2nd week in Lent, Friday – 1st March 2024 – Genesis 37,3-4. 12-13.17-28; Mt 21,33-43.45-46
Blessings in Sufferings
The first reading relates how Joseph’s brothers plotted against him. There is a strong parallel between the stories of Joseph and Jesus. Like Joseph’s brother plotted against him, Judas plotted to betray Jesus. Joseph was sold by his brothers as a slave for twenty pieces of silver; Jesus was sold by Judas for thirty pieces of silver. Just as the sons of Jacob became envious of their father’s love for Joseph and sought to get rid of Joseph, so also the Pharisees were acting like the wicked tenants of today’s Gospel and were plotting to kill the landowner’s son. The story of Joseph highlights that God brought good out of the evil actions of Joseph’s brothers. In Egypt, Joseph eventually rose to second in command and saved his brothers from a devastating famine. Just as God brought salvation to Jacob’s family through the sufferings of Joseph, so also God has brought salvation to all the families in the world through the suffering of his Son, Jesus.
