Virtual Retreat

Daily scriptural reflections by Fr. Rory Pitstick, SSL from Immaculate Heart Retreat Center in Spokane, WA
Also available via daily email

Monday, July 09, 2007

Daily Retreat 07/11/07

2007 Jul 11 Wed:Benedict, ab, rf M
Gn 41:55-57; 42:5-7a. 17-24a/ Ps 32(33):2-3. 10-11. 18-19/ Mt 10:1-7

From today’s readings:“When hunger came to be felt throughout the land of Egypt and the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, Pharaoh directed all the Egyptians to go to Joseph and do whatever he told them....  Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in You....  Jesus summoned His Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness....”

Go to Joseph

As I mentioned before, of all of the patriarchs in the Book of Genesis, Joseph and Abraham stand out on the basis of the much more detailed coverage of their lives in that first book of the Bible (Abraham: chapters 12-24; Joseph: chapters 37-50, except 38 and 49).  Unfortunately, in the interest of time, the lectionary skips the majority of the Joseph story, so today’s reading only picks up the narrative in Chapter 41.  It’s safe to assume, however, that the unspoken hope and expectation is that we, the readers, understand the context immediately because we’ve read the previous chapters, so get out your Bible and read Genesis for about 10 minutes, starting with Chapter 37, so that the (previously) unspoken hope becomes a reality, and the Word of God finds more and more room to take root in your life!