The Nazareth Page  - A gospel meditation for your home

September 7, 2025 – Twentieth-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 14:25-33

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Today’s gospel contains one of the most surprising words of Jesus in all the gospels. They are worth quoting. “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” I have spent fifty years promoting marriage and family life as important aspects of the Christian life. Was I wrong? Did I skip this passage in the gospels?

The answer I came to after much thought is that I was right in my priorities. We all should affirm the sacred value of human relationships with family and others, but they are not the whole picture. What’s first for anyone who decides to be a disciple of Jesus is placing the values of God first.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

August 31, 2025 – Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 14:18-24

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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What is your place in the world? I am not asking about your geographical location, but what is sometimes called “social standing.” Do you consider yourself upper class or outstanding in some respects? Better than others? Distinguished in some way?

Certainly, many social groups have ways of honoring their more important or esteemed members. Even an institution as seemingly in favor of equality as PBS has ways of showing special attention for their wealthy donors by specifically naming them at the beginning of programming. At important religious gatherings in the Catholic Church who usually is seated in the sanctuary or in the front pews? Ordinary laity, like most of us?

In today’s gospel Jesus describes how special guests at wedding feasts are placed close to the bride and groom as expressive of their importance. But Jesus warns against assuming such placement on your own. Wait to be seated to avoid being asked to take a more distant position by the hosts. Good advice. This prevents embarrassment.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

August 24, 2025 – Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 13:22-30

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Most of us are conscious of various boundaries that give us an awareness of where we belong are. We recognise city limits, state lines, national boundaries and so forth. In the time of Jesus it was often the realm of kings or other regional leaders that gave people a sense of belonging or of being “on the outside.” While these boundaries were usually geographical, there were also other forms of belonging, Sometimes these were tribal or related to family membership. It was this question of belonging when Jesus was asked who is to be part of God’s kingdom or reign.

Today’s gospel deals with a question asked of Jesus about the size or inclusiveness of membership in God’s chosen people. Would it extend to only a few, or would its population be many? Or would it include everyone? Was everyone given membership in God’s “family” or did one have to do something to qualify? Further, what would be indicators of being with God.

Without answering with specific numbers, Jesus basically responds that some will be saved and some won’t. It depends on their values, their choices and how they live.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

August 17, 2025 – Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 12:49-53

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All of us carry deep within a desire that everything will be perfect. Or at least, we hope that it will be. Advertisers connect to such hopes by promising wondrous perfection when we buy their products, drink their beverages or use their supplements. In similar ways politicians are adept at promising better times if they are elected.

But did Jesus make similar claims? At Christmas time, we like to recall that Jesus came to bring peace of earth, sight to the blind and blessings to all.

Yet in today’s gospel it is clear that Jesus did not promise such earthly perfection. In fact, he predicted that with his coming, challenges, conflicts and difficulties may intensify. Also, he doesn’t say that there will be no more hunger, or that all wars will end or that everyone will be happy. One of my biblical professors used to say that unlike some politicians and religious leaders Jesus did not promise “a chicken in every pot.”  

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

August 10, 2025 – Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 12:32-48

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You are reading these words during summertime. Soon it will be Fall. Then comes Winter and so forth. Each major season seems to have its own spirit. We also divide time into daily segments. Daytime and nighttime. Work time and leisure. Football season will soon begin. Thus, a time for this and a time for that. And we adjust our activities, and even our attitudes, accordingly. Years back I had a pastor whose name was Miller. When we met, I’d remind him that it was Miller time.

The Catholic Church also divides time into the seasons of the liturgical year. We are now in Ordinary Time. Later this year we will enter Advent, then Christmas, then Lent and so forth. There are good reasons for dividing time in this way. It encourages us to enter the spirit of each time. For instance, Christmastime for gift-giving and Eastertime for encouraging hope. Some days might be thought holier than others, like Sunday, called “the Lords’ Day.”

The Nazareth Page  - A gospel meditation for your home

August 3, 2025 – Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 12:13-21

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I was sitting with my dad watching on TV what used to be called “the ticker.” It showed in real time the value of various holdings on the New York Stock Exchange. My dad had retired from his business years before, but he enjoyed keeping track of his wealth in stocks. He was in his 90’s at the time. To ensure accuracy, he kept a pencil and pad on his lap in which he dutifully recoded any change in the value of his current “wealth.”

After a few minutes of sharing this activity with him, I casually said that he reminded me of Jack Benny who often visited his basement vault (on radio!) to count his money. Jack was a notorious miser, not known for generosity. My dad smiled and looked at his only son and said, “I’m not counting my money. I’m counting yours.” We both smiled.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

July 27, 2025 – Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 11:13

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One of the most important parts of any religion is the act of praying. Some religions create prayers that may have been formulated centuries back. Their words often contain a summary of religious beliefs and imply a certain understanding of the divine being addressed. Today’s gospel contains the prayer Jesus created when asked by his disciples how they should pray. For many this prayer, the Our Father, is their favorite. It is for me.

Let’s just reflect of the beginning of the prayer which tells us something about our relationship to God as well as God’s “personality.” If we address God in prayer, it’s helpful to know something about the One we are “talking” or connecting with.

The prayer Jesus taught his disciples begins like any human encounter by addressing the one to whom the prayer is addressed. The usual English translation is “Our Father.” But the word used by Jesus implies a more specific meaning than fatherhood in general. The actual word is “Abba.” Some like to point out that its meaning is more like “Dad,” an address denoting familiarity, closeness, protection and affection.

The Nazareth Page  - A gospel meditation for your home

July 20, 2025 – Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 10:38-42

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Today we read or listen to one of the most memorable gospels in all of the New Testament. All I have to do is say that it is about two sisters, Martha and Mary, and many will say, “Yes, I know that one.” Martha is in the kitchen feverously working on dinner while Mary is with Jesus, relaxing and talking with him.

Martha issues a complaint to Jesus. Should not Mary be helping her with the meal? Then comes his (perhaps) surprising response that Martha should not be ”anxious and worried about many things” and that “Mary has chosen the better part.” The gospel writing does not add Martha’s response. But we can supply a guess.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

July 13, 2025 – Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 10:25-37

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Who needs help and what can I do to help? These are questions we all face at times. It may be a family member who is facing rough times. It may be a neighbor who is struggling with one thing or another. It might even be ourselves. Today’s gospel is well known, sometimes followed, sometimes ignored. It’s also a gospel most all know. It occasionally seeps into ordinary conversation. We only have to hear the words, “the good Samaritan” and we know what’s being noted.

A few comments about its meaning. It begins with an incident that would be well known to those who first heard it from Jesus. Travelers in those days were often set upon by robbers. Cities and towns and villages were well fortified and protected. The paths between them were not. So anyone traveling in that open land were literally putting their lives in harm’s way. So no surprise that if Jesus wanted to illustrate danger and challenge and need, begin by saying, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.” All his listeners knew what was next. But they might also be surprised, too.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

July 6, 2025 – Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 10:1-20

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Think of Jesus assembling a team of seventy-two as one of his initial strategies of “spreading the gospel message.” We are not told of any special qualifications of these “missionaries” except that they are disciples of Jesus. They already knew him and his basic message.

I have wondered about how his selection took place. And how many were women or married couples. Upon being chosen, they were given respectful and practical directives on how to acquaint people with Jesus. Clearly, they were to deliver a very important message: “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” That was the heart of the message of Jesus. God was not distant, but was present among them.