The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

November 7th, 2021 – 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 12:38-44

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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We all live with a purpose. That purpose can change during our lives – sometimes almost daily. In today’s gospel we are introduced to two types of people. The first are those who are in “high places.” (They are called “scribes” meaning that they were on the payroll of the Temple.) They enjoy status and privilege and seemingly one primary purpose guides them: solidifying their own status and fulfilling their personal needs.

They live fully for themselves. They offer to God and God’s work only their surplus, their leftovers. God plays no major role in their lives. They may try to appear holy, but they are not. I would classify them as “show-offs.”

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

October 31st, 2021 – 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 12:28-34

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Many of us ask questions like, “Who’s number one? What’s the best this or that? Or if we have too much interest in sports, who’s going to win the World Series or the Super Bowl or the Fed Ex Cup or my daughter or son’s little league baseball championship? Maybe we are pre-programed for creating hierarchies. If we are going to invest ourselves in something, we want to be on the side of what’s best. Or what’s most important.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

September 19, 2021 – 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 9:30-37

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Children are rarely mentioned in the gospels, but when they are (like in today’s gospel) take note. Something very important is being communicated.

The disciples of Jesus were discussing where they would be placed on the organizational chart of the church after Jesus was gone. Perhaps a desire to be first is as timeless as the need for food. So, they turned to Jesus to clarify matters. I wonder that, if after he told them the possibilities, they might have wished that they hadn’t asked him about this.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

September 19, 2021 – 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 9:30-37

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

Children are rarely mentioned in the gospels, but when they are (like in today’s gospel) take note. Something very important is being communicated.

The disciples of Jesus were discussing where they would be placed on the organizational chart of the church after Jesus was gone. Perhaps a desire to be first is as timeless as the need for food. So they turned to Jesus to clarify matters. I wonder that, if after he told them the possibilities, they might have wished that they hadn’t asked him about this.

The one who is first, he noted, will be last and that person will serve all the rest. They will use their position and power to help others, not themselves. Then he brought forth a child, someone in many cultures who would not be considered very important. It’s worth repeating his words because they are absolutely central to how Jesus (and God) thought about such matters.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

September 12, 2021 – 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 8:27-35

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Much of Mark’s gospel focuses on revealing the true identity of Jesus and the meaning of his mission. Some possible models were available during his life. Maybe he was a prophet, like those in the distant past. Maybe he was a reformer like John the Baptist. Historians note that in those times there were a few wonder-workers parading around who attracted followers with claims of personal or political greatness. Not unlike some of today’s politicians.

Or perhaps he would be like the great King David who would lead a rebellion against the political enslavement currently their lot. For decades the Jews living in Palestine at the time of Jesus survived under the thumb of the powerful Roman Empire. Rome ruled its conquered peoples with a combination of threat and savagery. The Romans had invented an especially violent form of capital punishment involving the public display of their adversaries, real or imaginary, hanging in public on wooden crosses. They were positioned in a way to discourage even the thought of political criticism or local rebellion.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

August 29, 2021 – 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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This Sunday’s gospel cannot be classified as a happy one. It focuses on the reality of personal sin and what we should do about it. In brief, we are told to take steps to avoid sinning or to refrain from doing anything that might cause others to sin. Examples are provided.

If your eye is involved in sinning, pluck it out. If your hand is part of your sinning, cut it off. That same with your foot. At the very least, this account feels like a gory part of the gospels. And it is. It may be a part of the message of Jesus we might be tempted to overlook. You likely have heard that Thomas Jefferson authored his own version of the gospels where he left out parts he didn’t like. Perhaps this was a section that ended up on the cutting floor.

But let’s take another look because I perceive something very important and worthwhile is being communicated to us in this gospel.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

August 22, 2021 – 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - John 6:60-69

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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While we are sometimes described as “creatures of habit,” one of the great gifts we are given is that of freedom. In other words, an anti-habit power. We all have to ability to chose this or that, to turn right or left, to have our coffee with or without sugar and cream. We have lots of choices.

Today’s gospel describes those who followed Jesus faithfully and those who left Jesus after a while. What’s important to reflect on is that Jesus forced no one to follow him. It was their decision to do so or not. They were free to go this way or that.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

August 15, 2021 – The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Luke: 1:39-56

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Rarely (except for this Sunday) does a major feast of the Church occur on Sundays, thus out-shining the importance of the ordinary Sunday liturgy. Today we celebrate the important feast of the Assumption, a feast that recalls and honors Mary who was taken by God into heaven. She is now fully present with the loving God and her son, Jesus Christ.

Let’s mindfully read the gospel chosen for today’s feast, which recalls Mary visiting her pregnant cousin, Elizabeth. I was struck by something I had never noticed before, namely, Mary’s reaction to Elizabeth’s attempt to praise Mary because of her role in God’s plan for us.

While Elizabeth wanted to praise Mary, Mary immediately diminished her own importance in pointing out that this was God’s doing. God, she said, should be the focus of attention, not her.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

August 8, 2021 – 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time - John 6:41-51

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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After hearing Jesus say that he was the bread of life from heaven, the gospel notes that the people murmured, a common biblical comment. That could mean that they didn’t understand what he had said, or that they disagreed with him, or that they thought he was a bit crazy. My guess is that it was all of that and who knows what else.

My own take is that the mind of Jesus saw the deepest reality of what creation, and our personal existence, was all about. It was rooted in the great mystery of God’s presence and care for us. But if you think that this all makes clear and reasonable sense, you probably don’t grasp the full truth of it. Understanding the teaching of Jesus always includes a stretch of our imagination, or as theologians say, “a leap of faith.”

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

August 1, 2021 – 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time - John 6:24-35

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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My wife and I were making our weekly visit to our local Safeway when I asked her, “How do they keep track of all this food? There must be thousands of different items on the shelves. And how can one choose amid such plenty?”

She quietly thought about this and gave me her answer. “Just focus on those items under ‘the manager’s special’ sign. That makes our picks easier. Also, we only need what’s on our shopping list. And stay out of the candy aisle.”

So goes our weekly adventure of food shopping. We need to eat but we must also be careful of what we eat. It must be healthy, and it must be on sale.

Today’s gospel is also about food.