Friday of the
Second Week of Lent
(Genesis 37:3-4.12-13a.17b-28a; Matthew 21:33-43.45-46)
There is a story about resentment. The wise man was talking to a fool who
resented his brothers. He told him that
harboring resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for your enemy to
die. In today’s first reading we meet
group of men who harbor resentment against their brother.
Joseph is not only Jacob’s child in old age; he is also
an innocent dreamer. The Scripture doesn’t
say this, but it is likely that Joseph never thinks badly of anyone. If he meets a poor farmer, he imagines him to
be a plantation owner and treats him with deference. If he encounters a crabby housewife, he
dreams her to be gracious queen and offers to kiss her hand. Joseph’s brothers consider this kind of
behavior worse than contemptuous. They
want to kill him for it.
We are better, of course, to be like Joseph than his
brothers. We should look for the best in
others although without imagining something that is not there. When we find a worthwhile trait, we can respect
the people for it. Resentment for them will
not just make the whole situation worse.
It is likely to cause our death sooner rather than later.
