July 9, 2025, Wednesday of the 14th week in ordinary time.

A reading from the book of Genesis.

When hunger came to be felt throughout the land of Egypt,

and the people cried to Pharaoh for bread,

Pharaoh directed all the Egyptians to go to Joseph and do whatever he told them. When the famine had

spread throughout the land, Joseph opened all the cities that had grain and rationed it to the

Egyptians, since the famine had gripped the land of Egypt. In fact, all the world came to

Joseph to obtain rations of grain, for famine had gripped the whole world.

The sons of Israel were among those who came to procure rations.

It was Joseph, as governor of the country, who dispensed the rations to all the people.

When Joseph's brothers came and knelt down before him, with their faces to the ground, he

recognized them as soon as he saw them.

But Joseph concealed his own identity from them, and spoke sternly to them.

With that he locked them up in the guardhouse for three days.

On the third day Joseph said to his brothers, Do this and you shall live,

for I am a God-fearing man. If you have been honest, only one of your brothers need to be

confined in this prison, while the rest of you may go and take home provisions for your starving

families. But you must come back to me with your youngest brother.

Your words will thus be verified, and you will not die. To this they agreed. To one another,

however, they said, alas, we are being punished because of our brother. We saw the anguish of his

heart when he pleaded with us,

yet we paid no heed. That is why this anguish has now come upon us. Rubin broke in,

...