Chapter X.
After a few noon-time preparations, the bringing in of the gifts, the restoration of the banquet, and the most kindly meeting of Joseph with his brothers are recounted. When he sees his brother Benjamin and inquires about him, he blesses him and, having withdrawn to hide his tears, soon returns with a washed face. To these events is added a moral and mystical interpretation.
52. However, they delayed the gifts until Joseph entered at noon (ibid., 25). Paul's faith hastened at noon. Before he was blind, afterwards he began to see the light of righteousness; for whoever reveals his way to the Lord and hopes in him, the Lord will also bring forth his righteousness like the noonday, and his judgment like the midday. And when God appeared to Abraham at the oak of Mamre, it was noon, and from the presence of the Lord eternal light shone. Midday is when Joseph truly enters his home to have lunch. For then the day shines more, when we celebrate the sacraments.
53. And they brought him gifts, he said, (Ibid., 26 et seq.). We bring gifts, he prepares a banquet. He says: Bring the bread, which only the Jews eat, the Egyptians cannot eat. But before the banquet, what dignity! What a mastery of moral diligence and grace! Despite the suspicion that the brothers thought Joseph had against them, he invited them to dine, their feelings wavered: his grace continued: he called the first, he asked the first: How are you?
And again he said: Is it right that your father is older? It is the duty of the younger to initiate conversation, to give confidence in speaking, to inquire not only about themselves, but also about their parents.
The respondent said to him: Your son is right, our father. That elder said, so that he would be honored: they named him as the boy, so that they would give the service of humility; which seems that old age is of honored dignity, but boyhood seems to be subject, and closer to modesty than pride.
56. But looking with his eyes, he saw Benjamin his brother from the same mother (Genesis 29). It is a moral principle that we see those whom we love above others, and that our gaze is drawn to those who occupy our thoughts. For often, preoccupied with other matters, we do not see those who are before our eyes; thus, our gaze is guided by our mind. Therefore, holy Joseph saw his brother Benjamin, whom he held in his thoughts and sought with his eyes. In his absence, he had almost not seen his brothers, for seeing was of no use; and he was not satisfied with merely seeing, but as if unaware, he asked, 'Is this your younger brother?' Custom and the grace of charity require that we hold dear not only with our eyes, but also with our words. Joseph recognized his beloved: he sat and asked, so that his soul, which he held, would be heard.
57. Finally, he did not wait for a response, but immediately blessed him, and he was troubled by the fruit of his desire. His heart was tormented because the freedom to embrace the one he desired was delayed. Finally, he entered the storehouse, wept, and washed his face, and restrained himself. The sharp spurs of great love quickly pierce the hearts, unless the reins of desire are loosened. Joseph was overcome by affection, his plan was delayed: reason was at odds with love. He wept, so that the heat of devout love might temper with tears. This is moral.
58. However, mystically. The Lord Jesus saw Paul, for the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and He said: 'This is your younger brother' (ibid., 29)? He is called younger still, who had not yet reached the mature age of the white-haired faith, who had not yet grown into a perfect man, into that full measure of the age of the fullness of Christ (Eph. IV, 13). Finally, he is only called young there (Acts VII, 57), where he was keeping the garments of those stoning Stephen. And for this reason, he desired Philemon to be like him not in his youth but in his old age, as he wrote: I beg you even more, now that I am old like Paul (Philem. 9). Therefore, he advises that younger widows should be avoided (I Tim. V, 11), not because of their age but because of a certain lasciviousness of youthful transgressions and immaturity of virtue. However, there is greater praise for chastity in a young person than in an old person. But I think it is not unrelated to the truth that, if we understand that when Paul had this experience and was struck with horror because blindness had befallen him, he nevertheless began to draw near by saying: Lord, what do you want me to do (Act. IX, 6); therefore, he was called younger by Christ, so that he who was called by grace would be excused from guilt, because he had been subjected to the slipperiness of youth. Finally, Christ saw him when a light shone around him. And because young people are more often drawn away from vice by fear than reason, he used a stimulus and, taking pity, warned him not to resist the stimulus.
However, he was troubled, as you have in the Gospel (John 11:33), because he was troubled in spirit when he raised Lazarus; and there he wept, so that he might wash away with his tears the sins of the dead. But he wept inwardly, and he washed his face. The blindness of Paul is the tears of Christ: he washes his face, where his lost light is restored. Christ washes his face, where Paul was baptized, through whom the Lord Jesus seemed to be seen by many. And therefore in the banquet, her part became five times greater, because she surpassed the others not only in mental prudence but also in bodily strength and grace of chastity.