Nazareth Night - "Jesus Comes to Nazareth"
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| Nazareth Night at the Seminary |
Jesus comes to Nazareth.
Nazareth – this small village where Jesus was raised by Joseph and Mary
for close to 30 years. Apparently the
residents there weren’t expecting Jesus to be the Messiah. They saw his carpentry skills, probably saw
him as a good man, but in these Gospel readings from last week and this week,
there’s something new, as Jesus proclaims that he has received the Holy
Spirit. In fact, it infuriates them to
realize that they aren’t the center of his plans, and the crazy thing is that
we never see Jesus return to Nazareth again in the Gospels. But here we are, at Nazareth Night. Jesus comes to Nazareth Night – he’s right
here in the Blessed Sacrament. So here’s
the question: will we receive him into our hearts?
Several weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity to be in
Nazareth, during our Holy Land trip we take as deacons. Today, instead of a small village, Nazareth
is a small city, more than 75,000 people living there. And right in the center of Nazareth is the
complex that has the Basilica of the Annunciation, built over the place where
Mary was living when Gabriel came to her, and the Church of St. Joseph, which
is built over St. Joseph’s workshop and home.
It was such a beautiful place to pray in, and it’s right in the center
of this modern city with all of its hustle and bustle. Along with today’s Gospels, I’d like to call
it the “Tale of Two Nazareth” – the Nazareth where Jesus was received and loved
by Mary and Joseph, and the Nazareth, the wider town, where he was rejected or
ignored.
What strikes me is how similar this can be to our own
lives. Yes, there are places in our
heart where we have received Jesus and been open to his power and love, but
aren’t there other places where we still haven’t received him or keep at a
distance? Are we willing to surrender
our whole hearts to him? And the way to
do so is to come into the place where he dwells, to enter into the true
Nazareth of his home with us.
This really is the aim of what we have at the seminary as
Nazareth Nights. I was blessed to see Nazareth
Night from its very beginning. When I
arrived at Kenrick three-and-a-half years ago, a few seminarians, led by now
Father Taylor Leffler, were considering beginning a night of prayer for young
adults, similar to what a couple of other seminaries have. When it came to giving a name to this night,
we tossed around a few possibilities, but considering how we have this
beautiful St. Joseph chapel, especially with this painting of the death of
Joseph predominant in this wooden ciborium, eventually the name Nazareth Night
stuck. Along with its handy
alliteration, it points to what we wanted to provide – a time and a place to
return to Nazareth, to return to communion with Jesus in the midst of the
business of life, and it’s been incredible to see how it’s been a blessing for
so many young adults over these years.
When we began, we were really inspired a beautiful homily
that St. Pope Paul VI gave in Nazareth 55 years ago, and he speaks of his own
desire to return to Nazareth. Listen to
what he has to share: “Nazareth is a kind of school where we may begin to
discover what Christ’s life was like and even to understand his Gospel. Here we can observe and ponder the simple
appeal of the way God’s Son came to be known, profound yet full of hidden
meaning. And gradually we may even learn
to imitate him. How I would like to
return to my childhood and attend the simple yet profound school that is
Nazareth! How wonderful to be close to
Mary, learning again God’s truths.” Wow
– How I would like to return to Nazareth!
Throughout this past week in preparing for this homily, I’ve
been returning in my prayer to Nazareth, to imagine what it was like to have
this home of love in the Holy Family.
I’ve been especially praying with St. Joseph. Consider what Joseph would have encountered
in his work as a carpenter – at times, it would have been rough. He could have dealt with angry and irrational
customers, maybe even been cheated by dishonest sellers, grown fatigued by many
hard days’ work, and faced judgment and criticism by those who barely knew
him. At the end of this, however, he
could always return back home, to receive Mary’s pure and beautiful love,
soothing him and giving him rest, and to continually meet Jesus’ kindness,
understanding, and trust. This is the
same for us – no matter where we find ourselves in the town of Nazareth that
may reject, hurt, or ignore us, we can return to this home we always have as
beloved sons and daughters of God.
As we pray about this, I’d like to point out three possible
areas that we can surrender to the Lord’s love tonight. Like the inhabitants of Nazareth, maybe some
of us are finding ourselves skeptical about Jesus. We’ve known him for so long, we’ve
experienced some of his goodness, but we wonder, “Is this whole thing really
true? Does he really care for me this
much, or will I just be let down again?”
Or maybe we’re finding ourselves in some despair, ready to throw
everything over the hill on which our hearts are built, growing weary and tired
and wanting to give up. Or maybe we’re
finding ourselves caught in isolation, focused on why we don’t seem to be
receiving from Jesus what others have, just as the villagers wondered why Jesus
was doing these incredible signs in other towns but not their own.
Wherever you find yourself tonight, maybe in skepticism,
despair, or isolation, now is the time to enter into the home of Jesus, to tell
him honestly what is going on, and to allow him to respond and give you a new
peace. In place of skepticism, he wants
to give us faith that he is with us and guiding us deeper in love. In place of despair, he gives us hope that
His Father has created us for an awesome purpose, that our circumstances don’t
define us. In place of isolation, he
gives us love, and he welcomes us into the communion of the whole Church and
unites us as a community. Then, at the
end of this night, he sends us forth with the same mission that he lived out,
because the Holy Spirit has anointed us to be the Body of Christ, fulfilling
everything in our midst.
When I think back to my time in Nazareth, in the midst of
the city that it is today, the “tale of Two Nazareth,” I consider the
tremendous peace that I found there, knowing that when Mary and Joseph said
“yes” to God’s plan, the whole world changed, giving all of us the possibility
to say “yes” as well. Tonight, in
prayer, we come into this home of Nazareth.
Surrender your burdens here, especially in confession. Allow Jesus to speak to you in the silence,
and then respond to him in song through our praise and worship. And through it all, may the Lord unite us,
that our community may be a witness to the world of His unending love. So we pray, “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, welcome
us into your home. We give you
permission to lead us deeper into your hearts tonight, for you come to Nazareth
Night.”
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