The Nazareth Page  - A gospel meditation for your home

December 21, 2025 – Fourth Sunday of Advent, Matthew 1:18-24

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Another person who played a major role in the early life of Jesus was the one locals called “his dad.” His name was Joseph and by trade he worked with wood to perhaps make furniture or door posts needed by neighbors. Back then most all businesses were local. There remains some debate among biblical scholars as to whether he might have been a widower with children. But one way or another he became known as the father of Jesus. Today’s gospel recalls the unusual circumstances under which this happened.

I have always had a special interest in St. Joseph. I attended a church and school named after him. We were given a free day on his feast day in March. All us students were allowed to return home after attending 8:00 Mass. I recall taking the bus home and passing the local public school where the students were working on arithmetic problems. What a good feeling that gave me!

I also became a foster father for dozens of infants and toddlers. I often though of St. Joseph as my special friend in heaven and prayed to him when faced with difficult challenges.  

The Nazareth Page- A gospel meditation for your home

December 14, 2025 –Third Sunday of Advent, Matthew 11 2-11

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Like last Sunday, we recall John the Baptist, the one who set the stage for the coming of Jesus. I once read that next to Jesus and Mary, John appears the most in paintings by artists depicting scenes relating to the life of Jesus. So, we should pay extra attention to how he is presented in the gospel writings. And what Jesus himself said about John.

First, Jesus agrees with those who affirm the importance of John. He described him as a messenger sent by God to prepare for the coming of Jesus. And as Jesus himself noted, among those born of women, none is greater. But then he adds these words: ”the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Once again, the gospels leads us to wonder. What are we to make of this?

In our day so many try to measure the best of this or that. And even in the time of Jesus, social and religious status meant something. Maybe this kind of calculation has always been common among we humans. We seem to evaluate others by wealth, social position, appearance, successes and so forth.

The Nazareth Page  - A gospel meditation for your home

December 7, 2025 – Second Sunday of Advent, Matthew 3:1-12

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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For many years I have been writing these Nazareth Pages, and while they are saved somewhere in my computer, I compose each one fresh. As I reflect on the gospel for each Sunday, I approach it by thinking it’s my first time to do so. I read each Sunday gospel imagining that I am not the same person who read that gospel four years back.  So, I am receptive to noticing something new in the inspired word. And I am rarely disappointed.

This second Sunday of Advent, we are told of the time when John the Baptist was approached by local religious leaders who wanted to know if he were the Messiah, the one sent by God, No, he said. Rather I am here to prepare for his coming.  My baptism signified repentance from sin, but the true Messiah will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. It will be the beginning of God’s life-giving presence among us.  

God will come to us in the person of Jesus. This ‘incarnation” of God in Jesus means that God is becoming uniquely present to our world, active in our world and transforming those of us blessed with living in this world. Then and now.

The Nazareth Page -A gospel meditation for your home

November 30, 2025 – First Sunday of Advent -Matthew 24:37-44

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Happy New Year!  Today marks the first day of the liturgical year in the Catholic Church. And in typical fashion, we are not only to think of beginnings, but also finality. Thus, we are reminded of what attitude would be best for us as we prepare for the end of our final moments of earthly life. Note that we are not given a date for this to happen, but only that it will end.  

Even in today’s scientific times, many seem to believe that the end of the world is coming soon. I’m not sure what this means for such believers in the practical order. They are not “survivalists” in the sense that they believe in some major disaster ending life on earth as we know it, but they are ready. They have food and other essentials stored underground somewhere. Perhaps in their backyard or as it’s sometimes said, “in an undisclosed location.”

In the time of Jesus, many Jews were hoping for the immanent coming of a messiah, sent by God to restore prosperity and better times for God’s chosen ones. There were many theories about how and when this might happen. Omens of the impending event were popular.

The Nazareth Page- A gospel meditation for your home

November 23, 2025 – Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe - Luke 23:35-43

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Historians have filled in some of the background events that were going on during the lifetime of Jesus. What I find most interesting is that while Romans controlled life in Israel for decades, there was oftentimes serious resistance to their rule. This often took the form of local uprisings on the part of Jews under Roman dominance.

One of the major ways the Romans showed their vicious power was to capture and kill anyone they thought was in their way, To show their power, they often publicly crucified Jews, hundreds or perhaps thousands of them. Surrounding this violent chaos Jesus lived and eventually died at the hands of the Romans.

