Joseph hath charge of his master’s house: rejecteth his mistress’s solicitations: is falsely accused by her, and cast into prison, where he hath the charge of all the prisoners.
“Neither is there any thing which is not in my power, or that he hath not delivered to me, but thee, who art his wife: how then can I do this wicked thing, and sin against my God?” (Genesis 39:9)
Acknowledge the Lord in all thy ways and he will direct thy path. (Proverbs 3:6)
“Let us therefore make this our concern too, to have the Lord with us always so that what is done by us will be concluded successfully by him. You see, the person accorded this grace, even should he happen to find himself in the midst of troubles, will think nothing of them since the Lord of all, who creates and transforms everything, makes everything prosper for him and renders all difficulties easy. But how will we succeed in having the Lord with us and enjoying his guidance in everything? If we are vigilant and alert and imitate this young man’s selfcontrol, his other virtues and noble attitude, and if we see that it is so necessary for us to perform all our duties precisely so as never to be condemned by the Lord. We perform our duties to acknowledge that it is impossible to escape the notice of that unsleeping eye and that instead the sinner cannot but become liable to his punishments. Let us not place greater weight on respect for human beings than on God’s anger but rather recall in every circumstance those words of Joseph, ‘How could I do this wicked deed and commit sin in God’s eyes?’ So when some temptation disturbs us, let us turn these words over in our mind, and every unholy desire will immediately be put to flight.” -St. John Chrysostom
“She called to her the men of her house, and said to them: See, he hath brought in a Hebrew, to abuse us: he came in to me, to lie with me.” (Genesis 39:14)
The Saints are careful, being in Christ, not to be stained by the world. The world hates those who are of Christ, because they are not of the world.
“When Joseph was still young and at the end of his adolescence, he overcame the impudence of the Egyptian woman, even though he was dragged with great force to commit what was not lawful. In fact, this woman arguing with him impudently took the clothes off him and urged him to sin against his will. Actually he escaped from the furious lust of the woman after abandoning his cloak and could not be defeated by her strong will. Therefore he was accused of that action, since the woman turned the fault to him. In that dishonorable accusation, however, Joseph demonstrated great modesty and nobility. And he was thrown into the prison. Christ also was among the pagans, especially in the person of the holy apostles, who declared that they carried around on their own body his scars. They did not want to adjust themselves to those things that belong to the world but kept away from any desire of the flesh. And such is always the life of the saints. Therefore, for this reason, they were the object of many plots and were oppressed by the slander of those who were accustomed to regard those who wanted to live in Christ as unbearable, so that they fell into tremendous temptations and were imprisoned. However, they always bore in mind Christ’s saying: ‘If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, therefore the world hates you,’ exactly as the lustful woman hated Joseph.” -St. Cyril of Alexandria
“And cast Joseph into the prison, where the king’s prisoners were kept, and he was there shut up.” (Genesis 39:20)
Where the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is, there is the beauty and splendor of the temple of God.
“But the holy man considered that prison to be a palace; and Joseph himself was a palace in his prison, because where faith, chastity and modesty are, there the palace of Christ is, the temple of God, the dwelling of the Holy Spirit …. In the church there are three models of chastity that everybody must imitate: Joseph, Susanna and Mary. May men imitate Joseph, women Susanna and the virgin Mary.” -St. Chromatius of Aquileia
Discussion: The Lord was with Joseph even when he was falsely accused and cast into prison and “made all that he did to prosper.” How can we remain faithful in keeping our trust in the Lord during trials and sufferings? Recall an incident in your life when this was necessary.
Catechism of the Catholic Church states in 797:
“What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church.” “To this Spirit of Christ, as an invisible principle, is to be ascribed the fact that all the parts of the body are joined one with the other and with their exalted head; for the whole Spirit of Christ is in the head, the whole Spirit is in the body, and the whole Spirit is in each of the members.” The Holy Spirit makes the Church “the temple of the living God.”
Women's Prayer Group In Christ 