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| “Joseph in the Pharaoh's Palace” by Jacopo Amigoni, c. 1730’s |
Reading 1: Genesis 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
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.
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Commentary on Gn
41:55-57; 42:5-7a, 17-24a
We catch the
story of Joseph, the youngest son of Jacob, in mid-stream. Joseph’s brothers who in this selection are
in Egypt
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 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.
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Commentary on Ps 33:2-3,
10-11, 18-19
Psalm 33 is a song of thanksgiving and praise. In this passage we hear praise for God’s
mercy to his people. The psalmist
reflects upon the futility of the plans of humanity and the wonder of God’s
plan. The concluding strophe recalls the
salvation God has planned for his faithful.
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Gospel: Matthew 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.'"
Commentary on Mt 10:1-7
Following the
instructions to the twelve given in the previous verses, Jesus now sends them
out. St. Matthew’s Gospel does not tell the
stories of how they were called, but provides the names and mission. It is only in Matthew that the twelve are
designated as Apostles reflecting the mission and role they fulfill. They are
then sent, but only to the “chosen people”. This focus on the Jewish audience
tells us that St. Matthew’s Gospel was originally directed principally at
Hebrew Christians.
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Reflection:
What would we think if a
person we did not know came up to us and said “The
Kingdom of heaven is at hand”? Even if we look at the next verses of St.
Matthew’s Gospel, that phrase is not explained.
He sends his disciples into the world to bring healing to the sick and
hope to the poor but what does he mean; “The
Kingdom of heaven is at hand”?
If this phrase were spoken to
us in the context of someone attempting to evangelize us would we not
immediately think that person was telling us “The world is coming to an end” or
“It’s the end of the world?” The disciples
Jesus was sending must certainly have had a clear understanding of what the
idea of the Kingdom of heaven was about.
For our own purposes, since we are also to follow these Apostles in
their mission, we must also have a clear understanding of what is meant or
implied by the “Kingdom of heaven.”
The whole concept of a
“Kingdom” is the first term we must define.
Kingdom is defined by an unabridged dictionary as
5. the spiritual sovereignty of God or Christ.
6. the domain over which the spiritual sovereignty of
God or Christ extends, whether in heaven or on earth.[4]
So, when the disciples
proclaim the Kingdom of heaven, they are announcing that God’s power or authority
will be extended over those to whom this event is announced. In the terms and tradition in which this
message was proclaimed the idea of a temporal kingdom had a more profound
understanding. The people who were to
receive this message, “the lost sheep of the
house of Israel ”, would have been under Roman authority; part of the Roman Empire , dominated by the Emperor of Rome who ruled
through Pontius Pilate with King Herod as regional monarch.
The whole notion that power
and authority would be given over to God, the one true God known to the house
of Israel as Yahweh, could mean only one thing; the promised Messiah was at
hand. It would mean that the secular
rule and values would no longer be the measure by which their actions were
governed but the Law of God would be the standard by which judgment would be
passed.
In a very spiritual sense,
they announced the end of the world as it was known (we are back to that
idea). God’s Kingdom; his Heavenly Kingdom
When we come to understand
the vision of Jesus for the world both now and in God’s Kingdom of Heaven
Today we pray for the grace
and strength to proclaim that message.
We also hope for the faith to understand that it is the message given to
us as well.
Pax
[2]
The picture is “Joseph in the Pharaoh's Palace” by Jacopo Amigoni, c. 1730’s
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only..
[4]
"kingdom." Dictionary.com
Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 05 Jul. 2011. .
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