Our First Reading today relates part of the story of Joseph. We hear how Joseph is despised by his brothers because he is favored by their father. And in the Gospel, Jesus tells a parable of a property owner who leases his land to tenants who attack and kill the owner’s servants and eventually even the owner’s son. Jesus directs this story at the chief priests and the leaders of the Jewish community, thus predicting that they will persecute Him and yet the richness of GOD will be given to others because of what the religious leaders of the people will do to Jesus.
We realized that GOD had given us examples throughout scripture of the difficult times of those who are called by God to do God’s will which actually describes all of us at different times and in different ways during our lives. And it was often through the most trying time that God brought about the great revelation of the divine plan. God reassures us that even in our darkest moments, the Lord Jesus is with us and if we hold firm to our faith, God will allow great things to happen through us for the sake of others and ourselves. Yes, we may be despised by others because of our vision of God’s ultimate plan. We may face trying times and feel oppressed and rejected by others. Yet, in the end, if we remain faithful, God will raise us up and make our experiences a blessing not only for us, but also for others.
None of us likes to have difficult times. Yet GOD is saying to us, “I will be with you through those times and I will lift you up and will eventually bring healing not only to you, but also to others, if you remain faithful to Me. I will bring Good out of the apparent bad.” We should be encouraged that God is with us during hard times, just as GOD was with Joseph. We should realize that living a Christian (Christ-like) life will include times of suffering and difficulties, since Jesus, the Son of God, also faced suffering and difficulties. We should not go out and seek problems, but realize when trying times come our way, that we are in company with the holy, faith-filled people, like Joseph and especially like Jesus, the God-man Who came and lived among us. Yes, God promises to be with us and give us eternal life, yet, we may have to travel the bumpy road to get there. God will not leave us alone. The Lord Jesus will be with us and will use our struggles to manifest the divine plan for us and for others.