July 10, 2025
Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 386
Reading 1
Genesis
44:18-21, 23b-29; 45:1-5
Judah approached Joseph and said: "I beg you, my lord,
let your servant speak earnestly to my lord,
and do not become angry with your servant,
for you are the equal of Pharaoh.
My lord asked your servants, 'Have you a father, or another brother?'
So we said to my lord, 'We have an aged father,
and a young brother, the child of his old age.
This one's full brother is dead,
and since he is the only one by that mother who is left,
his father dotes on him.'
Then you told your servants,
'Bring him down to me that my eyes may look on him.
Unless your youngest brother comes back with you,
you shall not come into my presence again.'
When we returned to your servant our father,
we reported to him the words of my lord.
"Later, our father told us to come back and buy some food for the family.
So we reminded him, 'We cannot go down there;
only if our youngest brother is with us can we go,
for we may not see the man if our youngest brother is not with us.'
Then your servant our father said to us,
'As you know, my wife bore me two sons.
One of them, however, disappeared, and I had to conclude
that he must have been torn to pieces by wild beasts;
I have not seen him since.
If you now take this one away from me, too,
and some disaster befalls him,
you will send my white head down to the nether world in grief.'"
Joseph could no longer control himself
in the presence of all his attendants,
so he cried out, "Have everyone withdraw from me!"
Thus no one else was about when he made himself known to his brothers.
But his sobs were so loud that the Egyptians heard him,
and so the news reached Pharaoh's palace.
"I am Joseph," he said to his brothers.
"Is my father still in good health?"
But his brothers could give him no answer,
so dumbfounded were they at him.
"Come closer to me," he told his brothers.
When they had done so, he said:
"I am your brother Joseph, whom you once sold into Egypt.
But now do not be distressed,
and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here.
It was really for the sake of saving lives
that God sent me here ahead of you."
Responsorial Psalm
R. (5a) Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
or:
R. Alleluia.
When the LORD called down a famine on the land
and ruined the crop that sustained them,
He sent a man before them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
or:
R. Alleluia.
They had weighed him down with fetters,
and he was bound with chains,
Till his prediction came to pass
and the word of the LORD proved him true.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The king sent and released him,
the ruler of the peoples set him free.
He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Kingdom of God is at hand:
repent and believe in the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to his Apostles:
"As you go, make this proclamation:
'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.
Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts;
no sack for the journey, or a second tunic,
or sandals, or walking stick.
The laborer deserves his keep.
Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it,
and stay there until you leave.
As you enter a house, wish it peace.
If the house is worthy,
let your peace come upon it;
if not, let your peace return to you.
Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—
go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.
Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment
than for that town."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071025.cfm
Commentary on
Genesis 44:18-21,23-29; 45:1-5
We continue the story of Joseph and his brothers. In our
reading, large sections have been omitted from the biblical narrative and what
immediately follows below is by way of a lead-in to the actual reading.
Still not knowing the real identity of the Pharaoh’s chief
minister, the brothers return to their father Jacob with the food Joseph had
given them, but without their brother Simeon, who is being held as a hostage
until they bring Benjamin with him on their next visit. Joseph has expressly
asked to see their youngest brother, although at this stage they do not know
the real reason.
With great reluctance—because he has already lost Joseph and
Simeon—Jacob agrees to let his youngest and dearest son Benjamin go back with them
to Egypt. They have to go because the famine continues and their food has run
out.
They are received by Joseph with great pomp and ceremony.
When he sees his younger brother, his only full brother by the same mother,
Joseph is overcome with emotion and has to leave the hall until he recovers.
After this meeting, the brothers are sent home again, laden with food. But
unknown to them, Joseph has arranged to have a silver cup hidden in Benjamin’s
sack.
While already on their way, servants of Joseph are sent to
stop them and accuse the brothers of theft. The brothers are horrified when
they find the cup in Benjamin’s sack; now, he will have to stay behind and
presumably be severely punished. Knowing their father’s love for Benjamin, the
brothers are distraught at this turn of events.
It is at this point that today’s reading begins. Judah, the
eldest of the brothers, pleads on behalf of his youngest brother, but even more
on behalf of his father who will be heartbroken if Benjamin is not returned
home, something the brothers had sworn to Jacob they see to.
