The Nazareth Page-A gospel meditation for your home

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

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

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

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

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

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.

The Nazareth Page- A gospel meditation for your home

February 8, 2026 – Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Matthew 5:13-16

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

When we see the phrase: “Add salt,” we think of giving our food a quick shot with the saltshaker.  When we are asked to turn on the light, we walk to the light switch and flick it on. This is all done without much thought. It’s easily done and not thought of that much. Just part of the day’s routine.

But in this Sunday’s gospel salt and light are presented as extremely important. We are told that they are essential for life in the world God has created and for us to survive.

The Nazareth Page  - A gospel meditation for your home

February 1, 2026 – Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time- Matthew 5:1-12a

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

I once encountered a piece of advice that has helped me survive difficult times. It went something like this: pursue progress not perfection. Being somewhat of an idealistic, this allowed me to avoid becoming discouraged when I was presented an ideal that I (or perhaps no one) is likely to reach.

When I read today’s gospel that contains what are called “the beatitudes,” I interpreted its directives not so much as fully attainable, but as goals to work on, bit by bit, each day.

Let’s briefly touch on them...

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

January 18, 2026 – Second Sunday in Ordinary Time- John 1:29-34

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

Today’s gospel again involves Jesus and John the Baptist. Considered in that reading is the matter of the relationship between John and Jesus and the work (ministry) they are intended by God to accomplish. John believes that his work of baptizing with water is secondary to that of Jesus although he likely does not fully understand that of Jesus.

To me this is a very suggestive idea that directly involves you and me. While it is true that we can date our birth here on Earth (for the record I was born of September 21, 1938), I ask if we were existing in any way before then?

The spiritual answer to that is hidden in the words that John uses to describe Jesus. John states the following, “A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.” This truth of our faith draws us into what some call “the divine plan.”

The Nazareth Page- A gospel meditation for your home

January 11, 2026 – The Baptism of the Lord - Matthew 3:13-17

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

living thirty years mostly in obscurity, Jesus departs his domestic life in Nazareth and begins what’s called his public life. But instead of any kind of dramatic beginning, he joins the group of ordinary people who are making their way to the banks of the Jordan River to be baptised by someone named John, a relative of his. He is providing a water ritual of receptivity to God, a sign of repentance from sin. And an expression of willingness to live a life more in tune with the laws of God as understood in those times. Jesus arrives at the banks of the river, likely feeling much like the others who had gathered there.

Upon his arrival, Jesus receives two messages. One is from John, while the other is from God. John tries to convince Jesus that he should be baptized by Jesus. Why? It’s not clear. Jesus again asks for baptism for himself and John complies. After all, Jesus is fully aware that he is a human being, just like the rest of us. But there is more to this event.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

January 4, 2026 – The Epiphany of the Lord- Matthew 1:1-12

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

Like many I first learned about the three individuals who visited the infant Jesus as kings (from afar) who came to see and pay homage to the Christ child as the newborn future king of the Jews. Careful biblical scholarship has tried to gain a deeper understanding of this event and give us a more accurate understanding of the Epiphany.

First we have learned the visitors were “demoted” from being kings to a more accurate portrayal of their status as magi. Or to be honest, was this really a lowering of their status? We know, for example, that the Near East was a center of cultural, intellectual and scientific growth during the lifetime of Jesus. Some have described the magi as somewhat like astrologers or astronomers who studied the heavens to learn more about creation beyond what was known simply through common sense. They were trying to unlock some of the yet unknown secrets of its many mysteries. I would liken them to today’s scientists and cosmologists trying to decipher the mysteries of the universe through the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Why these magi sought their truth by traveling westward on the backs of camels remains somewhat problematic, but Matthew describes them as genuine seekers of what’s important in their world at the time. They also pay a major role in saving the Holy Family from a vicious Herod. Further, this allows a parallel scenario to be drawn in Jewish history. For just as Moses led the Jews from slavery in Egypt, so does Jesus come from Egypt to do much the same, only at a much deeper level of human life.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

December 25, 2025 – The Nativity of the Lord, John 1:1-18

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

This Christmas I want to get beyond the glitter and the hype, the materialism and the frantic festivities, the excessiveness and the noise and reflect on the amazing reality that is mostly hidden in contemporary celebrations of this most holy of all days.

We are helped in this approach by the gospel passage that is read at the Mass for Christmas Day. It does not mention Bethlehem or shepherds or wise men. but culminates in what is perhaps the most important words in the Bible: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

Let’s go back to the beginning,” the creation of the universe. It did not begin with nothing, not even the singularity of energy and mass that issued forth in what some call “the Big Bang.” (Although that is part of the story.) The important question for us to ponder is what went before that event, which is now said to have happened 13.8 billion years ago. What existed before that beginning which with the advances of current science we can at least imagine and say this amazing event really happened. But we are left only with guesses as to what went before.

That is unless we believe in God who always exited, always exists, and always will exist forever. Which is something that we cannot prove by human investigation, but we can certainly accept as a truthful description of reality.