Frederick, Maryland,
United States - Daily Mass Reading & Meditation for Friday, 21 March 2014 -
Catholic Meditations
Meditations: Genesis
37: 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than
all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat
of many colors. 4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all
his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.
12 His brothers went
to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 Israel said to Joseph, “Aren’t your
brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” He
said to him, “Here I am.”
17 The man said, “They
have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’”
Joseph went after his
brothers, and found them in Dothan. 18 They saw him afar off, and before he
came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one
another, “Behold, this dreamer comes. 20 Come now therefore, and let’s kill
him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has
devoured him.’ We will see what will become of his dreams.”
21 Reuben heard it,
and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let’s not take his life.” 22
Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the
wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their
hand, to restore him to his father. 23 When Joseph came to his brothers, they
stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him; 24 and they
took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in
it.
25 They sat down to
eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of
Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm
and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers,
“What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, and
let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is
our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him. 28 Midianites who were
merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and
sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph
into Egypt.
2nd Week of Lent
Israel loved Joseph
best of all his sons. (Genesis 37:3)
Since its earliest
days, the Christian church has recognized a harmony between the Old and New
Testaments. The apostles sought to understand how the ancient Hebrew Scriptures
pointed to Jesus as the Messiah. The early Church Fathers then recognized that
the mystery of Christ that is hidden in the Old Testament comes fully alive in
the New.
Many realities
described in the Old Testament—people, events, places, or other
details—anticipate realities fully revealed in the New. Scholars call them
“types,” or prefigurements, of Christ.
The story of Joseph
gives us one of the most stirring Old Testament “types” of Jesus. Joseph, a
favorite son of Jacob, was despised by his brothers, who decided to sell him
into slavery in Egypt. But Joseph eventually became the instrument God used to
save his family from famine: “Even though you meant harm to me,” Joseph later
told his brothers, “God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20).
It’s not hard to see
how many Church Fathers read Joseph’s story as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ life
and God’s plan of salvation. Just look at the many parallels between the two:
both were favored sons of a loving father. Both experienced rejection from some
of their own people. Both were sold for silver. Both were falsely accused and
imprisoned. Both were unexpectedly exalted—Joseph to Pharaoh’s throne and Jesus
to the throne of God. And both provided salvation for the chosen people as well
as the Gentiles around them.
Learning how people,
prophecies, and events in the Old Testament find fulfillment in Jesus can help
us come to a deeper grasp of the salvation that he has won for us. It can help
us grasp the marvelous plan of God. It can fill us with love for our Father,
who has set his grand plan in motion. So as the season of Lent unfolds, look
for Jesus’ “footprints” in the Old Testament readings at Mass. As you do,
you’ll see how much God loves his people—including you. You’ll see that God has
planned great and glorious things for you. Your life is secure in him!
“Jesus, you are the
Lord of history. Thank you for opening my eyes to your wonderful plan for our
salvation!” Amen.
Psalm 105: 16 He called for a famine on the land.
He destroyed the food supplies.
17 He sent a man
before them.
Joseph was sold for a slave.
18 They bruised his
feet with shackles.
His neck was locked in irons,
19 until the time that
his word happened,
and Yahweh’s word proved him true.
20 The king sent and
freed him;
even the ruler of peoples, and let him go
free.
21 He made him lord of
his house,
and ruler of all of his possessions;
Matthew 21: 33 “Hear another parable. There was a man who was a
master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine
press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another
country. 34 When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to
the farmers, to receive his fruit. 35 The farmers took his servants, beat one,
killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he sent other servants more than
the first: and they treated them the same way. 37 But afterward he sent to them
his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But the farmers, when they saw
the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and
seize his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard,
and killed him. 40 When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he
do to those farmers?”
41 They told him, “He
will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to
other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season.”
42 Jesus said to them,
“Did you never read in the Scriptures,
‘The stone which the
builders rejected,
the same was made the head of the corner.
This was from the
Lord.
It is marvelous in our eyes?’[a]
43 “Therefore I tell
you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation
producing its fruit.
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 21:42 Psalm
118:22-23
45 When the chief
priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke
about them. 46 When they sought to seize him, they feared the multitudes,
because they considered him to be a prophet.
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