20210305 TRUSTING IN GOD’S WISDOM AND PLANS FOR US
05 March, 2021, Friday, 2nd Week of Lent
First reading |
Genesis 37:3-4,12-13,17-28 © |
Let us kill him: then we shall see what becomes of his dreams
Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons, for he was the son of his old age, and he had a coat with long sleeves made for him. But his brothers, seeing how his father loved him more than all his other sons, came to hate him so much that they could not say a civil word to him.
His brothers went to pasture their father’s flock at Shechem. Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers with the flock at Shechem? Come, I am going to send you to them.’ So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
They saw him in the distance, and before he reached them they made a plot among themselves to put him to death. ‘Here comes the man of dreams’ they said to one another. ‘Come on, let us kill him and throw him into some well; we can say that a wild beast devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams.’
But Reuben heard, and he saved him from their violence. ‘We must not take his life’ he said. ‘Shed no blood,’ said Reuben to them ‘throw him into this well in the wilderness, but do not lay violent hands on him’ – intending to save him from them and to restore him to his father. So, when Joseph reached his brothers, they pulled off his coat, the coat with long sleeves that he was wearing, and catching hold of him they threw him into the well, an empty well with no water in it. They then sat down to eat.
Looking up they saw a group of Ishmaelites who were coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum, tragacanth, balsam and resin, which they were taking down into Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What do we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do any harm to him. After all, he is our brother, and our own flesh.’ His brothers agreed.
Now some Midianite merchants were passing, and they drew Joseph up out of the well. They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver pieces, and these men took Joseph to Egypt.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 104(105):16-21 © |
Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
The Lord called down a famine on the land;
he broke the staff that supported them.
He had sent a man before them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.
Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
His feet were put in chains,
his neck was bound with iron,
until what he said came to pass
and the word of the Lord proved him true.
Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
Then the king sent and released him
the ruler of the people set him free,
making him master of his house
and ruler of all he possessed.
Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn3:16 |
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal life.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Gospel |
Matthew 21:33-43,45-46 © |
This is the landlord's heir: come, let us kill him
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people, ‘Listen to another parable. There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug a winepress in it and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. When vintage time drew near he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his servants, thrashed one, killed another and stoned a third. Next he sent some more servants, this time a larger number, and they dealt with them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son” he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance.” So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ They answered, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him when the season arrives.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
It was the stone rejected by the builders
that became the keystone.
This was the Lord’s doing
and it is wonderful to see?
‘I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.’
When they heard his parables, the chief priests and the scribes realised he was speaking about them, but though they would have liked to arrest him they were afraid of the crowds, who looked on him as a prophet.
TRUSTING IN GOD’S WISDOM AND PLANS FOR US
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [GEN 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28; PS 105:16-21; MT 21:33-43, 45-46]
I am sure there were many times in our life when our dreams did not materialize. We felt discouraged and even angry with God. We expected our children to do well in their studies but they did not perform up to expectations. We hoped our sons and daughters would get married like everyone else but they ended up with same-sex relationships. Or it could have been our job, when we did so much for the organization, burning our weekends and midnight oil but we were not appreciated or recognized by our bosses. Most of all, when our marriage, relationships or health failed, we were devastated.
This, surely, was the case of Jacob when he lost his beloved son, Joseph, to the conspiracy of his brothers who were jealous of him. He must have been inconsolable to hear of his apparent death. It would also have been true for Joseph as well. He had great dreams of leading his brothers. But when he was thrown into the well, he must have thought that was the end of his life. But thanks to his elder brother, Rueben, his life was spared and he was instead sold to the Midianite merchants. When in Egypt, he was sold to one of Pharaoh’s captain. On hindsight, it was not entirely the fault of the brothers to feel that way. When Jacob practiced favoritism, it could not but have caused the other siblings to be jealous of him. It seems history repeats itself. His father, Isaac, loved Esau more than Jacob. He must have felt second class and so stole the birthright from Esau. What he was angry with, he did the same with his children by favoring Joseph. Again, Joseph himself was also to be blamed because he was boastful, arrogant and over-confident of himself. Surely his brothers would have been annoyed by his pride.
Yet the history of Joseph was a cycle of failures and successes, curses and blessings. Joseph was successful in the house of his Egyptian master. He was made overseer of the house. Unfortunately, his master’s wife fell in love with him. Out of revenge, she accused him of molesting her as he refused to respond to her overtures. Whilst in prison, locked up with the two other prisoners, the cupbearer and baker of Pharaoh, he interpreted their dreams for them. The cup-bearer was eventually released and restored back to the service of the king. It was only two years later that the chief cupbearer remembered Joseph interpreting his dream. This was when Pharaoh had a strange dream and needed an interpreter. He was introduced to Pharaoh and gaining the trust of Pharaoh, he rose to be the second-in-command in the country. Later on, when Canaan was in famine, the family of Jacob, his brothers travelled to Egypt to buy grain. Eventually, Joseph revealed his identity and Jacob and the entire family came to live with him. His dream was eventually fulfilled.
