The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

June 19th, 2022 – Body and Blood of Christ - Luke 9:11-17

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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When reading today’s gospel, I thought about the old saying, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” In point of fact, there was a free lunch when Jesus provided one, featuring fish and bread. Food from the land and food from the sea. Very basic fare in the time of Jesus. I’ll bet that it was delicious, too. Out of generosity, he offered them nourishment for their minds through his words, and food for their bodies.

Today we take time to reflect of the continued presence of Jesus in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ. In sacramental form, Jesus remains personally present to us. One important question remains: Are we present to him?

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

May 29^th, 2022 – Seventh Sunday of Easter - John 17:20-26

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Today’s gospel describes Jesus praying that all of us be one, as he and his father (God) are one. This is a wonderful goal and hopefully, we can echo that same prayer. And follow our praying with action. But what might that mean in the concrete? What should we do in a world that seems at times much more divided than united?

In my dictionary there are thirteen definitions of “one.” It’s a complicated word. Historically, the pursuit of “oneness” has mixed results. It seems that the pursuit of oneness can draw us together seeking a common good, or it can split us apart by an autocratic situation where being one only means doing what the one in charge demands.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

May 22nd, 2022 – Sixth Sunday of Easter - John 14:23-29

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I am old enough to remember when we Catholics said the Sign of the Cross, we ended it with calling the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Ghost. To an impressionable youngster that I was, this raised all sorts of questions because I knew about ghosts that inhabited haunted houses and scary stories. And I even wondered about whether there might be a ghost living in our basement. I never went down there alone.

But times changed and we were told to extract the Holy Ghost from our prayers and replace it with someone called “the Holy Spirit.” I was happy to dismiss talk about the ghost, although I can’t say that its replacement (the Holy Spirit) initiated more clarity. Less, in fact, because at least I know something about ghosts and very little about spirits.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

May 15th, 2022 – Fifth Sunday of Easter - John 13:31-35

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Today’s gospel reading is perhaps the shortest of the year. Only a handful of verses. Yet it contains the only commandment that comes directly from Jesus himself. It states that we are to love one another as he has loved us. He is our model for deep and lasting love. We may not ever achieve the depth and degree of his love, but it remains our goal.

Here, however, I want to comment on another part of this gospel, the part that mentions “the glory of God.” Especially in the way Jesus showed forth God’s glory.

A few years back I researched how the Bible understands this phrase, “the glory of God.” For most of my life I have heard these words. They are often included in common prayers, and they are sung in countless hymns. They are often mentioned in Sacred Scripture. But what is the meaning of “God’s glory?”

Here's what I learned.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

May 8th, 2022 – Fourth Sunday of Easter - John 10:27-30

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We are extraordinarily complex beings. And current science tells us that our brains might well be the most complex structures in the Universe. Certainly, they are when we compare them with all the variety of things that make up our planet. Our brains contain billions of cells. If we lined up all the neurological pathways of one brain in a row, they would encircle the earth. And nothing is more interesting to investigate and study than the nature of our brain.

But what would you consider as the second most amazing part of our bodies? Many scientists would say that would be our hands. Over thousands of years their shape and functions have evolved in countless ways.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

May 1st, 2022 – Third Sunday of Easter - John 21:1-19

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Today’s gospel is loaded! A full meal of possible messages. There is the appearance of the Risen Christ (although not initially recognized.). Then there’s the frustrated fishermen (Peter and his crew) who can’t seem to land a single fish after a whole day of fishing. Then being told by Jesus (who may have never fished in his whole life) that they were fishing on the wrong side of the boat. Try the other side, he tells them, and see what happens. In no time they hauled in 153 fish. (More about that below.)

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

April 24th, 2022 – Second Sunday of Easter - John 20:19-31

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I am a history buff. And the scope of history that interests me the most is what I would call “Big History.” The history that extends all the way back to the origin of our Universe, a mere 13.8 billion years ago. I also try to learn as much as I can about the Earth’s history which, if you want to know, goes back a mere 4.7 billion years ago when trillions of specs of dust, originally created as a result of a giant exploding star, gradually, due to the force of gravity, formed a planet on which you and I live. Then there’s the history of plants, of animals and fish, all leading up to the history of humans, beginning a brief 200,000 years back. As time unfolds, we learn that rather remarkable things were happening, day by day, year by year.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

April 17th, 2022 – Easter Sunday - John 20:1-9

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A blessed Easter to all of you. For two-thousand years this day, Easter Sunday, has been thought of as the most important day of the year. And for very good reason. It recalls and celebrates God’s response to the most important question we humans ask. We know that we all die, but then what? We have recently recalled the death of Jesus and his burial in a borrowed tomb. It was above ground, somewhat like a cave. We were also given other interesting details about this event in John’s gospel.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

April 10th, 2022 – Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord - Luke 22:14 – 23:56

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We now enter the holiest week of the year. And placed at the center of that week is our remembering the death of Jesus. And not just any kind of death, but one involving great suffering for him, a suffering, as it is told, that he in no way deserved. Yet his death is not described in the gospel account as a mistake or as an unfortune twist of fate. Rather, it all happened according to God’s will. As something willed by God. And good. The actual day of his death we call Good Friday.

The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

April 3rd, 2022 – Fifth Sunday of Lent - John 8:1-11

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There are two places in the Bible where we have accounts of someone writing with a finger. The first one describes God using a finger to inscribe on stone tablets the Ten Commandments. What was written became the covenant law for God’s Chosen People, the Jews. And they remain in effect for all. Some churches like to list them on large signs on church property so they can be read by passers-by. (Perhaps because it was felt that some people needed reminders or maybe had never heard of them.)