
Daily Prayer, Spirituality and Worship in the Roman Catholic Tradition
A friend on Facebook posted a verse from Psalm 34 as a reminder to pray for those who have suffered the floods in Texas. Her scripture quote prompted my writing the prayer below for those who have died, those who are grieving and those who are working on recovery efforts in Kerr County.
Image by Wayne Forte
The first scripture at Mass today was the story of Jacob at Peniel.
Jacob was no angel, but he wrestled one.
In the course of the night, Jacob arose, took his two wives, children and servants and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had taken them across the stream and had brought over all his possessions, Jacob was left there alone. Then some man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When the man saw that he could not prevail over him, he struck Jacob's hip at its socket, so that the hip socket was wrenched as they wrestled.Some say Jacob wrestled with an angel, some say he wrestled with God. The scripture tells us he "contended with divine and human beings" and prevailed. It's also suggested that the wrestling match here is Flesh Vs. Spirit in Jacob's heart.
The man then said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go until you bless me.""What is your name?" the man asked. He answered, "Jacob."
Then the man said, "You shall no longer be spoken of as Jacob, but as Israel, because you have contended with divine and human beings and have prevailed." Jacob named the place Peniel, "Because I have seen God face to face," he said, "yet my life has been spared."
At sunrise, as he left Peniel, Jacob limped along because of his hip. That is why, to this day, the children of Israel do not eat the sciatic muscle that is on the hip socket, inasmuch as Jacob's hip socket was struck at the sciatic muscle.
What kind of spiritual wrestling do I engage in?The good news in the Jacob story is that God respects my efforts and allows me to survive my match with the Divine. I survive not because I am the superior contestant but rather because God calls the match before I suffer defeat. But I don't escape unscathed when I go up against God. His strong hold leaves its mark on me or, as in the case of Jacob's hip, deep within me. But it's a healing mark: I'm branded, tattooed, by my encounter with the Divine.
Angels are God's messengers: how do I wrestle with God's messages to me in the scriptures? in Church teaching? in my prayer? in my conscience?
Do I try to wrestle with God himself? Does something within (hurt, anger, disappointment) prod me to square off with God, hoping to pin and submit him to my own will and way?
Or is it the struggle between the flesh and spirit that provides the mat on which I wrestle with choices I make in life and their consequences?
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Image: George Mendoza |
Good morning, good God!
After the flood what can remain
Kyrie eleison!
Christe eleison!
Kyrie eleison!
After the flood, frail hope appears
from seeds we’ve watered with our tears
and tender shoots spring up from the mud
as life emerges after the flood.
After the flood, repairs are planned;
the helpers come to lend a hand
and beauty blossoms four from the bud
as God renews us after the flood