Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.” (Genesis 50:24-25)
Organizers cover the boxed cremated remains of Mexicans who died from COVID-19 before a service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, July 11, 2020, in New York. The ashes were blessed before they were repatriated to Mexico. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/ Associated Press)
Mourners attend the blessing of ashes of Mexicans who died from COVID-19 during a payer a service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Associated Press)
Mourners hold images of loved one during the blessing of cremated remains of Mexicans who died from COVID-19 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Associated Press)
So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.” (Exodus 13:18-19)
New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan (right) leads a prayer during the blessing of cremated remains of Mexicans who died from COVID-19 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Associated Press)
Jorge Islas Lopez, Consul General of Mexico, and others carry the remains of loved ones following the blessing of the ashes of Mexicans who died from COVID-19 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Associated Press)
Mourners carry out the remains of loved ones following the blessing of the ashes of Mexicans who died from COVID-19 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The ashes were blessed before they were repatriated to Mexico. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Associated Press)
Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel. And Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph’s descendants. (Joshua 24:31-32)
Mexican soldiers and members of the diplomatic service mourn five boxed cremated remains, of Mexicans who died from COVID-19, during a welcoming ceremony at the tarmac of Benito Suarez International airport in Mexico City, July 11, 2020. (Fernando Llano/Associated Press)
Relatives of Mexican citizens that died from COVID-19 complications in the United States carry urns containing the ashes of their loved ones during a ceremony in Puebla, Mexico, July 13, 2020. (Fernando Llano/Associated Press)
Puebla state workers handle an urn holding ashes of a Mexican who died in the U.S. from COVID-19 complications during a ceremony in Puebla, Mexico, July 13, 2020. (Fernando Llano/Associated Press)