This whole passage (we read only a part) is one of the
longest speeches in biblical story-telling and marks the turning point in the
brothers’ present dealings with Joseph. Judah is the hero of this scene, remarkably
retelling the whole story as it has unfolded so far.
He speaks to Joseph with great deference and fear. He uses
the language of a subject speaking to a high official. He even uses the
expected flattery, saying “you are like Pharaoh himself.” He tells Joseph that,
when they left home the first time, there was just their father, who is already
very old, and their youngest brother. The father is particularly attached to
Benjamin because the only other boy he had by Rachel was Joseph, who, of course,
all believe is dead.
Even so, Jacob had to let his brothers bring Benjamin to be
seen by Joseph or they would not get any more food which they so badly needed
as the famine continued. Now, Benjamin has been arrested because of the cup,
presumed stolen by him (found in his sack of food). Judah tells Joseph about
the words of Jacob before they left for Egypt with Benjamin:
You know that my wife bore me two sons; one left me, and
I said, Surely he has been torn to pieces, and I have never seen him since.
Jacob believed that this was the fate of Joseph because,
when the brothers returned home one day without Joseph, they produced his
famous coat of many colours saturated with blood. Jacob believed it was
Joseph’s blood, the result of being killed by an animal. As told earlier in
this story, his coat had actually been dipped in animal blood precisely so that
Jacob would reach this conclusion. The reader, of course, knows that Joseph had
actually been sold into slavery by his brothers to a group of traders on their
way to Egypt. (And the rest, as they say, is history.)
Judah, who is telling Joseph this, knows very well what
happened, and he and all his brothers are now consumed in feelings of guilt.
Jacob’s final words to his sons had been:
If you take this one [Benjamin] also
from me and harm comes to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to
Sheol.
In verses not included in today’s reading, Judah then offers
himself as a slave to Joseph, if only Benjamin can be allowed to return home to
his father.
Joseph now can no longer control his feelings. He orders all
his retainers out of the audience hall and then, for the first time, reveals
his true identity to his brothers, and for the third time in this story, he
breaks down into great sobbing:
…so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household
of Pharaoh heard it.
Joseph then asks about his father, but the brothers are
speechless, partly out of sheer astonishment (is it a ghost?) and partly out of
fear of vengeance on the part of their wronged brother. But he has already
teased them enough, and he reassures them they have nothing to fear. He then
tells them to come closer to him. Up to now, they would have had to keep a very
respectful distance before such a senior official in the Pharaoh’s court. He now
wants to speak with them as family. And far from being angry with them, he
shows them that everything that happened was in the providence of God, saying:
…now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves
because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
Another example of God’s writing straight with crooked
lines; another example of how good can come out of something which, at the
time, could only be seen as evil. There is a lesson here for our lives, too.
There are striking parallels here between Joseph and Jesus.
Jesus also was sold and betrayed by brothers in Israel into the hands of a
foreign power. He forgave them:
Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are
doing. (Luke 23:34)
And because of their actions, he became the Saviour of so
many.
Like Joseph, Jesus took “the form of a slave”, but went even
further in the utter emptying of himself on the cross. As Joseph became rich in
money and power, we have become rich, not with money or power, but in love and
grace because of the poverty, destitution and sufferings of our Lord.
The Jerusalem Bible makes the following
comment:
“This narrative, unlike what has gone before, proceeds
without any visible divine intervention and without any new revelation; it is
one long lesson: Providence thwarts men’s plots and turns their malice to
profit….Betrayed by his brothers, Joseph is rescued by God who makes the
betrayal itself serve the divine purpose, for its result—the arrival of Jacob’s
sons in Egypt—is the first step in the making of a chosen people. This theme of
salvation (“the survival of a numerous people”, Gen 50:20) runs through the
whole of the Old Testament to be enriched in the New. Here, as later with the
Exodus, we have a preliminary sketch of the Redemption.”
All in all, the story of Joseph is one of the most touching
and most human in the whole of the Bible. Next to David, Joseph must be one of
the most attractive personalities in the Hebrew Testament. The whole story is
well worth reading. The two passages we have in our liturgy do not do justice
to the richness of the whole account.
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Commentary on
Matthew 10:7-15
We continue the apostolic discourse of Jesus to his
disciples. Jesus now instructs them on what they are to say and do. They are to
proclaim that:
The kingdom of heaven [God] has come
near.
