God Reveals Himself In Our Own Brokenness and Suffering!

As I look back on my life, I can events that occurred in my life of brokenness and sufferings: from heart aches to heart breaks, from physical illness to spiritual illnesses, to experience tremendous loss.  My responses to God was all to similar, it was a simple question, "Why God?"  These words would escape from my heart through a sigh.

The past couple of days for daily Mass we have been reading about the life of Joseph in the Old Testament.  Joseph's story in Genesis begins at the age of 17, his brothers desire his death, but instead of killing him they decide to at least benefit from his life and sell Joseph into slavery (Gen 37).  Joseph ends up in Egypt to be falsely accused of adultery and ends up in an Egyptian prison.  While in prison he interprets a butler's dream and gives a good interpretation, afterwards he tells the butler to not to forget him. The butler was released from prison and what happens? The butler forgets Joseph for 2 years!  You can only imagine the same words coming across Joseph's mouth, "Why God?"

When Joseph turns 30, Joseph is raised up out of prison and placed at Pharaoh's right hand.  Joseph was placed in charge with the Egyptian's food supply for the next 14 years. During that time Egypt had 7 years of plenty, followed by 7 years of famine.   Joseph stored up grain during the years of plenty and when the 7 years of famine hit the world, the world turned to Egypt for food.  During that time his own brothers, who sold him into slavery, came to Egypt to receive food.  Joseph in the end reveals himself to his brother, but not in a way that I would have expected:

“I am your brother Joseph, whom you once sold into Egypt. But now do not be distressed, and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you.”


(Picture of Joseph revealing himself to his brothers)

In all that Joseph experienced, he still saw the Lord's hand in it.  From the evil of his brothers, to the loss of his freedom, to being falsely accused of a crime and forgotten in prison, Joseph remains faithful and trusts in the Lord's plan.  And yet, there is something even deeper being reveals in Joseph's story.  Joseph suffers tremendously, in a sense has his own passion, only to be raised to the right hand of Pharaoh, which the Egyptians believed to be a god.  It was there Joseph was called to save the world by feeding them grains.  This story of Joseph is preparing us to be able to receive the story of Christ.  Jesus, the true son of God, who in his own passion and death is raised to the right hand of God the Father, only to feed us with through grain of His own Body (and Blood)!

What does mean for us?  One to trust in God even through the most difficult and trying times, but secondly, if we look close enough in our own sufferings and brokenness, we will see the Lord revealing Himself to us in his own Passion, Death, and Resurrection.  Amen!