The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

June 2, 2024 – Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ

Mark 14:12-26

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

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Many of my childhood memories were created around the dinner table. Especially on special days like Christmas and Easter. While good food and drink were essential, what I mostly recall were the conversations and banter created between bites. Now as a dad and grandpa, I treasure shared meals even more.  

Biblical scholars note that Jesus enjoyed communal meals too. Luke’s gospel reports eleven such occasions. And we all pay special attention to his “Last Supper.”

I can’t recall exactly when our family created a special meal ritual that continues to this day – something we call “positives and negatives.” After a meal prayer, it often begins

with the oldest one there, or occasionally with the youngest. Then it proceeds all around the table according to age.

The rule is simple. Share with those gathered at least one positive and one negative thing that is going on in your life right now. It can be something very serious or something quite lite, and in our rulebook, you must have one of each. Or you can have more.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

May 26, 2024 – The Most Holy Trinity -Matthew 28:16-20

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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There are three major monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. But there must be an additional footnote connected with Christianity because it also holds that within the one God, there is diversity, or as the Creed states: three persons in one God. Today is celebrated the feast of the Trinity where we bring to mind this dimension of our belief about God. Here’s why I think this is important and timely.

Allow me to use a human analogy. Government structures can take on many forms, but the big question always seem to focus on who is at the top. Who rules? Who is the king or queen, the one who has the ultimate deciding opinion? The one whose word is considered final, decisive and absolute. To illustrate that form of government, the pyramid shape is often used, with the tip of it occupied by one person, sometimes called a monarch.

But that’s not the way Christianity understands the nature of God. Yes, there is one God but within God there is plurality. The Creed most Christians accept speaks of three persons in one God. And here’s what I think is important for us to think about. We should focus our attention not on the three individuals, but on the relationship between them. What holds them together? The answer is profound. They are all united in love, always!!

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

May 19, 2024 – Pentecost Sunday - John 20:19-23

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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I find it helpful to think about God as acting in our regard as a three-act play. The play presents the one God who “stars” (so to speak) throughout, but each person in God takes turns in being featured in one act or another. God the Father initiates Creation in Act One. The work of God the Father ... opens the play “in the beginning” although God remains connected with all creation to this day …  and beyond.

The second act unfolds with the arrival of God the Son becoming human, born of the Virgin Mary and raised by her, with the assistance of her husband, Joseph. Jesus is born, raised and lives a public life where he teaches and gives expression to God’s presence and power among us. He gives fully of his life for us and dies on the cross. Yet the presence of God the Son continues in the person of the Risen Christ who eventually ascends into heaven. Thus, the curtain drops on Act Two.

Now we come to todays’ feast, Act Three, which begins in the coming of God, the Holy Spirit, who will dwell with us, enter into us and spiral around us until the end of time. We pray today to God’s Spirit to come to us ever more fully and fill us with the warmth and fire of God’s love. We ask to be moved ever more into that process of our sanctification that has been unfolding since that first Pentecost. And it’s happening right now, especially if we are aware and open to God’s Spirit being with us. To recall St. Augustine’s words, this Spirit of God is closer to us than we are to ourselves. What a deep thought for this day!

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

May 12, 2024 – Seventh Sunday of Easter - John 17:11-19

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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My first thought after reading today’s gospel was that it is not applicable in today’s world. Jesus prayed that we all be one, just as he and God are one. But how is that even possible  today where people seem so much at odds with one another? Where wars and conflicts seem everywhere? Where one TV network supports one political view and another favors a party that seems opposite in almost every way.

I walk in my neighborhood and I know that differences between political attitudes and party membership is common. Some proudly fly American flags and others prefer to be flagless. Pundits on TV and on social media seem to relish such differences. Helps ratings, they claim.

I attend Sunday Mass where some kneel while others stand. My guess is that I am witnessing not only differences in bodily position, but diverse views on the nature of the church, including what is appropriate behavior while at worship. Yet Jesus prays in John’s Gospel “that we all be one.” Today, however, so many of us seem to live the opposite. On the surface is that wrong?

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

May 5, 2024 – Sixth Sunday of Easter - John 15:9-17

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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I begin this reflection with the opening words of Jesus recorded in this Sunday’s gospel. They are among the most important words he ever said. “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.” That is a profound summary of the truth that inspires the entirety of the Bible. They also form the foundation for your life and mine. In fact, all that lives, that ever were, that exist right now and will be in the future.  

