Two interventions from two of Joseph’s brothers strike a special chord in my heart while reflecting on today’s first reading which tells the story of Joseph and his brothers.
When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from their hands, saying, “We must not take his life. Instead of shedding blood,” he continued, “just throw him into that cistern there in the desert; but do not kill him outright” (Gen. 37:21-22.)
The second one reads:
Judah said to his brothers:
“What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood? … After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. (Gen. 37: 26-27).
Temptation to kill
In the Bible, we find some concerning stories of the temptation to kill, to bully, and to abuse one’s brother or sister. Our whole history is replete with this too. A temptation that often becomes action: Cain and Abel (Gen. 4:8); Jacob and Esau (Gen. 27: 41); Joseph and his brothers (Gen. 37); Saul and David (1 Sam. 19); Absalom and David (2 Sam. 15); and also, Jesus and his people! The stories of the Old and New Testaments help us, even dramatically, to highlight this painful situation that concerns us: the brother, the other part of me, can get to annoy me so much that I can even want to eliminate his existence and his being ahead of me. In this situation, the choice then resides between fratricide and fraternity. We see it at all levels even today: in the family, at work, in politics, and even more prevalently on social media. The readiness to emit violent comments on the internet and indulge in cyberbullying, especially among young people, leaves one to wonder what has happened to fraternal love.
Fraternal dialogue
Rueben and Judah interpret this universal situation very well in today’s first reading, as we have seen in their interventions: they try with all their might to shift the fratricidal desire into possible fraternity. And they succeed. This can be said to be the fruit of fraternal dialogue, even though an imperfect one at that. But it will take years and years to get to enjoy the beneficial effects of that fraternity, when Joseph becomes a highly placed figure in Egypt and saves his brothers from dying of famine. It will take years to heal that fraternal wound and allow the brothers to embrace and rebuild together a new generative experience.
“Fratelli Tutti”
Judah’s question should form part of our Lenten reflection in this holy Season: “What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood?” At this critical moment when the drums of war and violence reverberate in all parts of the world, this question should jolt us to our fraternal consciousness. “Fratelli Tutti” (All Brothers) is the title of Pope Francis’ third encyclical in which the Pontiff advocates for more human fraternity, solidarity, and social friendship, and pleads for a rejection of war. We are all brothers and sisters because we are the children of one Father: God (Malachi 2:10). Every war leads to fratricide. But there are also more fratricidal activities going on daily on the internet and everyday concrete human relation. We seem to be fast losing the sense of the neighbor as a brother or a sister.
Let us reject fratricide and embrace/promote fraternity and non-violence. There is always much to be gained from embracing a brother than from killing a brother.
May God grant peace to our troubled world. Amen.
