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 shalt be  near  me,  thou  and  thy  sons.’”  Then,  falling  upon  the neck of  Benjamin,  he  wept,  and  Benjamin  wept  also  in  like  manner. Then he  embraced  all  his  brethren,  and  wept  over  them,  after which they  were  emboldened  to  speak  to  him.

The news  went  abroad  in  the  king’s  court: The  brethren  of Joseph  are  come. And Pharao,  with  all  his  family,  was  glad. He told  Joseph  to  invite  his  father  and  his  brethren  to  come  to Egypt. Joseph gave  his  brothers  chariots  and  provisions  for  the way. He ordered  two  robes  to  be  given  to  each  of  them,  but  to Benjamin  he  gave  five  robes  of  the  best,  with  three  hundred  pieces of silver. Besides, he  gave  them  rich  presents  for  their  father, and warned  them  not  to  be  angry on  the  way.

Providence. “Not  by  your  counsel  was  I sent  hither,  but  by  the will of  God”,  said  Joseph  to  his  brothers. He understood  that  it  was by God’s  permission  that  he  was  sold  by  them. It was,  indeed,  a great  crime  which  the  brothers  committed. It was  not  by  God’s  will that the  evil  was  done,  because  He,  being  holy,  can  will  no  evil;  but He permitted  it,  and  so  guided  matters  that  good  came  out  of  evil. The good  that  came  out  of  it  was  threefold. Firstly, Joseph’s  virtue was tried  and  strengthened,  and  subsequently  rewarded  by  his  exaltation. Secondly, his  own  relatives  and  all  the  Egyptians  were  saved  from starvation. Thirdly, his  brothers  were  converted.

Forgiveness of  others. Just  think  how  cruelly  his  brothers  had behaved to  the  innocent  Joseph. Being the  powerful  governor  of  Egypt, he could  easily  have  had  them  cast  into  prison  or  killed,  or  he  could have kept  them  as  his  slaves. Instead of  this  he  freely  forgave  them. He did  not  even  reproach  them,  but,  on  the  contrary,  made  excuses for them,  and  loaded  them  with  presents. Was not  that  beautiful  and magnanimous ?

Joseph as  a type  of  Jesus  Christ. We  saw  in  chapt. XXI in  how many ways  Joseph  is  a type  of  our  Blessed  Lord. In this  present chapter we  can  see  a still  further  resemblance  in  him  to  the  Divine Saviour. As Joseph  forgave  and  excused  his  brethren,  so  did  our  Lord, hanging on  the  Cross,  forgive  His  enemies,  and  pray  for  them: “Father, forgive them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  dol”

The terror  of  sinners  at  the  Last  Judgment. When  Joseph  said  to his  brethren:  “I  am  Joseph!”  they  were  so  full  of  fear  that  they  could