1-25-26, by: Mark Gates
“Word of God” really hits home for me. I really enjoy proclaiming God’s Word as a lector, and of course “Word of God” as the obvious title for Jesus Himself. Both of these personal appreciations have made leaps and bounds worth of improvements in my life & Not always willingly on my part.
My legal disclaimer today is: Please read this reflection in its entirety once, before you choose to dislike me or write me off.
Today we hear from Isaiah 8:23 – 9:3, Paul to the Corinthians 1Cor 1:10-13 and Jesus, just after John the Baptist is arrested, Matt 4: 12-23. It is Isaiah and the Gospel that go hand in hand. Isaiah’s prophesy speaks directly about Jesus being in the land of Zebulun & Nephtali, and that Jesus IS the Light of the World… these two regions “Have seen a great light!” The background is that these two regions (named after sons of Jacob), while being part of the Promised Land originally, have fallen prey to the dreaded gentiles and the Assyrians. The Israelites have cohabitated and co-mingled with these ‘outsiders’.
The Israelites here have sinned against their faith and presumably against their God. If you fast-forward to Jesus’ time, we see this same attitude held against the Samaritans (Woman at the well) and all gentiles in general. Even though, the primary non-negotiable of desert life is ‘Hospitality’, we still find horrible examples of mistreatment of migrants, foreigners, and those not like us.
***My Confession: When I was 20 years old, my wife pregnant with my first born and I bought a house in the suburbs of Chicago. I was a ‘union’ meatcutter. My uncles hated me, because as an eighteen-year-old punk kid, who was ‘still wet behind the ears’, I was hired into a ‘Golden Job’ that would last the rest of my life. Little did any of us know that the 2 major grocery store chains in Chicago at the time (1976-1980) were already colluding together with the grocery union, to “break” the meatcutters union. It Worked!! Due to illegal immigration, use and abuse, in the cattle producing western states, Chicago was ripe and ready to break the meat unions and allow in “Boxed-Beef.” That’s why you can’t find a decent, ‘knowledgeable’ meatcutter anywhere near the Mississippi river, or east of it. Who knows what criminal, underhanded deals were agreed to, and made, in order to ruin our lives, homes and thriving communities.
**Going forward, my ‘golden life’ (secular that is) was ruined. The economy was in the toilet. So, with a resume that looked more like a criminal’s rap-sheet, myself and all blue-collar folks were suffering. **And Now, in 2025-26, we’re seeing it all over again! I had developed a deep, deep dislike for illegal immigrants, bordering on hatred.
**These feelings lasted for 50 years until I retired… I finally reasoned that they couldn’t hurt me anymore! Reconciliation, growth and redemption: “All things in God’s time.”
**In the absence of complete hospitality, I still considered myself a good and decent person. God was taking care of me and my family, and my harder attitudes towards other’s sin & sinners were softening. Remember: “Hate the sin, not the sinner”.
**After 5 millennia, as all God’s children, we still struggle with the same old prophecy from Isaiah… When will we see a great light. I wasted an entire lifetime only allowing myself a glimmer at a time! Time wasted is time lost. May the blessed Trinity have mercy on me and continue to light my path. Dear God, please forgive me!! Let us choose hospitality… Mark “G”