Today’s gospel described some of the circumstances of the death of Jesus. Next to him being crucified were two other Jews who seemed to know about Jesus, and perhaps a little about his powers. One asked him to miraculously free them from their fate. The other accepted what was happening and asked to be part of whatever the future of Jesus entailed. One asked for a miracle while the other was willing to accept whatever was ahead for all of them.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

November 16, 2025 – Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Luke 21:5-19

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I once thought that the four gospels were written like the daily newspaper. Events were recorded soon after they happened. The various evangelists were there with Jesus, perhaps taking a few notes and after he ascended into heaven, they immediately wrote their gospels.

Now we know this is not how they were created. For starters, they were written decades after the events they describe. And they were written in light of what happened during the decades after Jesus was no longer walking and talking with them. Some of what they wrote in their accounts were influenced by events occurring well after his earthly life ended. Like persecution and even martyrdom.

Helping gain a deeper under understanding of these later events, the gospel writers tried to recall what Jesus had taught them. Their lives would face moments similar to what he had undergone. While we all hope for times of peacefulness and enjoyment, we can also can expect days of challenge and hardship. Like Jesus did.

The Nazareth Page-A gospel meditation for your home

November 9, 2025 – Dedication of Lateran Basilica-John 2:13-2

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Rarely does a feast day connected with a church building, however important to the Catholic Church, outclass and replace the regular passage of ordinary Sunday celebrations. But we are talking about the Roman Catholic Church, and this particular church, the Lateran, is one of the four great churches of Rome. In fact, it was the major church of Roman Catholicism for hundreds of years and is still the cathedral for the Diocese of Rome. The only church structure that exceeds its importance is St. Peter’s in Vatican City. Many church councils were held at the Lateran Church.

What I find important today however is the selection of the gospel for today’s liturgy. The scene is familiar to many. Jesus enters the temple area in Jerusalem and is clearly angry. What he witnessed was its evolution from a truly holy space where God is worshipped to a major money-maker for Jewish leadership. Its purpose had changed.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

November 2, 2025 – All Souls Day-Luke 7:11-17

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This is a feast that once encouraged prayers for the departed. It can still be that, but I think of it also as an opportunity to be reminded that we are connected with all humanity, both those who are departed to the next life and those with whom we share life on Earth right now. This is timely given that it is reported that these days so many live alone, work alone and as a result feel lonely, isolated or forgotten.

I recall a brilliant film made more than fifty years back entitled “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” staring Allen Arkin. Based on a novel of the same title it described the life of an overlooked and largely invisible deaf mute person who passed his days mostly ignored by others and eventually suffers a terrible death by suicide. Implied is that he might have been okay if only people interacted with him. Just a little.

If feelings of loneliness and isolation were a problem a half century back, what is it like today with so many people living alone and distanced from family, friends or anyone?

The Nazareth Page -A gospel meditation for your home

October 26, 2025 – Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Luke 18:9-14

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We often gain understanding of complex matters by contrasting opposites. Some foods are sweet while others we label as sour. Some people are tall while others are short. Some are healthy and others are sick. Some vote red and some vote blue. In today’s gospel we are introduced to two persons at prayer. Might they too be opposites? Perhaps not because they were both described as praying. But Jesus invites us to go deeper. Deeper into the kind of praying that each offered to God.

The Nazareth Page -A gospel meditation for your home

October 19, 2025 – Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Luke 18:1-8

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Today’s gospel is about making requests of others.  It includes a parable about dishonest public judges who did not respond fairly to some who were brought before them. In the  case mentioned in today’s gospel a woman complains that a judge usually ignored her. Nothing unusual about that case.  It still happens.

But on a deeper level the gospel is about God. The implication is that we will also appear before God with requests. Sometimes this kind of prayer is called a prayer of petition. Years ago, I played a lot of basketball. Sometimes I noticed that some players (not me) made the sign of the cross before shooting free throws. Over my career I made most of my free throws. I saw many of those who crossed themselves missing theirs. This made me wonder about the efficacy of prayer.

The most important words of the gospel today are Jesus’s advice that we should “pray always.” Here’s what I believe that means. But first, a thought about prayer in general.