The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

January 5, 2025 – The Epiphany of the Lord

Matthew 2:1-12

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The event creating the feast of the Epiphany was a visit to the Holy Family in Bethlehem by three significant figures in ancient times. Once referred to as kings, we now know that was incorrect. Matthew called them magi who today would be referred to as learned men or scientists. Like many ancients they studied the night sky to find clues about the nature of reality. Today they would be called cosmologists or astronomers.

What guided them to Jesus was a star. A very bright star. Many years ago, I attended a presentation created by the Adler Planetarium in Chicago about a possible explanation of that guiding star. It was suggested that it might have been a confluence of planets (perhaps Mars, Jupiter or Venus) or a planet with the brightest star in our sky, Sirius. All are viewable in January to this day.

This was all described as a possible explanation, not scientifically probable. But an interesting hypothesis. I was about twelve years old when I viewed that presentations. I also bought the first book I ever purchased with my own money. It was called “The Stars.” Thus began my lifelong fascination with the universe which we currently inhabit.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

December 22, 2024 – Fourth Sunday of Advent  - Luke 1:39-45

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Right from the beginning of the greatest event in human history, there are surprises. But they are not the kind one might expect. For instance, think about the conception of Jesus. Mary his mother was an ordinary woman who lived in an ordinary place. My guess is that she blended in with the crowd as she passed each day with her family members and neighbors.

And clearly Mary was totally surprised with the visit of the angel inviting her to be a part of God’s entrance into our world. Her first thought was likely some version of “why me? I’m a nobody. Nothing special at all.” She might have asked why wasn’t the daughter of a king, a high priest or someone already distinguished? Are you sure God want me?

Let’s continue with the story. Already pregnant with Jesus, Mary learns that her cousin Elizabeth is also with child. Being the kind of person she is, Mary decides to visit her to see if she can be of assistance. She didn’t have comfortable transport like we do. Likely she had to walk on the trails nearby. Not easy for one with child. That’s what we read about in today’s gospel. Again, we are invited to think about God’s plan to use ordinary people in simple circumstances to achieve God’s decision to become one of us. God involved people of ordinary means, just like most of us.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

December 15, 2024 – Third Sunday of Advent  - Luke 3:10-18

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Last week, we thought about the mission of John the Baptist. He prepared the way of the Lord by making straight the path to him. To do this he engaged in a ministry of penance, repentance and a preaching that was laser-focused on the coming of Jesus, the Christ. Be prepared, he said. God is coming in the person of Jesus. And believe the “good news.” Those words are equivalent to the concept of “Gospel.” Some contemporary translations of the New Testament actually use that phrasing for the essential message of Jesus. Thus, when we read the gospels, reflect on their meaning and importance by thinking of them as “good news.”

As I thought about that simple phrase, I asked myself where do I hear good news today? Immediately I thought of the news that is reported on daily television. I also recalled my reading of the newspaper. And my acquaintance with daily podcasts and reports that I read online. Do they report “good news” or something else? You can answer for yourself, but I must admit that what I mostly hear or read about is not good news! In fact, its spans the spectrum from news that is “not so bad” to what is terrible. Mostly “bad news.”

So, what is this good news that John the Baptist mentions, or that Jesus himself communicates to his contemporaries (and to us) in his own ministry? Not just any word, but God’s word describing the deepest meaning of what was, what is and what will be? What’s “good” about that?

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

December 8, 2024 – Second Sunday of Advent - Luke 3:1-6

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I love visiting art museums. I have been blessed with opportunities to view the collections of many of the great museums both in the United States and Europe. One thing I noticed was that many museums feature religious paintings. But they are not scenes of churches or portrayals of God’s astounding creation, but of people. Especially three.

Jesus (certainly to be expected), his mother Mary (also no surprise there) and then a third person which made me wonder. Why so much attention on him? He is hardly mentioned in the Bible and only early on in the life of Christ.

Of course, I am referring to John the Baptist, that wily character who spent most of his time in the desert, feasting on its delicacies of various insects and for seasoning, he used wild honey. Eventually he made it to the Jordan River and began a solo preaching career, calling people to be repentant in their lives.

The Nazareth Page- A gospel meditation for your home

December 1, 2024 – First Sunday of Advent - Luke 21:25-36

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As we begin a new year in the church, we are immediately met with a gospel about the “end of the world,” an interesting twist to encourage us to look at time a bit differently.

