The story of Jacob wrestling with God provides us with much food for thought. The actual wrestling reminds us of our own struggles with faith, our struggles to be morally good and just people, even holy people. Some of the other details of the story also prove enlightening. It is on the way to Palestine that Jacob undergoes this strange experience. We too are on the road to the promised land of heaven, and on this road we meet many challenges. In the midst of our struggles, we can rest assured that they come precisely because we are on the way to the Holy Land of Heaven, the land which Jesus won for us by His life and death. Jesus never told us that the road to heaven was an easy one. He told us to struggle to enter through the narrow gate.

The struggle made Jacob ready for a new mission, signified in the change of his name from "Jacob" to "Israel". In baptism, we received a baptismal name, the name of our patron saint. We too are called by baptism to be a patron for others, to introduce others to the way of heaven and to help them walk on this way in faith, hope and love.