Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Genesis 32:23-32; Matthew 9:32-38)
It is said that today’s first reading is open to many
interpretations. What can we make of
it? Jacob is soon to meet his brother
Esau whom he tricked out of his inheritance.
Because Jacob suspects retaliation, he divides his entourage in two so
that he will not lose everything to Esau.
Now he encounters the Lord in a wrestling match just as most people find
him daily in a struggle of conscience.
Jacob is bothered by a whisper of guilt that he should return Esau’s birthright. He survives the struggle and even gets the upper
hand. Jacob demands a blessing from the
Lord which is given in the form of a new name.
He will be called “Israel,” which means one who has struggled with God.
Jacob does not totally escape harm. God strikes him on the hip causing him to
limp when he finally meets Esau. Rather than
the wrath he expected, Jacob finds his brother friendly, even solicitous. God has allowed him to keep his brother’s
birthright, but the sore hip will make him wonder at times if it was worth it.
If struggling with God in our conscious means trying to
justify an evil act, we should immediately cease the endeavor. But if it is trying to interpret an ambiguous
act in our favor, we may not be wrong to hold forth. We should purify our memory by honestly and
deliberately questioning what we have done.
We live to serve God, not to dictate to Him.