Tuesday, July 7, 2015

7/10/2015 – Friday of 14th week ordinary time – Gen 46:1-7, 38-40, Matthew 10:16-23

      I had mentioned earlier in the week that the first readings in our daily masses this week would be the story of Israel and his son Joseph, the story of how the people of Israel ended up in Egypt.   Today, we hear about Joseph being reunited with his father Israel and with his brothers.   Initially, Israel must have feared for his life and the lives of his sons, since he thought his beloved son Joseph had been lost, and he was afraid what would happen to the rest of them.  Yet, God reassures Israel that it is safe to travel to Egypt, that this is part of God’s plan, that God will be there with him.   We also might fear some of the places we go in life as well; we also might question God’s plan for us.  Indeed, we may have to travel some places in life that seem very unsafe for us.   When I was a missionary in Ecuador, I used to have to go through the main bus terminal in the capital city of Quito.  Our mission headquarters was located in the Quito, so I had to travel through there quite a lot.  There were muggings and acts of violence in that bus terminal all the time.  In fact, I knew of a priest who had been assaulted there twice in the stairwells, one time to the point of having his glasses and crucifix stolen from him, from a robber who had a rosary hanging from around his neck nonetheless!  I always dreaded going through that bus terminal, but I really had no other choice.   In reflecting upon that story, I recalled what Jesus told his disciples in today’s Gospel:  “I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves.” Those are not very reassuring words, are they? Yet, we put our trust in the Lord.  We realize that God’s ways are sometimes very different than our own ways.  As the psalmist tells us today: “The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.”   May we indeed put our trust in our salvation that only comes from our heavenly Father through Christ, even in the midst of the reality we face here on earth.  

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