Genesis 49:29-32; 50:15-26a
Then Jacob charged his sons, saying to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors—in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave in the field at Machpelah, near Mamre, in the land of Canaan, in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site. There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; and there I buried Leah— the field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.”
Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?” So they approached Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this instruction before he died, ‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, “We are here as your slaves.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.
So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s household; and Joseph lived one hundred ten years. Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation; the children of Machir son of Manasseh were also born on Joseph’s knees.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, “When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.” And Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old; he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Fraternally Forgiving, to the Very End
Setting to one side the jaunty earworms of Joseph and a certain technicolor dreamcoat… I see the brotherhood and burials narrated by the biblical author in today’s first reading unmistakably echoed in Jesuit fraternity and one of its greatest blessings, communal life. As a Jesuit, I have well more than eleven brothers! But many of our communities consist of twelve men or fewer, not unlike the twelve sons of Jacob. And how we live out our brotherhood looks a lot like what we find in Genesis—we love and reassure one another, sometimes we hurt one another, so we ask forgiveness, and are forgiven in turn. And when a Jesuit dies, his bones are buried alongside the mortal remains of his brothers and spiritual ancestors.
Forgiveness and closeness to those who have gone before us in faith are not exclusively for Jesuits; they are graces for all people who have faith in the Lord and in his promises. Through the intercession and example of the Patriarchs, may such blessings fill our own lives in this one as well as the next.
—Jonathan Jue-Wong, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic and member of the Midwest Province, currently studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago.
Prayer
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
As once you came to Joseph’s brothers and brought them out of the land of Egypt,
Come to us each and every day, and especially when we too draw our final breath.
And on that day, through the boundless mercy of your son Jesus,
May we be led into that heavenly homeland, where you live and reign with the Son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
—Jonathan Jue-Wong, SJ
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