Friday of the Second Week of Lent 2023
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….
They had weighed him down with fetters,
and he was bound with chains,
Till his prediction came to pass
and the word of the LORD proved him true…
The king sent and released him,
the ruler of the peoples set him free.
He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions…
-Psalm 105 (Excerpts)
The Readings for this Friday of the Second Week of Lent present for us two very complicated stories that seem especially bleak, especially given the violence and death that lay at the heart of each.
In the First Reading, we hear the story of the betrayal of Joseph by his older brothers. Angered by the “master dreamer’s” visions of the family’s future—including the fact this brothers would one day bow down to him (see Genesis 37:5-11)—Joseph’s brothers decided to kill the boy because of their hatred and envy. In the end, however, rather than kill him, his brothers threw him down a well and eventually sold him into slavery, presuming he was out of their lives forever.
In the Gospel, Jesus tells a story which has come to be known as the “Parable of the Tenants.” As with the story of Joseph, the story is marked by hatred and aggression, particularly because the son of the landowner represented a reality and status that was offensive to those who believed that they, in fact, held the power.
“Le fils de la vigne” by James Tissot (1886-1894); Brooklyn Museum of Art
While these two passages seem to be stories of endings (with the boy Joseph being sold into slavery and the vineyard owner’s son being killed), the Responsorial Psalm assigned for today helps us to recognize that what seems to be the end is, in fact, only part of a much greater story. After naming the crimes committed against Joseph, the Psalmist reminds us:
The king sent and released him,
the ruler of the peoples set him free.
He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions.
It is for us, as people of faith, to recognize the truth that God lays low the plans of those who believe they hold the power: Joseph is not only freed from slavery, but he becomes Pharoah’s second-in-command and the Son—the one who was “rejected by the builders”—is ultimately the champion over envy, wrath, and death.
As we approach the end of the second week of Lent, take time to reflect on how the mystery of suffering in your own life, the moments that are filled with disappointment and disillusionment, are, in fact, woven into the greater mystery of God’s unfolding plan of salvation for you and for all of creation. In the light of God’s mercy, what seems to be an ending for us, even death, is not the end.
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that, purifying us by the sacred practice of penance,
you may lead us in sincerity of heart
to attain the holy things to come.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for Friday of the Second Week of Lent
