Readings for Friday of the Second Week in Lent[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a
Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons,
for he was the child of his old age;
and he had made him a long tunic.
When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons,
they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.
One day, when his brothers had gone
to pasture their father's flocks at Shechem,
Israel said to Joseph,
"Your brothers, you know, are tending our flocks at Shechem.
Get ready; I will send you to them."
So Joseph went after his brothers and caught up with them in Dothan.
They noticed him from a distance,
and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him.
They said to one another: "Here comes that master dreamer!
Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here;
we could say that a wild beast devoured him.
We shall then see what comes of his dreams."
When Reuben heard this,
he tried to save him from their hands, saying,
"We must not take his life.
Instead of shedding blood," he continued,
"just throw him into that cistern there in the desert;
but do not kill him outright."
His purpose was to rescue him from their hands
and return him to his father.
So when Joseph came up to them,
they stripped him of the long tunic he had on;
then they took him and threw him into the cistern,
which was empty and dry.
They then sat down to their meal.
Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead,
their camels laden with gum, balm and resin
to be taken down to Egypt.
Judah said to his brothers:
"What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood?
Rather, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites,
instead of doing away with him ourselves.
After all, he is our brother, our own flesh."
His brothers agreed.
They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a
The story from Genesis is that of Joseph, the son of Israel, being taken and sold into slavery by his brothers. The story is actually told by both authors of Genesis the Yahwist and the Elohist and there are some inconsistencies as a result (specifically which brother tried to save him). On the main points they agree – instead of killing Joseph as they had initially intended they sold him to Ishmaelites (Arabs) who took him as a slave to Egypt.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm:[4] Psalm 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21
R. (5a) Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
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.
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.
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21
Psalm 105 recalls the Genesis story, speaking also of the fate of Joseph in Egypt and how God rescued and supported in his slavery.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46
"Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it,
dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son to them,
thinking, 'They will respect my son.'
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,
'This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.'
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"
They answered him,
He will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and lease his vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the produce at the proper times."
Jesus said to them, Did you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?
Therefore, I say to you,
the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that will produce its fruit."
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables,
they knew that he was speaking about them.
And although they were attempting to arrest him,
they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 21:33-43, 45-46
The Parable of The Wicked Husbandmen from Matthew is the Gospel today. Placed with the story of Joseph’s capture and exile because of jealousy, we feel the same emotions in the tenants who wish to first withhold what they owe and then kill the son of the land owner so they can take his inheritance.
The symbolism that runs through the parable is rich and we will not try to capture it in this short commentary (see the Deacon-Sailor Archive for more complete analysis)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The scripture today seems to bring us back to were we were on Wednesday of this week, that those who choose to follow the Lord will meet with resistance and possibly death at the hands of those who oppose God’s will. We see it in Genesis – an oral tradition that was handed down from some four thousand years before Christ walked the earth. We hear it from Christ who related his parable two thousand years ago. We see it around us today.
It is hard for us to understand why people have such impulses. The brothers of Joseph were jealous of his favored status with their father, we can see that. And the tenants in the parable Jesus told were driven from greed. That too is a human emotion we can understand. Where we find difficulty is in those who attack us and our beliefs because of what we represent. In case you are wondering where this thought came from, I direct your attention to the New York Times Best Seller List.
When doing some research on this topic a couple years ago I went to a web source called Science News Online. There in the banner at the top of the page was a flashing advertisement from a publisher (aptly) named Prometheus Books promoting their most recent best seller: “God: The Failed Hypothesis “ subtitled “How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist”
We must wonder why a person (the author claims to be a physicist) first would wish to attack belief in God (a God coincidently that loves him as well) and second, why a publisher would take such a work to the public and finally why a publication claiming to be an objective source would advertise it.
If, as we follow our own blissful spirituality of Lent, feel that the evil one has ignored us, we only need to look at things like this to know that he has taken a more insidious approach. I am sure zealous people of faith will refute the “science” this person chooses to support his claims. And the atheistic community will rise up and squeal “See how the Christians try to suppress logic and degrade true science with their superstitions.” They will twist the truth and, perhaps for a day, gain some strength. Our best defense is to continue to proclaim, in a humble and compassionate way, the love of God; a love so great that he gave his only Son, knowing that the people he loved would deny him and the claim he did not exist.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used is “Sold by His Brethren” by Bacchiacca, 1515-16
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[4] Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a
Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons,
for he was the child of his old age;
and he had made him a long tunic.
