Short Reflection
Joseph and his brothers
More “conniving” from Joseph means that his brothers don’t know where they stand.
Today’s reading comes immediately before what we heard on Sunday (in the Continuous track), in which Joseph at last reveals himself to his brothers.
Tomorrow we will hear about Jacob, his father, and how he takes the news of Joseph.
God’s call in Romans
Paul is speaking to the Gentiles and making it clear to them that they are in position to lord it over the Jewish people.
Even if they have been grafted onto the olive tree, and thus draw the riches from it, this is not at the cost of the other branches, i.e., the Jews, even though Paul does say that some of the Jews have turned away from God and God’s covenant with them.
Nevertheless, God’s call to the people of Israel still stands; it is irrevocable.
Anti-semitism through the ages and today
This is one reason why anti-Semitism is so intrinsically wrong.
(Another is that persecution of a people on the grounds of their race or religion etc. is simply wrong.)
The Jewish people are still God’s chosen people.
The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) definitively absolved the Jewish race of the accusation of Deicide, for which, over many centuries, they had been considered culpable.
(Rejection of anti-semitism doesn’t equate, however, to unqualified approval of the State of Israel; like many nation states, it has its fair share of guilt for persecuting others.)
Indeed, there are three major religions that are people of the Book, and children of Abraham: Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
We have more in common than what divides us.
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You can listen to Rev Christoph Wutscher’s sermon on the irrevocable call of the people of Israel here
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