Feast of St Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor.
I AM YOUR BROTHER JOSEPH.
"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.’
"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.”(Genesis 44:18-21, 23b-29; 45:1-5).
Thursday July 13th 2023 in the 14th Week of Ordinary Time is the feast of St Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor.
(973 - 1024). German. Crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1014 by Pope Benedict VIII as Emperor Henry II. He was a powerful man of the world, a man of war and international politics. He became a saint. It shows that anyone can become a saint. Henry used his wealth and power to promote the Kingdom of God by supporting missionary work. In spite of his cares of the earthly Roman Empire, his gaze was on Heaven, the eternal Kingdom.
Our key Scripture today from Genesis 44 & 45 is perhaps one of the most dramatic in the Old Testament. It is a story of Reconciliation and the awesome power of Divine Providence.
“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.”
The Responsorial Psalm 155 seals the insight for us:
"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."
Is Divine Providence still at work today? CERTAINLY!
Think of the founding and history of the United States of America. Think of the immigration and multiracial population. Think of the plurality in religious faith. It is one great story in the operation of Divine Providence. America as Egypt is God's work and experiment.
God desires that we honor the Precious Blood of His Son Jesus Christ in July.
For Devotion, Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ and other prayers, click the link below:
http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2023/04/devotion-to-most-precious-blood-of.html?m=1
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