today's other readings are Psalm 33 and Mt. 10: 1-7
An unfortunate reality of our weekday lectionary is that many of the stories of the Book of Genesis are not included. For today and the next few days we hear of the reunion between Joseph and his brothers and his father, but we do not read about the events that lead up to these events.
Joseph, sold into slavery, now finds himself to the the "right hand man" of Pharoah, the king of Egypt. And Jopesph's wisdom has served Pharaoh and his people well, as the world faces a famine, but Jospeh in his wisdom had ensured sufficinet stocks of grain, so much so, that even foreigners, such as Joseph's brothers, had come to buy grain.
This story reminds of how often our actions come back to haunt us. Many years before, Joseph's brothers, "who had had it up to here" with their brother's antics, sold him into slavery, and then lied to their father about their fate. Now, they will have to own up for what they have done, but as we shall see in the coming days, what they will face is mercy, rather than wrath, which brings to mind our psalm response for today, "lord, let your mercy be upon us, as we place our trust in you".
Blessedly, our story has a happy ending. But sometimes these stories do not, and past actions and sins come back to haunt. But we still can bring them to the sacrament of reconciliation to experience that forgiveness so badly needed.