July 10 - Thursday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I

(Gn.44:18-21,23-29,45:1-5;   Ps.105:5,16-21;   Mt.10:7-15)

 

“It was really for the sake of saving lives

that God sent me here ahead of you.”

 

Remarkable words from the mouth of Joseph as the brothers who sold him into slavery in Egypt stand dumbfounded before him, fearing indeed for their own lives.  And indeed Joseph may have been justified to command the ending of their lives to avenge his treatment at their hands.  But the Lord has looked with favor upon him who had been “bound with chains,” raising him up to be lord of Pharaoh’s house and “ruler of all his possessions,” and Joseph rightfully attributes such blessing to God and sees His hand at work in all this matter.  Here is the great example of trust in God’s providential care.  And Joseph has but a deep love for his brothers, and will now care for their lives and that of his father.

The same trust in God’s providence is asked of the disciples in our gospel.  Jesus sends them forth with “no traveling bag, no change of shirt, no sandals, no walking staff,” telling them, “Provide yourselves with neither gold nor silver nor copper in your belts”: “the workman, after all, is worth his keep,” and God will always provide for those who serve Him.

Certainly a great lesson is in this for all of us.  Do we have such trust in God?  Joseph says that it is God who has, in effect, sold him into slavery that he might later be made a leader in Egypt and save his family from famine, this despite the fact that his own brothers have treated him with such disdain.  Do we have such a blessed view of the trials which come our way?  Can we see them as the hand of God working, and working for the good?  Can we forgive so beautifully those by whom the trials come?  Have we such vision that sees the hand of God at work in all things?  “All things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose,” Paul te