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Daily Scripture Passage: Genesis 45: 1-15

And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. — Genesis 45:2

What Joseph does in today’s passage seems like an almost superhuman act of magnanimity, to resist the temptation to seek retribution on his brothers.

I wonder if one way of understanding what is happening here is that Joseph was being overtaken by what he did not even know he was missing? I wonder if Joseph was being overtaken by love? A need for love and reconnection? Despite his incredible new status perhaps what he still longed for deep down was reconnection with and the love of his family, in order to heal and become whole?

And this could only happen through an act of forgiveness. Joseph would have to forgive his brothers and they would have to forgive themselves.

At the heart of the Christian faith lies God’s divine act of love and forgiveness of humanity. It is on the basis of that act of mercy and love that we are to offer it to one another.

Offering and receiving forgiveness does not tend to come to us naturally, however. It is a virtue that must be practiced and developed. It is often scary, almost never easy, and yes, it may even overwhelm us and cause us to weep so loudly that everyone hears us.

Yet the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu continue to ring true, “without forgiveness, there is no future.”

This Lenten season may we practice forgiveness not as a superhuman act but rather as a more fully human act of love that makes it possible for us to be reconciled and made whole.