We are instruments of the Divine plan

Gen. 41:55-57.42:5-7.17-24, Mt. 10:1-7. We are instruments in the hands of our God who is able to do creative things by using us to complete the Divine plan of salvation. However, God could work without us, but it is part of the Divine plan to get us involved in proclaiming the Good News to others. Even when we purposely work against the Divine plan, God can still make it work out for the good of others. From all parts of the famine-stricken middle east as accounted in the Book of Genesis, people flocked into Egypt to avoid starvation. Today's first reading describes how God used the one-time slave, Joseph, to provide for famine-struck individuals and nations. Joseph’s brothers joined the stream of refugees, some of whose descendants would eventually come out of Egypt along with the Israelites in search of food. Obviously they do not recognise Joseph because he was no longer a slave, but Pharaoh's deputy. They also did not realise that Joseph understands their conversations because Joseph speaks through an interpreter. Joseph was moved with love and forgiveness for his brothers, but he also wants to be able to see his younger brother, Benjamin.

The Psalmist picks up this marvellous work of God who changes the event of history to say that God can use the negative plans of individuals or nations and turn them around to further the Divine plan. When Joseph was sold in slavery by his brothers, they thought they would never see him alive and were free of the dreamer whose vision was interpreted to show that his brothers and other family members falling down in homage to him. God turned around the plight of Joseph and therefore raised up Joseph so that he would be a source of blessing for the children of Jacob. In a similar way, Jesus chose the twelve Apostles in today's Gospel, to bring the salvation of our God to the ends of the earth, with a mandate: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." In their early formative stage, Jesus sent them to less damaging territory, where their ministry could be more effective until they are groomed to face more challenging mission (Mt. 28:19). God does not withhold His living word from us, even when we show ourselves unworthy of it. Sending out the twelve Apostles, Jesus continues to shed His light into the darkest and most troubled places of our lives. He keeps offering us the bread of His word to satisfy our deepest yearnings. As He does so, He waits for us to take and eat.

May the Lord teach us to seek the things that please Him, then we shall find Him in all that we do! Amen!! Good morning, and have a great day!!!