This, of course, is true because of the presence and work of
Jesus. Jesus is himself the very embodiment of the Kingdom; he is the ultimate
Kingdom person. The Kingship of God is fully present in him. But it will also
be present in the Twelve who will do the same things that Jesus is doing:
curing the sick, raising the dead, healing lepers, liberating people from evil
spirits. Later, we will see the Apostles doing all these things in the Acts of
the Apostles and the Church continues to do these things.
Today, all of us are called to proclaim the Kingship, the
Lordship of God by our words, actions and lifestyle. The Church is still called
to bring healing into people’s lives. We may not raise people literally from
the dead, but there are many who are virtually dead, though physically alive,
and who need to be brought back to a fully human life.
Most of our societies today do not have lepers, but we have,
in every society, people who are marginalised and pushed out to the fringes.
They need to be reintegrated. There may be people in some places who are
genuinely in the possession of evil spirits, but there are far more who are in
the grip of more mundane demons such as nicotine, alcohol and other drugs, or
who are caught up in the materialism, consumerism, hedonism and sexism of our
time. They too need to be liberated. Yes, there is a lot of work to be done—by
each one of us in our own way and in accordance with our gifts and life
situation.
Jesus also tells his disciples to travel light. They are not
to charge for their service. They are not to find their security in the
possession of material things, especially money. To increase their freedom,
they should go around with the absolute minimum. In our lives, possessions, and
our concern about them, can be very inhibiting.
Of course, what Jesus does expect is that everyone working
for the Kingdom has their needs looked after by those they serve. This is where
their security lies: in being sure of a place to sleep and food to eat. In
return, the missionary brings the Lord’s peace to any home that offers
hospitality. This is a vision of a society which is hard to find in our own
day, although it is lived in varying degrees of commitment by religious in the
Catholic Church, as well as by some followers of other religions like Hinduism
and Buddhism.
St Teresa of Calcutta’s (Mother Teresa) Sisters come pretty
close to the Gospel vision, as do the Little Sisters/Brothers of Charles de
Foucauld. And that is really the meaning of the second half of today’s passage.
St Teresa once said: “I do own things, but they do not own me.” That is where
she differed from so many of us.
Jesus expects the missionary to find a place to stay
wherever that person goes. And, once a suitable place is found, the missionary
should stay there and not be moving around looking for more desirable
conditions. On the other hand, Jesus has hard words for those who refuse
hospitality to his messengers. Shaking the dust from one’s feet was symbolical.
The dust of any gentile country was regarded as unclean. By implication, so was
the dust of an inhospitable community. Jesus tells them:
…it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and
Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
In the Middle East, hospitality has always been important.
Unfortunately, in our security-conscious urban Western world, it does not
flourish—largely because of those unnecessary possessions which Jesus would
liberate us from.
There are two things for us to reflect on today:
First, where is our security? Are we burdened down by the
things we own? Are we owned by them? How free are we to live a fully Christian
life as envisioned by the Gospel? How free are we to do the things that Jesus
says we should be doing: bringing healing and wholeness into people’s lives?
Secondly, what kind of hospitality do we give to
those—whoever they are—who are generously doing the Lord’s work? Or, if they
are not Christians, who are doing the work of the Kingdom?
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Thursday,
July 10, 2025
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Father,
through the obedience of
Jesus, Your servant and Your Son, You raised a fallen world.
Free us
from sin and bring us the joy that lasts forever.
We ask this through our Lord
Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Matthew 10: 7-15
Jesus said to his Apostles:
“As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure
the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Without cost
you have received; without cost you are to give. Do not take gold or silver or
copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals,
or walking stick. The laborer deserves his keep. Whatever town or village you
enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave. As you
enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon
it; if not, let your peace return to you. Whoever will not receive you or
listen to your words, go outside that house or town and shake the dust from
your feet. Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”
Reflection
The Gospel today presents
the second part of the sending out of the disciples. Yesterday we saw that
Jesus insists on directing them first toward the lost sheep of Israel. Today,
we see concrete instructions to carry out the mission.
