Holding Out for a Hero
Jul 12: Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
God has plans that we may not1 understand as we’re living them. The best we can do is try to do what we know is right, and have faith that God will take care of the rest.
Reading 1
Gn 41:55-57; 42:5-7a, 17-24a
When hunger came to be felt throughout the land of Egypt and the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, Pharaoh directed all the Egyptians to go to Joseph and do whatever he told them. When the famine had spread throughout the land, Joseph opened all the cities that had grain and rationed it to the Egyptians, since the famine had gripped the land of Egypt. In fact, all the world came to Joseph to obtain rations of grain, for famine had gripped the whole world.
The sons of Israel were among those who came to procure rations.
It was Joseph, as governor of the country, who dispensed the rations to all the people. When Joseph's brothers came and knelt down before him with their faces to the ground, he recognized them as soon as he saw them. But Joseph concealed his own identity from them and spoke sternly to them.
With that, he locked them up in the guardhouse for three days.
On the third day Joseph said to his brothers: "Do this, and you shall live; for I am a God-fearing man. If you have been honest, only one of your brothers need be confined in this prison, while the rest of you may go and take home provisions for your starving families. But you must come back to me with your youngest brother. Your words will thus be verified, and you will not die."
To this they agreed. To one another, however, they said: "Alas, we are being punished because of our brother. We saw the anguish of his heart when he pleaded with us, yet we paid no heed; that is why this anguish has now come upon us."
Reuben broke in, "Did I not tell you not to do wrong to the boy? But you would not listen! Now comes the reckoning for his blood." The brothers did not know, of course,
that Joseph understood what they said, since he spoke with them through an interpreter. But turning away from them, he wept.
So, we’ve pretty much skipped over the whole story of Joseph—Jacob gave him a technicolor dreamcoat; his brothers got jealous, sold him into slavery; he’s thrown in jail for not sleeping with Potiphar’s wife;2 and finally, after interpreting Pharoah’s dreams, becomes the second in command of the entirety of Egypt.
Now the brothers (except the youngest, Benjamin) have come to beg for food, not knowing the one they rejected will be their salvation. Gee, who does that sound like?
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 33:2-3, 10-11, 18-19
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.
Sing to him a new song;
pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
The LORD brings to nought the plans of nations;
he foils the designs of peoples.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
But see, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Joseph’s brothers made plans, to sell their brother into slavery. God had bigger plans—to save all of Israel. In foiling their plans, He saved them!
That doesn’t mean what the brothers did was good. They had ill-intent, and Joseph (along with his mother and father and who knows who else) suffered a great deal.
Wouldn’t it be better to do good that’s part of God’s plan?
Alleluia
Mk 1:15
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Kingdom of God is at hand:
repent and believe in the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We need to repent to fully participate in the Kingdom, just like Joseph’s brothers have to apologize for enslaving him before they can be truly rescued.
Gospel
Mt 10:1-7
Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. The names of the Twelve Apostles are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.
Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, "Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"
The Good News was intended to be spread in stages. From Abraham to Joseph, Jesus’ foster father, the Hebrews were preparing to bring Jesus into the world. While He was with us in time, He intended to spread the Gospel among the Jews, first.
Only after His death and resurrection did Jesus plan on His apostles going out into the wider world. The Kingdom of Heaven itself is coming in stages, and only at the Second Coming will it fully be realized.
Probably not.
It’s a whole thing.