The first reading for mass today tells us that Jacob embarked on a journey to Egypt with his entire family and all of his possessions. It must have been a hard thing for him to do because of his advanced age. Jacob was probably worrying if he was doing the right thing, by moving to a foreign land. It was a very major life changing decision, not just for himself, but for all of his family, extended family, servants and future descendants as well. God came to him in visions during the night to ease his fears about moving to a strange land, and to reassure him that it was His will that Jacob move to Egypt with all of his family. Jacob had such a close relationship with God. It must have been wonderful to have such clear cut guidance and reassurance from God, that he was doing the right thing.
So many of us struggle and agonize over major decisions like this, or avoid them altogether if we are not absolutely sure that we are doing the right thing. We pray and pray and pray, to know what God’s will is whenever we need to make a major decision too. Sometimes we may pray for many weeks or months and still not know what God would want us to do. Something we could keep in mind after reading the scriptures about Jacob today, is that God did not come to Jacob and reassure him that he was indeed doing His will, until after Jacob had already begun his journey. At some point, after much prayer and thoughtful reflection, we should trust our instincts and proceed with what seems to be the right thing to do. With continued prayer and the graces we receive from the sacraments, the Lord may reveal his will to us in his own due time as well.
Something that would be easy to overlook in the first reading today is the account of how the Pharaoh himself sent wagons to help Jacob and his family relocate to Egypt. If you remember, the scriptures recently mentioned how the Pharaoh’s household had heard Joseph’s cries too, when he first saw his brothers. The Pharaoh also believed Joseph when he interpreted his dream and put Joseph in charge of all the grain production in Egypt for seven years. The Pharaoh very obviously cared about Joseph a great deal and cared about the fact that he missed his family so much too. Friends can be like that for us as well. They become almost members of our own families and can be of a great deal of help and support in our lives, especially when we need to make major decisions such as these.
The most awesome thing about the old testament reading today though, is how Joseph met his family halfway. Maybe it wasn’t halfway but this is a metaphor for the fact that Joseph did not wait for his family to come to him, he went to meet his family. Genuine love is a two way street. Unfortunately, there are many members in a family that will wait for others to put forth the time, money and effort to come to visit them, but they do not make any reciprocal effort to see them. This is a self centered need for attention rather than genuine love for their family, especially if they are in good health and have the resources to visit too. Let us not be counted in this group, but be the ones who reach out first to visit our family members who live at a distance away from us.
The gospel today continues along with this thought about being a sheep among wolves. We are called to be drops of goodness, the best that we can with all our family members, even if they do not personally like us or agree with our points of view, or how we live our lives as Catholics. If you have family members who do not believe in God, or who have fallen away from the Catholic church, then it can sometimes feel like you don’t fit in with the rest of the group. They may even have strong feelings against formal religion or the Catholic faith in particular, but don’t add fuel to the fire. The gospel today says to allow the Holy Spirit to speak through you, and anger or arguments are not from the Holy Spirit. We should try to show goodness, kindness and patience with those who do not believe in the Catholic faith. It is helpful to explain our Catholic beliefs in general terms, respectfully and without defensive arguments. At the very least you will not give a negative impression of the Catholic faith, but a more positive result could be the conversion of a person’s heart and the salvation of their soul and in the long run, this is of more lasting value. An eternal joy that will be shared with Jesus and one another in heaven one day. They will thank you for your patience, kindness, restraint and clear explanations when they reach heaven and realize what you did for them and that it was because you loved them.
