The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to meditate on our mortality and the need for forgiveness in our relationships that will bring peace.
Remember to Reconcile
The reading from the Book of Genesis tells of Jacob’s Death and how Joseph forgives his brothers before his last days and death.
* [50:15–26] The final reconciliation of the brothers. Fearful of what may happen after the death of their father, the brothers engage in a final deception, inventing the dying wish of Jacob. Again, Joseph weeps, and, again, his brothers fall down before him, offering to be his slaves (44:16, 33). Joseph’s assurance is also a summation of the story: “Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good, to achieve this present end, the survival of many people” (v. 20). Joseph’s adoption of the children of Manasseh’s son Machir recalls Jacob’s adoption of his grandchildren (48:5, 13–20); the adoptions reflect tribal history (cf. Jgs 5:14).1
Psalm 105 praises God’s Faithfulness to Israel.
* [Psalm 105] A hymn to God who promised the land of Canaan to the holy people, cf. Ps 78; 106; 136. Israel is invited to praise and seek the presence of God (Ps 105:1–6), who is faithful to the promise of land to the ancestors (Ps 105:7–11). In every phase of the national story—the ancestors in the land of Canaan (Ps 105:12–15), Joseph in Egypt (Ps 105:16–22), Israel in Egypt (Ps 105:23–38), Israel in the desert on the way to Canaan (Ps 105:39–45)—God remained faithful, reiterating the promise of the land to successive servants.2
In the Gospel of Matthew, we learn whom to fear as we are offered courage under persecution.
* [10:26] The concealed and secret coming of the kingdom is to be proclaimed by them, and no fear must be allowed to deter them from that proclamation. * [10:32–33] In the Q parallel (Lk 12:8–9), the Son of Man will acknowledge those who have acknowledged Jesus, and those who deny him will be denied (by the Son of Man) before the angels of God at the judgment. Here Jesus and the Son of Man are identified, and the acknowledgment or denial will be before his heavenly Father.3
The Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries is out of step today as Steve Scholar (in 2013) reflects on the dry old wineskins of Matthew 9:14-17 .
Don Schwager quotes “Do not bewail death - but sin,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD).
"The gospel is life. Impiety and infidelity are the death of the soul. So then, if the soul can die, how then is it yet immortal? Because there is always a dimension of life in the soul that can never be extinguished. And how does it die? Not in ceasing to be life but by losing its proper life. For the soul is both life to something else, and it has it own proper life. Consider the order of the creatures. The soul is the life of the body. God is the life of the soul. As the life that is the soul is present with the body, that the body may not die, so the life of the soul (God) ought to be with the soul that it may not die." "How does the body die? By the departure of the soul. I say, by the departure of the soul the body dies, and it lies there as a mere carcass, what was a little before a lively, not a contemptible, object. There are in it still its several members, the eyes and ears. But these are merely the windows of the house; its inhabitant is gone. Those who bewail the dead cry in vain at the windows of the house. There is no one there within it to hear... Why is the body dead? Because the soul, its life, is gone. But at what point is the soul itself dead? When God, its life, has forsaken it... This then we can know and hold for certain: the body is dead without the soul, and the soul is dead without God. Every one without God has a dead soul. You who bewail the dead rather should bewail sin. Bewail ungodliness. Bewail disbelief." (excerpt from SERMON 65.5-7)4
The Word Among Us Meditation on Genesis 49:29-32; 50:15-26 asks why did Joseph’s brothers think he would exact retribution as soon as their father was gone? One reason might have been that, like many of us, they believed that justice demanded it. No evil deed should ever go unpunished, not even their own.
So when you read this passage from Genesis today, imagine Jesus himself with tears of joy in his eyes as he looks at you with love and mercy. Let him kindly reassure you, as Joseph did with his brothers, that he has truly forgiven your every sin—even the ones you are most ashamed of. “Father, help me to remember that your forgiveness lasts forever.”5
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the concern of Joseph’s brothers about revenge as the text tells of the death of two patriarchs. Profound forgiveness features concern for the good of those who we are forgiving. Friar Jude notes how Jesus comments about whom to fear resonate with the text in Revelations Chapter 11.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that perhaps some of the most comforting words Jesus shared in Matthew and Luke’s Gospels are the prayer we Christians call the Our Father or the Lord’s Prayer. While the prayer is most often said in community or as part of ritual prayer, this prayer can also be a contemplative practice when prayed slowly and mindfully, perhaps even as lectio divina. He invites us to pray this modern version of the prayer of Jesus from the Anglican Church of New Zealand, which both honors and reflects indigenous Maori culture.
Eternal Spirit,
Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples
of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom
sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,now and for ever. Amen.6
Our reflection on mortality and forgiveness opens the door for the Spirit to prompt us to reconciliation.
References
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