12 Wonderful Places We Visit at Mass: #2 – Nazareth

Nazareth

Entering the church through its doors is like entering Bethlehem. But when we listen to the readings from the Hebrew scriptures, we are in Nazareth during the childhood of our Lord. He, too, listened to these scriptures in the synagogue, learning them as a Jewish boy. They would eventually become the center of his preaching, and, enlightened by his divine understanding, be the words of the Word to make us the light of the world.

The Psalms were the basis of Jewish prayer at the time, and still are. We tend to view them as songs, not much unlike those in our hymnals. But they are King David’s songs which are prayers in themselves. And they are the songs of Christ.

And he sang them right up to the Crucifixion:

While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself, by the Holy Spirit, declared,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
 until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ (Psalm 110:1) David himself calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.
—Mark 12:35-37

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
 and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” (Psalm 91:11-12) Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
—Matthew 4:5-7

But he looked at them and said, “What then does this text mean: ‘The stone that the builders rejected
 has become the cornerstone’? (Psalm 118:22) Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” When the scribes and chief priests realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people.
—Luke 20:17-19

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says, “They divided my clothes among themselves,
 and for my clothing they cast lots.” (Psalm 22:18) And that is what the soldiers did.
—John 19:23-25

From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”(Psalm 22:1. See the entire psalm.)
—Matthew 27:45-46

Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Psalm 31:5) Having said this, he breathed his last.
—Luke 23:46

During the readings, do you sit and listen with Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth? Because Jesus listens with you.

The Human Knowledge of Christ