Jacob was a man of self-will. He would take any advantage to get ahead and showed great determination while under Laban’s domination. But for twenty years, Jacod wondered when he would ever go home again. But going back home is a crisis, for he needs to face his past, and his crisis is summed up in one word: Esau.

Like Jacob, we are always on the move – we struggle to slow down long enough to hear God’s voice and seldom stop to listen. And that might also be God’s problem with most of us. So, occasionally, God brings us to a crisis point, and we struggle with God.

God wrestles us to the ground, and we fight back desperately, but no matter how much strength we have, we are no match for God. But after this struggle, God will bless us, make us see the world differently, and change the course of our life. Facing our crisis can also be our most profound experience of God, for these are the moments where God can bring us where he wants us to be.

Saint Peter Julian Eymard wrote on February 5, 1865: God’s divine providence removes me from danger and makes me change my place, my state, and even my health to preserve me from the slavery of studies, from the vanity of successes, from attachment to creatures, from the very slavery of gratitude, Our Lord had wanted to be my Master in everything. I was a bit like Jacob, always on the way – and all this was to bring me to the Eucharistic vocation. I needed Marseille to give me the exclusive love, the center – and Lyon to give me the exercise and put me on the way to the Cenacle.

Prayer:

Gracious God of our ancestors, you led Peter Julian Eymard, like Jacob in times past, on a journey of faith. Under the guidance of your gentle spirit, Peter Julian discovered the gift of love in the Eucharist, which your Son Jesus offered for the hunger of humanity. Grant that we may celebrate this mystery worthily, adore it profoundly and proclaim it prophetically for your greater glory. Amen.