens of the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

The Nazareth Page-A gospel meditation for your home

March 8, 2026 – Third Sunday of Lent- John 4:5-42

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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At the beginning of the Bible, we are told that God created heaven and earth, and then created water. While those who wrote this were not scientists (as we understand them), they touched upon a very important scientific truth. In the very beginning of our universe, there was only hydrogen, a bit of helium and a touch of lithium.  All were molecular units made up of one proton and one electron. Quite simple for sure.

But as time unfolded, other elements came into being, oxygen being of singular importance  Eventually hydrogen and oxygen bonded together making water. When astronomers search for life outside our solar system, an essential part of their search is for water. Without it, no living entities are possible. This leads us to today’s gospel: Jesus meets the woman at the well, a well that provided water for the inhabitants of this Samaritan community. A well was needed because this area was arid mountainous territory.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

March 1, 2026 – Second Sunday of Lent - Matthew 17:1-9

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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I wanted to make my 50th birthday a special experience. As it happened a close friend suggested that he and I take a serious hike in the great outdoors of Colorado. After I agreed, he suggested that we really make it special by climbing one of the state’s most renowned mountains, Pike’s Peak. And we did.

The climb was challenging but also inspiring. Once at the summit, I could look out in all four directions over great distances. I came to a new appreciation of God’s creation being able to personally witness what the Jesuit poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins called “God’s grandeur.”  

My appreciation of my first fifty years took on deeper meaning. I was filled with gratitude. As I reflect on today’s gospel, I can more fully imagine what the closest disciples of Jesus felt when he invited then climb that mountain with him and experience what’s called his transfiguration.

The Nazareth Page- A gospel meditation for your home

February 22, 2026 – First Sunday of Lent - Matthew 4:1-11

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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“Don’t you know what’s right?” the parent asks the toddler who has just thrown a snowball breaking a garage window. “Don’t ever do that again. It’s wrong.” Thus plays out the ever-present reality of determining right and wrong.  Good and evil. Virtue and vice. We see this reality unfold in families, neighborhoods, nationally and globally. It seems unavoidable.

I remember very early in my Catholic education being informed that there were two “spirits” that accompanied us through life: a good one called our guardian angel and a bad one named the devil. Descriptions of this type told to a third – grader is never fully forgotten. Close to almost a century later, I still remember this.

And to make a general religious assertion about our lives, most affirm that there are two opposing realities that mark our years. They take on many forms, but basically they can be summarized as describing human actions as either good or evil. This dichotomy even entered the life of Jesus as we learn in the striking narrative presented in today’s gospel.

The Nazareth Page- A gospel meditation for your home

February 15, 2026 – Sixth  Sunday in Ordinary Time - Matthew 5:17-37

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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A close priest friend of mine once told me about a time when he was visited by a sign salesman who sold outdoor signs to churches. His biggest seller was a large outdoor billboard type sign listing the Ten Commandments. My friend, who was also my pastor, told the salesman that he was quite familiar with those commandment signs, but he mentioned to the salesman that he would be more interested in purchasing one that listed the eight beatitudes that Jesus presented in his Sermon on the Mount.