8 July 2015

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Wednesday, 8 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the story of Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, whose favouritism showed by his father caused the enmity of his brothers and led him to be sold by them as a slave who was then sold to the Egyptians. And we knew how Joseph rose through his years of difficulty and suffering to become the Regent of all Egypt, the second man in the whole country after the Pharaoh himself.

We heard in today’s first reading how a great famine enveloped Egypt and all of the world, but thanks to what God had done through Joseph, Egypt was fully prepared to face the famine with its years of preparation during the time of plenty. And the other sons of Jacob came to Egypt, save for Benjamin, to buy food and grains to alleviate the famine they were facing in the land of Canaan.

In the Gospel reading, we heard how Jesus called His twelve Apostles, the twelve chosen from among many to be His principal disciples, the ones to become the pillars of His Church and the spearheads of His works after His death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. And He commanded them to go to the villages and towns and to gather back the lost sheep of Israel.

There is a great connection here between the readings which we may not be able to realise on face value, as we need to look deeper into them. The twelve Apostles of Christ were chosen in such a number to represent the tribes of Israel, the twelve sons of Jacob. So just as the Lord gathered His twelve disciples to Himself, He symbolised the gathering of all the sons of Israel, the people of God, once scattered around the world, back to His loving embrace and presence.

And just as there was a great famine all over the world including that of Canaan, where Israel or Jacob and his sons lived, there were great darkness awaiting the people of God scattered around the world because of their sins and disobedience. They also suffered from hunger, not the hunger for bread or food, but the spiritual hunger of the heart and soul, the desire and longing for the Lord to come and fill their hearts and nourish their souls.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, looking at the readings of today’s Scripture readings, there is something that we need to realise, and that is, our Lord is concerned with us, and He is thoroughly concerned about the state of our soul, whether we are in a state of grace, or instead in a state where sins and disobedience have brought us far away from His salvation and from His love.

The sons of Israel all represented us in this world, from how they plotted against Joseph out of jealousy for his dreams and his being the favourite son of their father. We are all by our nature selfish and thinking first of ourselves, and we do not like it when we see someone else doing better than us or having better things than us. This is where our desires, greed, jealousy and haughtiness become our undoing.

Therefore, what do we need to do, brothers and sisters in Christ? Let us all learn from the example of Joseph, who if we read the story today in the first reading from the Book of Genesis to its conclusion, then we ought to know that he forgave his brothers, despite all that they had done to him, all the suffering they had caused him. That is the example which our Lord Jesus Christ had shown us as well. He shows us that the way of the Lord is forgiveness and love.

May Almighty God guide us on our way, so that we may walk faithfully in His ways, and be reunited to Him with one another, so that just as He gathered back all the sons of Israel through the means of Joseph, He may also gather all of us mankind back into His loving presence, that we who were once sundered from His presence may find a good reunion and unity to Him who loves us all and wants us back to His embrace. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 8 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 10 : 1-7

At that time, Jesus called His twelve disciples to Him, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness.

These are the names of the twelve Apostles : 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 Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, the man who would betray Him.

Jesus sent these twelve on mission with the instructions : “Do not visit pagan territory and do not enter a Samaritan town. Go instead to the lost sheep of the people of Israel. Go and proclaim this message : The kingdom of heaven is near.”

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Wednesday, 8 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 32 : 2-3, 10-11, 18-19

Give thanks to the Lord on the harp and lyre, making melody and chanting praises. Amid loud shouts of joy, sing to Him a new song and play the ten-stringed harp.

The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations and brings to nothing the peoples’s designs. But His plan stands forever, and His heart’s design through all generations.

But the Lord’s eyes are upon those who fear Him, upon those who trust in His loving kindness to deliver them from death and preserve them from famine.

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Wednesday, 8 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Genesis 41 : 55-57 and Genesis 42 : 5-7a, 17-24a

When the land of Egypt began to suffer from the famine, the people came to Pharaoh for bread. But Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do as he tells you.” When the famine had spread throughout the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians for the famine was indeed severe over the land.

As the famine had worsened throughout the whole world, people came from other countries to buy grain from Joseph. So the sons of Israel were among those going to buy grain, for there was famine in Canaan. It was Joseph, as governor of the land, who sold the grain to all the people. When his brothers arrived they bowed before him, with their faces to the ground. Joseph recognised his brothers but did not make himself known.

And so he put them all in prison for three days. On the third day Joseph said to them, “I will help you to save yourselves, for I am a man who fears God. If you are sincere, let one of your brothers remain prisoner in the house of the guard where you now are, and the rest of you take the grain to save your families from famine. Then you will bring back your youngest brother; so the truth of what you say will be proved and your lives spared.”

They did as they were ordered and said among themselves, “Alas! We are guilty because of the way we treated our brother when he pleaded with us for mercy, but we did not listen. That is why this trouble has come upon us.” Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy. But you did not listen and now we are brought to account for his blood.”

Now they did not know that Joseph understood them as there was an interpreter between them. As for Joseph, he withdrew and wept.