Lent: Friday of the Second Week
 

“When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his brothers, they hated him so much that they could not say a kind word to him.” (Gensis 37:4)

In commenting on this verse from today’s First Reading, Saint John Chrysostom writes:

“Envy is a terrible passion, you see, and when it affects the soul, it does not leave it before bringing it to an extremely sorry state. [It damages] the soul that gives it birth and affect[s] the object of its envy in the opposite way to that intended, rendering him more conspicuous, more esteemed, more famous — which in turn proves another severe blow to the envious person. Notice at any rate in this instance how this remarkable man is depicted as ignorant of what was going on and conversing cheerfully in great simplicity with them as his brothers who had caused the same birth pangs as he …. They for their part were in the grip of the passion of envy and were thus brought to hate him. ” (Homilies on Genesis, 61)


Collect
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that, purifying us
by the sacred practice of penance,
you may lead us in sincerity of heart
to attain the holy things to come.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen