Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Genesis 28:10-22a; Matthew 9:18-26)
Although he does not know it, Jacob has come across a
shrine. It is a holy place sanctified by
the prayers of many others on that spot.
The Lord is there ready to hear the request of this unwitting pilgrim.
Jacob has sneakily taken his brother’s birthright. That is, he is to be, like Isaac and Abraham,
the “father of many nations.” Now he
must escape Esau’s wrath and then establish himself with a wife and children. God does not hold Jacob in contempt for his trickery. Rather he has chosen Jacob, perhaps for his
cleverness, to extend the heritage that will end in the birth of His own Son Jesus,
the Christ.
Shrines are found in most cities with a Catholic heritage
today. They are places for us to ask the
Lord for assistance. There we are likely
to find other good people whose faith helps us trust in God’s enduring love.