Most of us have been introduced to images of what it will be like at the end. Or when it will happen. I learned about this future “event” in Catholic grade school. As I recall learning about it, my fear level immediately increased. It sounded very scary.

Many churches believe that this event will include the return of Jesus – a second coming. Often this future event might involve a massive separation of the good people from the bad ones – of those already dead and those soon to die -the so-called Last Judgment. This would possibly be accompanied by spectacular cosmic, often destructive events. Some Christians believe that the end is immanent. Until it isn’t.

The Nazareth Page- A gospel meditation for your home

November 24, 2024 – Christ the King -John 18:34-37

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The feast of Christ the King was created as a contrast to the many royal systems of command and leadership that were common in Europe at the time. Kings, and other so-called royals, ruled over their people with power and might. Sometimes they were good and sometimes not. They had power over others, often exercised with an iron hand. So, to give Jesus a position above all, even the kings of that time, the Church created this feast.

Of course, the kingship of Christ was unlike any other at that time, or ever! I appreciate the title “servant king” as one more suited to the one who came to serve humankind, rather than be served by all. Images of absolute power and might do not fit Jesus. He invited us to be meek and humble of heart and no one exemplified that more than he did.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

November 17, 2024 – Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 13:24-32

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Everyday marks us one day closer to the end of our lives here on Earth. I am now at an age when many family relatives and friends are now with God in heaven. At least, that is my hope. I will eventually experience my own death. I am a lifelong Catholic and believe that after I die, I will face my own final judgment and hopefully I will be united with those countless good people who have preceded me.

I learned this truth in the early grades of my Catholic education, but it did not scare me. Although I do remember a moment while walking home one day from grammar school. I heard the sound of a trumpet blast, seemingly coming from the sky. This happened during the middle of the Cold War. Immediately my thoughts jumped to the possibility that “the end” might be near. I tried to hear if any Russian planes were overhead. There were none.

When I was a seminarian years later, I belonged to a religious community that recommended that all its members engage in a meditation of death once a month. This was meant to put is in contact with one of the essentials of life: it had a beginning and an end. This mediation on death was also intended to remind us to remain faithful to our religious vows each and every day.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

November 10, 2024 – Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 12:38-44

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Some of the teachings of Jesus bring comfort. But others might make us feel uncomfortable. When I read today’s gospel, I felt a touch of discomfort. It describes how people deal with their personal economic resources, a matter that seems timeless in its implications.

During the time of Jesus, some of the most vulnerable and needy people were widows. They might be in a situation where they no longer could rely on others for support. They were “on their own.” When a woman married in those days, they left their family of origin, where they usually received support, and became a “member” of her husband’s family.

But if he died leaving her a widow, where does she look for support? It’s uncertain. She may enter poverty, as did the woman in today’s gospel. If she needed help, where could she turn? And if others asked for her help, what could she offer?

The Nazareth Page- A gospel meditation for your home

November 3, 2024 – Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. Mark 12:28-34

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Research about religion is now a respected branch of social inquiry and analysis. Being a branch of social science, it often creates helpful flow-charts, graphs and statistical lists that tell us about current religious beliefs and practices. Its findings are often presented in an historical framework so that we can be informed about changes in the state of religion in the today’s world. Being trained as a sociologist and theologian, I have an abiding interest in this field of study.

Today’s gospel, however, might cause us to wonder whether such analyses actually help us get to “the heart of the matter,” to borrow a phrase from the esteemed novelist, Graham Greene, who often sought to describe religious vitality in the real world.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

October 27, 2024 – Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 10: 46-52

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Before commenting on today’s gospel about Jesus curing a blind person named Bartimaeus, I want to share a favorite memory of mine of a papal visit to America by St. John Paul II. It was 1987 and the city visited was San Antonio. I was present there because I was asked to address a meeting discussing the role of the family in the social ministry of the church. But the event I recall most was an interview I saw on television with an elderly Hispanic grandmother that took place soon after the pope’s popemobile passed by her on the side of the road.

The interviewed asked her why she had stood in the hot Texas sun for hours just to catch a brief glimpse of the pope riding by. He suggested that she would see more of the pope on television at home and likely be more comfortable too. She immediately responded that she knew that, but she was not there to see the pope, but, using her own words, “I must be here so that the pope can see me!”