Welcome back to the Jesse Tree on the Catholic Sprouts podcast.

Today is Saturday of the first week of Advent.

Jacob, who we met yesterday, had 12 sons and a number of daughters, too.

Although Jacob should have loved each of his children equally, he didn't. Joseph was his favorite, and he didn't hide it.

As you can imagine, this preferential treatment made Joseph's brothers jealous. When Joseph started to

display special gifts from God, their jealousy hit a breaking point. But through it all,

God, the good and just father, was there too. Listen now to the story of Joseph and his beautiful

coat from the book of Genesis. Genesis 37, 3 through 8, 19 through 20, 26 through 28. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any

other of his children because he was the son of his old age, and he had made him a long robe with

sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers,

they hated him. It could his brothers, they hated him.

It could not speak peaceably to him.

Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

He said to them, listen to this dream that I had dreamed.

There we were, binding cheese in the field.

Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright.

Then your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down

to my sheaf. His brother said to him, Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?

So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words. The brothers said to one another,

here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him

into one of the pits. Then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will

come of his dreams. Then Judah said to his brothers, what prophet is it if we kill our brother

...