The Nazareth Page
A gospel meditation for the home
April 1st2007– Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
Luke 22:14 – 23:56
The Church gives us two gospels today. One describes a victory march into Jerusalem. The other is more like a funeral procession exiting Jerusalem. A high and a low. But which one is which? The world would say that the glorious parade into Jerusalem was the high pointand the death of Jesus on the cross was the low point. Our faith proclaims the opposite.
Luke’s account of the passion and death of Jesus is filled with terrible details. There is the betrayal of Peter, one of his closest friends. There are those moments of prayer in the garden when blood oozed out through his pores as he thought about what was ahead for him. There are the many public humiliations and, finally, the experience of nails piercing Jesus’ flesh as he was attached to the crossbeams of a rough wooden cross.
We sometimes say that we wouldn’t do anything like this for all the money in the world. Neither would Jesus. He did it because he loved us and he wanted to show us the depth of his love. Families sometimes experience a similar depth of loving.
Jesus didn’t walk into his passion without feelings of resistance. He even prayed to God, his Father, that another way be found. He knew it was going to hurt a lot. Let’s admit it. Jesus was human too!
But in the end, he accepted his passion and death. He showed us something of the way that God intended for all of us. We would face our own harsh difficulties and hardships. Suffering, disappointment, rejection, and abandonment – he experienced it all. So do we.Carrying a cross strengthened him. Just asit can do for us. God does not offer us an easy life. Because we love, there come occasional suffering and disappointments. But we also receive moments of comfort and happiness, even ecstasy. The cross connects with new life. They are the two sides of God’s coinage. Ready acceptance of the cross opens us to receive the gift of happiness. That’s God’s promise.
David M. Thomas
bethanyfamilyinstitute.com
The Nazareth Page
A gospel meditation for the home
April 8th 2007 – Easter Sunday
John 20: 1-9
Some contemporary writers like to point out that Jesus had a very special friend. Her name was Mary Magdalene. According to today’s Easter gospel, she was the first person to visit the place where his crucified body had been placed. Even after his death, she wanted to be close to him. In the Book of Job, we find the idea that love can be stronger than death. Mary simply wanted to be near the one she loved.
In John’s account today, we are given the first indication, the first clue that something new was on the horizon. Later, after Jesus appeared on various occasions to his disciples, they recalled some of the ideas he had shared with them earlier in his life. No doubt, they saw new meaning in his words after his resurrection. Before the fuller meaning of that could be communicated though, there was a need for those feelings of emptiness and the questions. Especially the big question! Where is he? He is not where they placed him so what happened? What is happening? Perhaps no one felt the pain of that question more than his friend Mary Magdalene.
Before we receive from God’s Spirit answers to the deep questions of life, we are often allowed by God to live in the midst of questions. Our questioning is good. It causes us to wonder, to think and eventually to search for what it is we desire to know. The greater the desire, the greater the satisfaction of receiving answers to our questions. Thus, awareness of the empty tomb comes before the appearance of Jesus. God is a great teacher.
The spacing between the death of Jesus and his resurrection also brings us reason to appreciate how the resurrection is tied to the gift of faith. Some will say that we don’t really grasp the meaning of the resurrection without great faith. And faith is God’s gift. Notice that Jesus appears as the Risen One only to his disciples. He does not pay a visit to Herod or Pilate. He does not call a press conference.
To believe in the resurrection of Jesus is to make a daring assertion. Life is more powerful than death. That we can accept and believe in the Risen Christ is a grace in itself. And how wonderful it is when we do, even as children.
David M. Thomas
bethanyfamilyinstitute.com
The Nazareth Page
A gospel meditation for the home
April 15th 2007 – Second Sunday of Easter
John 20: 19-31
It’s very natural to be afraid. These days we are all very conscious of security. We lock our doors and sometimes even install home security systems. Given the widespread presence of crime in almost all places, it’s wise to be careful.
Today’s gospel opens with the Apostles huddled in fear. The doors were locked. The authorities had just killed their leader. They were all known as his disciples. Perhaps there was already a list of those known to be associated with Jesus. Surely their names would be on it. Maybe they would be next.
Suddenly Jesus was with them. There’s no small irony in his first words. “Peace be with you.” They were probably scared out of their skin. Most likely, Jesus smiled and his gesture of understanding took the edge off the moment. He told them that right now was the beginning of “phase two” of his mission. According to John’s account, they were then filled with the Holy Spirit. Their fears subsided, and in the days following they travelled to the known corners of the world to tell everyone about Jesus and the deep love of God for all people.
