FRIDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT - 2022

LENT 2022

 DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal life. JN 3:16

GENESIS 37:3-4,12-13,17-28 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The life of Joseph son of Israel in so many events in his life prefigures You. He is the beloved son of his father. You are well-beloved of Your Father. Joseph was clothed in a coat of many colors. You are clothed in divinity and are the firstborn of the sons and daughters of God.

The Jews were hated so bitterly by the Egyptians and later on by the Romans and were enslaved for generations. You, Your disciples, and Your followers to this day are hated even more bitterly for they are a sign of contradiction in the world. The persecution of Christians is ceaseless in many countries even more so in nations that were once Catholic and Christian.

Joseph's father sent him in search of his brothers. Your Father sent You to seek, save, and redeem the lost. They hated and envied him and plotted against him. You suffered the same fate at the hands of the chosen people of God. They stripped Joseph of his beautiful coat, You came into the world setting aside Your divinity. Joseph's brothers wanted to kill him but in the end, they sold him to foreigners for 20 pieces of silver.  You too were betrayed and sold by Your own for 30 pieces of silver - the price of a slave. 

After getting rid of their brother, they sat down to eat and got on with their lives pleased at what they had done despite the terrible grief their lies cost their father. But God had great plans for Joseph and for His people whom Joseph would initially save from famine but who would eventually be exiled and enslaved. 

You were sent first to the Jews to save them from slavery to sin not from captivity to the Romans and so they rejected You and because of their rejection, we were privileged to receive from You and through You the great gift of our salvation. 

The brother killed an animal and stained Joseph's coat with its blood as proof of his death. You however were sent into the world as the Lamb of God, the Lamb of Sacrifice whose Blood takes away the sins of the world.

MATTHEW 21:33-43,45-46 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Addressing the chief priests and the elders, You told them a parable about a landowner, a vineyard, and the tenants to whom it was entrusted. At the end of the parable, we learn that the servants of the landlord who came to collect what was due to the landlord were killed so he sends his son, believing that they would treat him with respect but they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him as well. Up to this point in the parable, all is well until You ask them ‘Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ And their sanctimonious answer is, ‘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.’

This is when You turn things on their head when You say: 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.’

It is only at this point that realization dawns and they understand correctly that You are speaking about them and they burned with anger and resentment against You. The evangelist says that they would have liked to arrest You but were afraid of the crowds, who looked on You as a prophet.  

How ironic that the Chief Priests and the Scribes did not realize that their attitude confirmed that You were right.

To this day we have divisions among Christians and they continue to splinter into even more groups until there are thousands of denominations. As long as they choose to interpret Your Word according to their own finite understanding they are doomed to continue to do so. 

We are truly grateful for the Chair of St. Peter and for the magisterium. Holy Mother Church alone is given the power to take us to safe harbor.