Pastor Katlin made a poignant comparison today between our Gospel reading and the latest headlines. Our reading came from the first chapter of John: Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
This week, it was widely reported that Donald Trump, during a meeting to work out immigration policies at which it was proposed to cut the immigration lottery in half, and have the remaining lottery slots go to underrepresented African and protected status nations, including Haiti, spoke of those countries in rather disparaging terms. “Why do we want all these people from ‘shithole countries’ coming here?”
What was wrong with Nazareth? Clearly, Nathanael looked on it as, if not a disreputable place, at least one from which the Messiah-the chosen one- was not expected to come!
Henri Ford immigrated to the U.S from Haiti at 13 years old and is best known for his research on the pathogenesis of necrotizing enterocolitis, the most frequent deadly gastrointestinal disease to affect premature babies. He also completed the first separation of conjoined twins in Haiti in 2015. Ford was elected president of the American Pediatric Surgical Association. Can anything good come out of Haiti?
“Why do we want all these people from ‘shithole countries’ coming here?”
Some bible commentaries suggest that Nazareth in Galilee was such a poor, insignificant village that it was looked down upon even by other Galileans (like Nathanael). “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Ali Said Farqi is a toxicologist from Somali who immigrated to the US in 2000. His many achievements are evident in more than 100 scientific papers and reports he has published. He is a Diplomate of American Board of Toxicology (DABT), a Fellow of the Academy Toxicological Sciences (ATS) and currently the Associate Editor of Reproductive Toxicology Journal. “Can anything good come out of Somalia?”
“Why do we want all these people from ‘shithole countries’ coming here?”
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and his family later settled in Nazareth where he grew up. Jesus, a Jew, probably olive-skinned and Semitic in appearance…who is accepted by a large number of people as the Messiah, God’s son, and who said “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37–40). Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
“Why do we want all these people from ‘shithole countries’ coming here?”
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