The gospel this Sunday concludes with the enchanting story of Thomas the apostle, the so-called doubting one, who was not there when Jesus first appeared to the other apostles. He was described as being sceptical, but better, we might think of him as like many of us, people with honest questions. Jesus met him on his level and responded to him in exactly the way that Thomas needed. He wanted to feel the wounds of Good Friday and touch the Jesus he knew. He wanted evidence. In kindness and understanding, Jesus fully obliged.
This story appeals to us because of our own fears and questions. Know that we can bring them to Jesus. He said he would not leave us alone. We can also be open to the gift of God’s Spirit. In Baptism, we have already received the Spirit, but we can certainly use additional inspiration. Know that the Holy Spirit is always available. 24/7, as we sometimes say today. The line between God and us is always open. God wants to be a part of all our lives.
David M. Thomas
bethanyfamilyinstitute.com
The Nazareth Page
A gospel meditation for the home
April 22nd 2007 – The Third Sunday of Easter
John 21: 1-19
Do you have a favourite story about Jesus? I do. It’s the gospel reading for this Sunday. I think of it as breakfast on the beach. It happened soon after the first Easter. John’s gospel tells us about the time when Peter and his friends went out fishing all night long. Not a nibble! Weary and frustrated, they turned their boat toward the shore, hoping no one would notice their empty boat. They spied a stranger (it was Jesus) on the beach who casually said, “Try once more guys. This time cast your net on the right side of the boat.”
Probably a little disturbed and angered by the advice of a seeming amateur, they nevertheless followed his instructions and suddenly their nets were full, really full. In an unusual mention of detail, John’s gospel notes that there were 153 large fish in the nets. We might wonder if John himself helped count them.
That would have been story enough, but something else was in store for these quite tired fishermen. Breakfast! Prepared by Jesus himself. He had a charcoal fire (another detail) blazing on the beach. The menu included bread and fish. Of course, the food, like everything in John’s gospel, had more than one meaning.
Catching fish became a metaphor for bringing people to Jesus. And bread? The breaking of bread was a sharing in the Body of Christ, the Risen Christ.Recall that this event happened soon after the resurrection. It pointed out that Jesus continued to share of himself with his friends. He appeared and reminded them that what he had begun before his death was to continue for all time.
He had showed them a new way of living. For instance, kings don’t prepare breakfast! But Jesus does. He fed the weary apostles. He offered himself and whatever they needed on that particular day. Breakfast is important. Start the day right. Have a healthy breakfast. Perhaps this was the healthiest breakfast ever served! It was food prepared by Jesus for the body and for the soul.
David M. Thomas
bethanyfamilyinstitute.com
The Nazareth Page
A gospel meditation for the home
April 29th 2007 – Fourth Sunday of Easter
John 10: 27-30
Once again, we read a gospel where Jesus called himself a good shepherd.” There’s a danger that we lose interest because “we’ve heard that one already.” Also, there are some rather poor artistic renderings of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. They sometimes have Jesus looking rather sheepish.
So let’s take a fresh look at this gospel. Jesus said that his sheep recognize his voice. This points to a closeness, a familiarity between himself and ourselves. We are the sheep of his flock, as we say at times. We know each other. The relationship goes two ways. From Jesus to us and from us to Jesus. Mutuality. Commonality. We share like a family. In fact, that’s an important idea now being used to describe the church as the family of God.
And Jesus has given his life for us. That is something we can never fully grasp. It’s too much for words. Jesus is both God and human. This identifies Jesus as almost beyond our comprehension. One philosopher called the reality of the Incarnation – God becoming one of us – “the great impossibility. “ But it happened. God took on our condition and gave his life for us! How utterly amazed we should be. How deeply grateful, too.
Let’s look further at the idea that as a “good” shepherd, he knows us and we know him. To grasp the meaning of this, we need some cultural history. During the time of Jesus, sheep grazed on common ground. All the sheep! Each morning the shepherds would bring their sheep to an open grazing area, and at the end of the day, each shepherd would collect his sheep. But how did he know which sheep was his? That was no problem for a “good” shepherd. He could tell his sheep from others. Not by a mark, but simply by knowing them very well.
So that’s the second point Jesus wants to make. He knows us very well. The word “know” in the Hebrew language implies deep closeness and intimacy. It is sometimes called the knowledge of the heart. It’s knowing the one you love. That’s how Jesus knows each of us!
David M. Thomas
bethanyfamilyinstitute.com