Remember the Marvels of the Lord

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It is late Friday night here in Rome (10pm), but I thought I would say a short word before going to bed.

I would like to start with the first stanza of today's responsorial psalm: "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."  The psalm is related to our first reading, which recounted the story of Israel's youngest son, Joseph, who was hated and mistreated by his brothers and sold into slavery for 20 pieces of silver.

The stanza above comes from Psalm 105 and can offer us an interpretation of Joseph's story.  When we listen to the first reading all we hear is the historical story of Joseph; there is no interpretation of the story, no moving beyond the actual event.  In the responsorial psalm, however, we see the psalmist is reflecting back upon Joseph's sufferings and humiliation.  The psalmist penetrates the historical event with the eyes of faith and finds God at work in the background.  God sent Joseph ahead of the Israelite people into Egypt in order to prepare the way for them.  Joseph was sold as a slave, but he eventually became one of the most powerful men in Egypt, and it was because of him that the Israelite people were welcomed into the land by pharaoh.  That is why the responsorial psalm repeats, "remember the marvels the Lord has done."

The Lord's providence is mysterious, but we see in the story of Joseph that God does not forget us in our trials and sufferings.  He has a plan for each of us, and is always working to bring it to fulfillment.  Joseph's story should be an encouragement for us, that in misery and rejection God does not forget us.  God raises up the lowly and grants salvation.  There is another aspect though.  Often after we have passed through a certain trial and received God's consolation, other people come into our lives who have need of the same consolation we received.  This is where the marvels of God manifest themselves most powerfully and God's providence becomes more visible to us - that others can find new life and consolation from what we suffered.  God bless you.

(Photo of "Joseph the Patriarch" courtesy of Br. Lawrence Lew, O.P.)