July 10, 2013

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Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time 
Lectionary: 385

Reading 1GN 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.

Our great Patriarch, Joseph, the son of Israel, had become the trusted friend of Pharaoh.  Pharaoh, in turn, appointed him second in command of the whole land of Egypt.  He was in charge of rationing out the needs of the people of Egypt.

The sons of Israel were among those
who came to procure rations.

The other 11 sons of Israel, the ones who had sold Joseph into slavery many years ago, came to Egypt to procure rations.  Never suspecting that the brother whom they had discarded was now a ruler of Egypt.

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.

Joseph was, himself, handing out the rations.  When his treacherous brothers came before him to ask for bread, he did not reveal his name.

With that, he locked them up in the guardhouse for three days.

But he had them thrown in jail 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,

If you have been honest- Joseph had asked his brothers whether there were not more brothers in the family, in order to elicit a confession of their ill treatment of him.  He then discovered that he had another full brother whom he had never met.  The other brothers were really half brothers born of other wives of Israel.  His own mother had now born another child.

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.”

So, Joseph held one of them hostage while the rest went home and brought his younger brother with them.

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.”

They agreed.  But to themselves they recognized that they were being punished for selling their brother into slavery.

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.

Joseph heard all they said and turned his face away so they could not see his tears.

Responsorial PsalmPS 33:2-3, 10-11, 18-19

R. (22) 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.

Place your hope in God's mercy.  It is better to hope upon God's mercy than upon man's.  

GospelMT 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.’”

Jesus sent the Twelve Apostles out to proclaim the Kingdom of heaven and as a sign that the Kingdom had arrived, to cure every illness.

I think it is appropriate here to mention that the twelve sons of Israel foreshadow the twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ.  And Benjamin, the thirteenth son of Israel represents St. Paul, the thirteenth Apostle of Christ.

You might ask, "what about Mattias, the man selected to replace Judas Iscariot?"   St. Mattias was not an Apostle of Christ.  He was the first Apostle and Bishop appointed by the Church.  The men designated as Apostles were chosen by Jesus Christ.  The Twelve were selected by Jesus Christ before His Resurrection.  St. Paul was selected by Jesus Christ, after.