•
Matthew 10: 7: The
objective of the mission: to reveal the presence of the Kingdom. “Go and
announce the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.” The principal objective
is that of announcing that the Kingdom is close at hand. This is the novelty
which Christ brings to us. For the other Jews there was still a long time
before the coming of the Kingdom. It would have come only after they had done
their own part. The coming of the Kingdom depended, according to them, on their
effort. For the Pharisees, for
example, the Kingdom would be attained only after the perfect observance of the
Law. For the Essenes, when the
country would have purified itself. But Jesus thinks in a different way. He has
a different way of reading the facts of life. He says that the hour has already
arrived (Mk 1:15). When He says that the Kingdom is close at hand or that the
Kingdom is already among us, in our midst, He does not mean to say that the
Kingdom is just arriving at that moment, but that it is already there, independently of the effort made by the people. What
they all expected was already present among the people, gratuitously, but the
people did not know it, nor perceive it (cf. Lk 17: 21). Jesus is aware of this
because He sees reality with different eyes. He reveals and announces to the
poor of His land this hidden presence of the Kingdom in our midst (Lk 4: 18).
It is the mustard seed which will receive the rain of His word and the warmth
of His love.
•
Matthew 10: 8: The
signs of the presence of the Kingdom: accept the excluded. How should the
presence of the Kingdom be announced? Only through words and discourses? No!
The signs of the presence of the Kingdom are above all concrete gestures or
acts, done gratuitously: “Cure the sick,
raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out the devils. You received without
charge; give without charge.” This means that the disciples should accept
within the community those who have been excluded. This practice of solidarity
both criticizes religion and society which exclude and proposes concrete
solutions.
•
Matthew 10: 9-10: Do
not take anything for the journey. Unlike other missionaries, the disciples
of Jesus should not take anything: “Provide
yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with coppers for your purses, with
no haversack for the journey or a spare tunic or footwear or a staff, for the
laborer deserves his keep.” This means that they have to trust in the
hospitality of the people. The disciples who go without anything, taking only
peace (Mk 10: 13), show that they trust the people. It shows a trust in grace
from God to act in people
and to provide for them. It is certain that they will be welcomed, that they
will be able to participate in the life and the work of the people of the place
and that they will be able to survive with what they will receive in exchange,
because the laborer deserves his keep. This
means that the disciples should trust in sharing. It is also another way of
respecting the poor, by not taking from them, and of contrasting the Good News
with the laws of the time that demanded payment and tax for so many things. The
social structure of the day was built on taking. Jesus builds a structure and
community built on giving freely. By means of this practice they criticize the
laws of exclusion and recover the ancient values of community life.
•
Matthew 10: 11-13: To
share peace in the community. The disciples should not go from house to
house but should seek people of peace and remain in that house. That is, they
should practice stability. Thus, through that new practice, they criticize the
culture of accumulation which characterized the politics of the Roman Empire, and
they announced a new model of living together. Once all these requirements were
respected, the disciples could cry out: The
Kingdom of God has arrived! To announce the Kingdom does not mean, in the
first place, to teach truths and doctrine, but lead toward a new fraternal
manner of living and of sharing starting from the Good News which Jesus has
brought to us: God and Father and Mother of all men and women.
•
Matthew 10: 14-15: The
severity of the menace. How is such a severe menace to be understood? Jesus
has brought us something completely new. He has come to rescue the community
values of the past: hospitality, sharing, communion around the table,
acceptance of the excluded. That explains the severity toward those who reject
the message, because they do not reject something new, but their own past,
their own culture and wisdom! The objective of the pedagogy of Jesus is to dig
out from the memory, to recover the wisdom of the people, to reconstruct the
community, to renew the Covenant, to rebuild life.
Personal Questions
•
Today, how can we put into practice the recommendation
not to take anything for the journey when going to a mission?
•
Jesus orders His disciples to look for people of
peace, so as to be able to remain in their house. Today, who would be a person
of peace to whom to address oneself in the announcement of the Good News?
•
Why would stability, as in not going from house to
house while staying in a town, be important?
For Further Study
Most, if
not all, monastic traditions include a vow of stability – to stay in one place.
Take some time to read the ancient rules which guide our various communities,
such as the Rule of St Benedict, St Albert, St Bruno, and so on. The authors of
these rules often explain why a particular rule is made, and from where in the
Gospel it is inspired. This can give insight into these instructions of Jesus
and a historical perspective on the development of Christianity through the
Middle Ages.
Concluding Prayer
God
Sabaoth, come back, we pray, look down from heaven and see, visit this vine;
protect what Your own hand has planted. (Ps 80: 14-15)
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