Wrestling with God

Then the man said, You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed. (Gen 32:28)

The Bible is full of persons who wrestle with God. As they stumble in their lives, they love and adore their Lord. They also scheme, lie, cheat, steal, quarrel, and fornicate. Abraham, the faith model for Jews, Christians, and Muslims, tells Sarah to lie; Sarah scolds God for ignoring her; Amnon rapes his sister; Judas recognizes Jesus’ unconditional love for him; Mary thinks that by distancing himself from her, Jesus hammered a spike into her breast; Peter’s wife crawls into their bed and snuggles up; Jesus’ relatives think he is crazy. In a word, as seekers of God the biblical characters mirror our lives. Like Jacob we limp away from the wrestling match.

Kilian McDonnell, OSB, (1921–2025) was a priest, theologian, and monk of Saint John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota. He received his STD from the theological faculty of Trier, Germany, and taught at the Saint John’s University School of Theology. He was the founder of the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research at Saint John’s University and the author of several books, including five volumes of biblical poetry published by Liturgical Press.