When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons,
they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.
One day, when his brothers had gone
to pasture their father's flocks at Shechem,
Israel said to Joseph,
"Your brothers, you know, are tending our flocks at Shechem.
Get ready; I will send you to them."
So Joseph went after his brothers and caught up with them in Dothan.
They noticed him from a distance,
and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him.
They said to one another: "Here comes that master dreamer!
Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here;
we could say that a wild beast devoured him.
We shall then see what comes of his dreams."
When Reuben heard this,
he tried to save him from their hands, saying,
"We must not take his life.
Instead of shedding blood," he continued,
"just throw him into that cistern there in the desert;
but do not kill him outright."
His purpose was to rescue him from their hands
and return him to his father.
So when Joseph came up to them,
they stripped him of the long tunic he had on;
then they took him and threw him into the cistern,
which was empty and dry.
They then sat down to their meal.
Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead,
their camels laden with gum, balm and resin
to be taken down to Egypt.
Judah said to his brothers:
"What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood?
Rather, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites,
instead of doing away with him ourselves.
After all, he is our brother, our own flesh."
His brothers agreed.
They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a
The story from Genesis is that of Joseph, the son of Israel, being taken and sold into slavery by his brothers. The story is actually told by both authors of Genesis the Yahwist and the Elohist and there are some inconsistencies as a result (specifically which brother tried to save him). On the main points they agree – instead of killing Joseph as they had initially intended they sold him to Ishmaelites (Arabs) who took him as a slave to Egypt.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm:[4] Psalm 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21
R. (5a) Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
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.
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.
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21
Psalm 105 recalls the Genesis story, speaking also of the fate of Joseph in Egypt and how God rescued and supported in his slavery.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46
"Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it,
dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son to them,
thinking, 'They will respect my son.'
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,
'This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.'
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"
They answered him,
He will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and lease his vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the produce at the proper times."
Jesus said to them, Did you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?
Therefore, I say to you,
the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that will produce its fruit."
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables,
they knew that he was speaking about them.
And although they were attempting to arrest him,
they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 21:33-43, 45-46
The Parable of The Wicked Husbandmen from Matthew is the Gospel today. Placed with the story of Joseph’s capture and exile because of jealousy, we feel the same emotions in the tenants who wish to first withhold what they owe and then kill the son of the land owner so they can take his inheritance.
The symbolism that runs through the parable is rich and we will not try to capture it in this short commentary (see the Deacon-Sailor Archive for more complete analysis)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The scripture today seems to bring us back to were we were on Wednesday of this week, that those who choose to follow the Lord will meet with resistance and possibly death at the hands of those who oppose God’s will. We see it in Genesis – an oral tradition that was handed down from some four thousand years before Christ walked the earth. We hear it from Christ who related his parable two thousand years ago. We see it around us today.
It is hard for us to understand why people have such impulses. The brothers of Joseph were jealous of his favored status with their father, we can see that. And the tenants in the parable Jesus told were driven from greed. That too is a human emotion we can understand. Where we find difficulty is in those who attack us and our beliefs because of what we represent. In case you are wondering where this thought came from, I direct your attention to the New York Times Best Seller List.
When doing some research on this topic a couple years ago I went to a web source called Science News Online. There in the banner at the top of the page was a flashing advertisement from a publisher (aptly) named Prometheus Books promoting their most recent best seller: “God: The Failed Hypothesis “ subtitled “How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist”
We must wonder why a person (the author claims to be a physicist) first would wish to attack belief in God (a God coincidently that loves him as well) and second, why a publisher would take such a work to the public and finally why a publication claiming to be an objective source would advertise it.
If, as we follow our own blissful spirituality of Lent, feel that the evil one has ignored us, we only need to look at things like this to know that he has taken a more insidious approach. I am sure zealous people of faith will refute the “science” this person chooses to support his claims. And the atheistic community will rise up and squeal “See how the Christians try to suppress logic and degrade true science with their superstitions.” They will twist the truth and, perhaps for a day, gain some strength. Our best defense is to continue to proclaim, in a humble and compassionate way, the love of God; a love so great that he gave his only Son, knowing that the people he loved would deny him and the claim he did not exist.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used is “Sold by His Brethren” by Bacchiacca, 1515-16
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[4] Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
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