Memorial of Saint
Benedict, abbot
(Genesis 32:23-33; Matthew 9:32-38)
In his encyclical Veritatis
Splendor St. John Paul II calls conscience “the voice of God.” There God speaks telling a person whether an
action is right or wrong. Sometimes,
however, the person questions what she hears.
The initial judgment seems facile with more consideration of the circumstances
being needed. Now the person is struggling
with her conscience. In this way Jacob can
be said as wrestling with God in today’s first reading.
Jacob to this point is no paragon of virtue. Most egregiously, he colluded with his mother
to rob Esau of his inheritance. He has also
married two wives and has fathered children with two other women. Now he struggles with his conscience. That neither Jacob nor the stranger with whom
he wrestled throughout the night wins the fight indicates a mixed judgment. He has done evil, but he is not a bad
man. He will need to change some ways,
but Jacob proves himself capable of advancing God’s project of building a great
nation.
Today the Church celebrates St. Benedict, a holy man who
established the cenobite or communal monastic tradition in Western Europe. As Jacob is accredited with a major role in building
the nation of Israel, Benedict is recognized for his contribution to Western
Civilization. Benedictine monks preserved
the legacies from Greece and Rome and added to them the wisdom of
Christianity. In celebrating Benedict we
give thanks for both the humanistic and religious patrimonies that have been
handed down to us through the ages.
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