Who could read about Joseph and his brothers in the first reading for mass today and your heart not go out to him? Joseph broke down and cried so hard that he couldn’t control his tears. What triggered the flood of tears seems to have been the story his brothers told him, about the suffering his father went through after losing his son. Joseph’s father obviously still loved him and never forgot about him, even after the passage of so many years. Joseph cried so hard that even the Pharaoh’s household heard him cry. It was his father’s love that broke the damn of tears and allowed the healing process to begin. Sometimes people can not heal until they can cry. This is true after the death of a loved one and other traumatic life events too. Tears are like opening a wound in the heart and letting the infection out. Tears can be cleansing and a healthy part of the healing process.
After Joseph got control of himself though, he told his brothers who he really was. Then he immediately tried to alleviate the guilt that they had by telling them: “And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” That’s what is so amazing about Joseph’s story. He recognized that it had been God’s will all along, that his brothers got mad at him and sold him into slavery. The whole sequence of events fit together like pieces of a puzzle and God was the only one who knew the big picture. At the time, Joseph and his brothers were not even aware they were acting in accordance with what God wanted all along. They thought they acted on their own when in fact, God knew how they would react to the situation and took this into consideration when he used Joseph to save so many lives during the famine that engulfed their world. God knew there would be a seven year famine and he sent Joseph to Egypt to prepare for it so that the people would not die from starvation.
How awesome can that be? A seemingly random sequence of events led Joseph to help most of the known world survive a great, seven year famine. That is a very good reason why we should not judge one another by the temporary events and circumstances of our lives. God alone knows the big picture of our life and He can sometimes use the negative things people do to serve Him as well. That is a challenge for us to allow Him to do that though. We are usually ashamed of our sins and do not think anything good can come from them, but God can transform evil into good. Joseph certainly did change some very negative circumstances into a beautiful, life giving act for so many people and healing for his own family. He could have acted much differently, but he chose to listen to God and do what he asked of him.
Joseph set a good example for us in how to handle the negativity that is so often found in our families today. Humility and forgiveness by a single family member can be the key to reconciliation and healing for the entire family.