In the gospel, we have a similar situation. The religious leaders were envious of Jesus and felt threatened by Him. He was taking away their audience. Most of all, they saw Him as a deviant of the Jewish tradition. His teachings upset them and their narrow interpretation of the Law of Moses. Hence, they were intent on putting Jesus away. They thought that by killing Jesus, their enemy would be destroyed. Of course they were wrong. By putting Jesus to death, He was raised to life and showed Himself victorious over sin and death. This was the intent of today’s parable of the vineyard. This is more than a parable but an allegory of the religious leaders of Israel who continued to disregard the prophets of God, calling them to repentance and to be responsible leaders. But one after another, the prophets of God were rejected since the time of Solomon. Just as the prophets were killed, so too the Jewish leaders sought to kill our Lord. Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the keystone. This was the Lord’s doing and it is wonderful to see?”
Indeed, today’s scripture readings offer us a few points for reflection. God writes straight in cooked lines. He brings good out of evil. The history of Israel, including our history, was never perfect. We do not always walk in the way of the Lord. Whether it was Jacob or Joseph or the siblings of Joseph, they all had their fair share in causing the tragedy to take place. Had they been more responsible and God-fearing, practicing charity and justice, such a situation might not have happened. Yet in spite of their imperfections, conniving and envy, God’s plan was never jeopardized or thwarted. God will turn every obstacle and man’s sins to something good. God will work His way in our lives. What is our mistake is also the stepping stone for growth as well! The mistakes of Jacob, Joseph and his brothers were all used by God to further the fulfillment of salvation for Israel and the whole of humanity.
No one can see the end of their journey, just like Joseph and his brothers. They had to walk by faith, not by sight. They never expected a good ending for their family. Of course, they also did not know that another long tragedy would soon begin after the death of Joseph. As the number of Hebrews grew in strength, the new Pharaoh who did not know Joseph started to persecute them for fear that they might be a threat to the stability of the country. (cf Ex 12:40; Gen 15:13) Again, it was part of the passage to the wilderness to prepare them for entry into the Promised Land when the Kingdom of David was realized.
This means that we are called to cooperate with God’s plan as much as we can in our lives. We will never know what will take place. We can only know by hindsight. When we look at the immediate situation, we can feel discouraged because things do not go the way we planned. We are often nervous and we want to be in control. But God is in control. We have to walk as much as possible the way of God. But being human, we will have our flaws, weaknesses and imperfections. Sometimes, we are short-sighted. Sometimes we are insecure, jealous, and we seek to destroy our competitors. Sometimes we are greedy and ambitious. Indeed, we are as much ruled by sin as by grace. But God’s wisdom is greater than ours. We just have to do our best and God will take care of the rest. St Paul assures us, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)
Indeed, God is merciful. He is patient with us. As Jeremiah said to the Babylonian exiles, “I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” (Jer 29:10f) Just as He allowed His chosen leaders to fail Him so that He could help them to learn and grow, so too, we should not take ourselves too seriously. Often it is our pride and ego more than just a sense of justice and charity that we are angry with ourselves when we sin or fall. We hate ourselves and we cannot forgive ourselves for the mistakes that we have made. We fail to realize that we are human beings and are on the way to perfection. So long as we are Adam’s children, we will continue to fall into sin because of a fallen nature. Only with the help of God’s grace can we resist sin and live the life of truth and charity.
So instead of condemning ourselves for the mistakes we have made, let us thank God for our mistakes so that He can use them to bring greater good out of them. We can be sure that in the case of Jacob, Joseph and His brothers, they realized their share of the mistakes and hurts they had caused to each other. Eventually, they forgave each other. They let go of their hurts. The brothers asked Joseph for forgiveness and Joseph promised them that he would look after them and their families. (cf Gen 50:15-21) So, too, was the case of Jesus, the son of Joseph. Jesus was betrayed and killed. But His death brought about our share in His resurrection and sonship. His death was the price of our salvation. The continued rejection of Christ is the cause of salvation of the Gentiles, when the kingdom of God will be taken from them and “given to a people who will produce its fruit.” Of course, at the end, Paul believed that the Jews would also come to know Jesus as the Christ.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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