THE GIFT OF LOVED ONES
The
book of Genesis is a beautiful book depicting to us the origins of
salvation history. The First Reading today is the delightful story of
Joseph reuniting with his father. The story is quite moving. You might
remember that Joseph was sold as a slave to Egypt, conveniently planned
by his brothers. But because of his faithfulness to Pharaoh and his
ability to interpret dreams, he was given a high position in Pharaoh’s
court. The brothers have come to Egypt seeking food and provisions
during the drought and are about to know that the governor of Egypt is,
in fact, their brother Joseph. Joseph tells his brothers to bring his
father and family to Egypt.
We see in this story the origin of how the Israelites landed in Egypt.
Remember it would be Moses, many centuries later, seeking to free the
people from their bondage of slavery in Egypt. The moving story of the
reading is the meeting of father and son. For a long time, Jacob thought
Joseph was dead. He lived in grief for most of his life after the
sudden disappearance of Joseph, his favored son. We see a great
emotional encounter. At the end of the story, we see almost a prefiguring of Simeon in the temple at the sight of Jesus — Joseph has seen his father and now
Jacob can rest in peace.
People come and go in our lives, and we move on. But it is a beautiful
thing to meet again with loved ones or members of family who live away
from us. We go on with life without them, so to see them again is a
miracle and can be quite emotional. Has this been your experience? A
good thing to do is to keep in contact with our loved ones. Fr. Brian Steele, MGL
REFLECTION QUESTION: When was the last time you got in touch with your loved ones who live away from you?
Lord,
thank You for the gift of my loved ones, especially those whom I have
not seen for a long time. Keep them safe in Your presence. Amen.
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