We are all created because we are loved by God. And we are shown how to live responding to that love through the example of Jesus. Our task is to believe this and accept being unconditionally loved by God. And live each day in response to that love. We are loved into life by God who intentionally created each of us, and will love you and me forever. This is not a generalized love, like one may have for a favorite team or cause, but one that is personal. God knows you and God knows me and despite our weaknesses, failures and faults God persistently loves each of us.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

April 28, 2024 – Fifth Sunday of Easter, John 15:1-8

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Knowing how nature works can help us understand how our own lives can be lived in a way that God intends. After all, God has created the entire universe. Within the workings of created nature, there are processes that can be traced back to the blueprint God used from the beginning.

For most of my life I have been deeply interested in the connection between the miracles of nature and the meaning of my own life. I have learned that there are two basic books to learn about God: the Bible and the Book of Nature. God is the author of both books.   

This is also why Jesus often turns to the processes of nature to help us understand our own lives. Today we listen to Jesus using the making of wine from grapes that come from vines and branches to teach us that we best stay connected with God, with each other and with all creation. When connected in mind and heart with all, we will be most alive.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

April 21, 2024 – Fourth Sunday of Easter, John 10:11-18

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Once again, we are invited to think about one of the ways that Jesus spoke about his own life though the example of being “a good shepherd.” And we are also included in this narration. We play the role of a lost sheep. In the time of Jesus, everyone knew about shepherds and flocks and their care. It was hard work being a good shepherd as sheep tended to wander. And get lost. Yet Jesus used this scenario to teach us about what Jesus (and God) are really like.

Of course, it is quite challenging for us to imagine God acting like a good shepherd. Such attention to us (as wayward sheep) might seem almost too good to be true. Yet here is God in Jesus wanting to find us when we are lost. Or when we were wayward. And all the time wanting to bring us back into the flock. And why does “the shepherd” even leave his flock to do this? Why does this concern for even one lost sheep cause him to do something that many others would call almost crazy, or even reckless?

The answer is found when we examine the two of the most basic aspects of Jesus, his mind and heart. So first, let’s thinks about this which also gives us a glimpse of the mind and heart of God.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

April 14, 2024 – Third Sunday of Easter, Luke 24:35-48

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Do you ever ask yourself what do you hope for? Or what do you expect up ahead? As my days pass (seemingly more quickly as I age), in quiet moments I find myself in a state of wonder. I ask myself what do I honestly desire after my time on Earth has ended? What do I hope for? In general, if I am honest with myself, I want to continue living, and if possible, maybe have it better.

I accept that my hopefulness is not shared by all. A certain pessimism about the future is not uncommon. As is cynicism. We can be turned toward darkness by much of the news that fills our TVs and sours the internet. We are all too aware of the downside of things. Of life hanging by a thread. Or of a future that might not end well at all. The prophets of doom remain in our midst.  

But I try to remain hopeful knowing full well that contrary views remain popular among many. Some might think of me as being unrealistic, even a bit crazy.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

April 7, 2024 – Second Sunday of Easter, John 20:19-31

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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From all indications, it appeared that the life of Jesus had ended. He was arrested, judged guilty of some vague crime and according to Roman law and was condemned to die. His death took place in public view. There were witnesses, most sadly his own mother, to his final breath. He was taken down from the cross on which he hung and placed in a nearby tomb.

So many of his closest known followers hid from the authorities because they were worried that they would be next in line for arrest and all the rest. All his teachings about life and its future seemed to have departed with his terrible death. They were confused, their hope was all but gone, and worst of all, they were filled with fear. His closest followers locked themselves in a place where they might have felt somewhat safe. Still, however, they were scared.

Then Jesus suddenly was there in the room, the marks of his wounds still fresh on his body. With his presence came his gift of peacefulness. His basic message was that death is not the last word. Life is.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

March 31, 2024 – Easter Sunday, John 20:1-9

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Officially, the Catholic Church lists Easter as the most important day of the year. Personally, I was inclined to give Christmas that designation. Now I give them both a #1 rating. They are the meaningful celebration of our faith that recalls the beginning and the end of the life of the human Jesus. Yes, Easter is his final culminating moment.

Therefore, his death was not his last day. Easter was! Which means that his last day was also his first day of all the rest. I know that this idea is a challenge to think about and affirm. Our society can be overly materialistic in this regard. And further worth noting is that Easter is not just about him, but also about us. Easter is called in Scripture the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.