For the sake of saving lives: Homily for Thursday, July 10, 2025

Joesph says his trials were for the sake of saving lives. The story of Joseph in the book of Genesis is a captivating one. His life was filled with challenges he needed to make sense of in his life. Today we see that in reconciling with his brothers, he has found peace with God. Readings for Today.

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For the sake of saving lives

This story of Joseph in the book of Genesis is a beautiful one, really. It’s easier to read when you know the outcome, because you know that things are going to turn out quite well for Joseph.

But for Joseph, he didn’t know the outcome. And his life was really one of, kind of a series of perils. Things that were risky for him and could cause him to die, but he was spared. Today, we know the reason why. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here, ahead of you. It was really for the sake of saving lives.

That insight for Joseph could only have come through, I would suspect, some long nights of prayer. And it’s reasonable to assume that the many days that he spent in captivity and in difficulty were not all easy days. But today, we get really the result of reconciliation.

You know, the sin of the brothers had a lot of impacts. It caused their father great grief, because he had to presume that his son had died. And it broke a very powerful relationship. But Joseph has received the grace to reconcile. To love and to be kind to those brothers, because he can see the set plan and purpose of God.

We hear that same kind of phrase with St. Paul, who says that Jesus was delivered up for the set plan and purpose of God. And just as Joseph was sent for the sake of saving lives, we know that that phrase is a foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent Jesus into our lives as a human being.

In the Gospel, which is actually from the Gospel of Matthew, which we know was very clear and important and a favorite of St. Dominic’s, we get kind of the marching orders for us who have been sent to save lives. Now, I will say that I look at the things that Jesus encouraged the apostles to do– curing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, driving out demons– I don’t think I’ve done any of those things.

But what the real message that Jesus is giving to the apostles is to trust fully. Don’t have a plan B. Don’t take gold or silver or copper for your belts. No sack for the journey. No second tunic. No sandals or walking stick. These things, they are to trust that God will provide.

How hard that is to believe, really, however. We can say it. It sounds pretty easy. Joseph, I suspect, had to come to believe it. But it’s harder to live out of that spirit of trust, trusting God completely.

What is it that God is asking of you today? With whom are you called to reconcile? With whom can you make the claim that it was good, whatever hardship you’ve endured, because it was for the purpose of saving lives? Indeed, your whole lives are about saving lives. Let us ask the Lord to help us to strengthen our relationships with our neighbors and to love God more fully.

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