Breaking the Word

14^th Week in Ord. Time, Saturday – 15^th July 2023 – Genesis 49,29-32. 50,15-26a; Mt 10,24-33

Realization of the Greater Promises

Today’s first reading is the final verses we will read from the book of Genesis. This reading presents both the father and the son’s last moments, their request, and their peaceful departure. At the end of their life, both Jacob and Joseph realize their relationship to their ancestors and to their God. After Jacob’s death, the brothers of Joseph fear that Joseph will avenge the harm they did to him. Instead, Joseph directs their attention away from himself and to the God who completes the divine plan even in spite of the wrong doings of mortals. Prophetically, Joseph reassures his brothers that God will continue to fulfill the divine promises and eventually bring the children of Israel back to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That means bringing the people of Israel out of Egypt and back to Canaan to take ownership of it. Recalling the plan of God in his life, Joseph realizes that God is the one who is most powerful and mightier. He is the one who loves to write our life story with crooked lines.

14^th Week in Ord. Time, Friday – 14^th July 2023 – Genesis 46,1-7.28=30; Mt 10,16-23

Promises of God

In the first reading, Jacob must have had mixed feelings about leaving the land which is part of his heritage from his father and grandfather, a land which God had given to his ancestors. How will God restore Jacob/Israel to this land if they are heading out to Egypt for a length of time that only God knows? It will be a blessing to see his son, Joseph, whom he thought was dead. Yet, he is also conscious of the fact that he is supposed to be buried in the tomb of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Rebecca. At this juncture, God speaks to Jacob/Israel confidently urging him to have faith in the God of promises. God commands him to go down to Egypt just as he had commanded Abraham to set out for Canaan. God reassures him that his son Joseph would bring his remains back to his homeland. Thus, God unfolds part of the divine plan that includes the family of Israel going down to Egypt where they will become a great nation. The move is clearly presented as God’s will and not just a family decision. Thus, the journey of Jacob and his family to Egypt will be in the first place to get reunited with Joseph and then to begin a new episode in their journey of faith.