Weekly Reflection from Sr. Rosemary Finnegan, O.P.
Readings rom: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071123.cfm
Because we only heard part of a story about Jacob this morning in our first reading, it sounds confusing, odd and hard to interpret. The back story is this:
Jacob actually had a twin brother, Esau, who was the firstborn and therefore should have gotten the family birthright from their father, Isaac. But Jacob and his mother connived to get that birthright. Isaac was blind, so Jacob managed through some trickery on the mother’s part to receive the blessing from his father. When Esau learned of this, he became very angry, so Jacob fled to distant lands. Eventually Jacob married, acquired some wealth and 20 years later, was ready to make amends with his brother. It was on this journey home to see Esau that our story picks up today.
Finding himself alone after he crossed his family to the other side of the river, Jacob encounters a ‘man’, whom we learn later was a divine presence. They begin to wrestle. Actually, Jacob wrestled all his life to prevail, first with Esau, other family members, and now with God as he reenters his homeland. During this wrestling encounter, Jacob seemed to be winning; however, God showed him that he could disable him at will by injuring his hip. Jacob finally asks his opponent to bless him. He who tricked his brother and robbed Esau of the family blessing, now wants a blessing from this stranger. In the end, he not only received the blessing, but also a new identity and a new name, “Israel” which means “God is strong, God is victorious.”
What can we learn from this story? Perhaps we can relate it to our own prayer life. Like Jacob’s wrestling encounter, prayer is our lifelong night of seeking God, of struggle and perseverance, of forgiveness, of asking God for a blessing, a conversion of heart, and a new identity.
St. Benedict is surely one who knew this struggle. He and his twin sister, Scholastica, were born in Italy in 480 to a Christian noble family. While studying in Rome as a young man, he grew weary of his friends’ immoral lives, and his teacher’s unchristian and corrupt ways. He left school and lived as a hermit in a cave. As he prayed and studied scripture, he grew in holiness. When people flocked to Benedict to learn about God, he decided to unite them in a shared community. Benedict founded the Benedictine Order, 12 monasteries, and wrote the Rule of St. Benedict which can be summed up in his famous phrase “ora et labora”, i.e., pray and work. These monasteries of prayer, work and study became a civilizing influence in turbulent Europe. Benedict became known as the founder of Western Monasticism. Over 1500 years later, Benedictine monks still live by his directive “That in all things, God may be glorified.”
May we, like Jacob and Benedict, learn to surrender our hearts to God who will do infinitely more with our lives than we can ask or imagine.
