3/6/2015 – Friday of the second week of Lent – Genesis 37:3-4 and 12-13a and 17b-28a, Matthew 21:33-43 and 45-46

    We hear from a large variety of books and prophets from the Old Testament in our first readings during the holy season of Lent.  Today we hear the beginning of the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis.  Joseph was the youngest son on his father, Jacob.  He was his father’s favored son.  Through jealousy and greed, Joseph’s brothers reject him.  They want to get rid of him. It is similar to what happens to the landowner in the parable in the Gospel, of how the landowner sends his son to his tenants when other efforts fail, with the son being rejected and killed by the tenants, with them thinking that this will allow them to acquire the son’s inheritance as heir. All this ties back to the story of Jesus' own life.

       So much in our world is motivated by greed, jealousy, and ambition.  It is easy for us to just look at our own self-interest and our own needs, not looking at the needs of those around us, not looking at what is right and just.  Pope Gregory the Great responds with this quote: “The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things.  But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.”  Our faith needs to make a difference in our lives.  We need to do more than feel the love of Christ in our hearts.  Christ’s love is to motivate our words and our actions. 

       We can say we believe, but it needs to change and influence our words and our actions. When I was walking on the Camino in a remote mountainous area about 20 miles from the large city of Burgos in Spain, I came across a memorial at a place called Alto de Pedraja that was in honor of some who died in a mass killing during the Spanish Civil War.  This mass grave was not discovered until 2011.  It is interesting because Burgos is not only the city where General Franco first formed his new government in Spain in the Civil War, but Burgos is also the place where El Cid is buried. El Cid was the great Castilian nobleman from the 11th century who became one of the military leaders who led the Spanish Christians to victory against the occupying Moors.   When one studies events like the Spanish Civil War, one realizes all the atrocities we human beings commit against each other, even when we have lofty goals and values to justify those atrocities.  The complexities of the Spanish Civil War and the memory of General Franco, who was the dictator of Spain for decades, is something the Spanish people are having a hard time understanding and accepting. 

       So as we think about Joseph and the trial he went through, how God used it to bless the people of Israel, we can think about how we can use the tragedies and sufferings in our own lives to glorify God as well.  There is hope.  Even when we turn away from God, he is there to help us rise up from some harsh realities in order to truly live out a life of discipleship.