Wrestling With God

     When I arrived at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament this morning for mass, I found the the doors were locked.  It is the hottest day of the year and I saw several elderly panting patiently as they waited for the doors of the church to be opened.  Usually the hairs on the back of my neck would stand straight up as I would get angry that my brothers and sisters were not being allowed into the House of God.

     "Ask."  I felt I heard the Lord say to me.  A moment of Divine revelation seemed to overcome me like one would cover a child with a blanket on a cold winter night.

     "Seek."  God continued to speak to the inner recesses of my soul.  I knew exactly what to do.  Mary be sitting at the foot of Jesus but Martha, the church receptionist, has the keys to this kingdom.

     "Knock."  says the Lord.

    "Buzz!"  I chuckled as we live in the year 2011 AD in an electronic state of security.  When Martha buzzed me in, I explained the situation of the locked church.  Martha thanked me for reminding her as it had been a very busy morning after returning from the holiday weekend.

     In the catholic church, there is a gift called the gift of tears.  As tears of JOY ran down my cheeks from a flood of emotion from the depth of my being the solution to homelessness seems to be three steps away.  I need to Ask, Seek, and Knock.  Even Buzz if I need too.

      Martha opened the door for my brothers and sisters to be able to attend mass.  The first scripture reading was from Genesis Chapter 32 where Jacob wrestles with God.  He would stop wrestling until the Angel of the Lord gave him a blessing.  This wrestling match caused Jacob to walk with a limp for the rest of his life.  "How odd"  I thought.  I walk with the same limp in my left leg.  Jacob's name was changed from Jacob to Israel.  "How peculiar"  My name has been changed to my catholic confirmation name, John Thomas.

      The gospel was from Matthew where Jesus casts a demon out of a man .and where Jesus tells the disciples that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  If I am going to ask the church to open the doors for the homeless, I need to build teams of volunteers for this insanity of mine to become a reality.  This is only going to work if it is organized and done in an orderly fashion.

     When I was taking a picture of the empty house of God, I stumbled into a statue of St. Francis.  Who better to ask to intercede with me in prayer for the poor and the homeless.

     Jesus is the answer.  My new theology is read the Red and pray for the power.

     The priest ended mass today with, "Let's wrestle with God and let him win."

     Now let's go out to love and serve the Lord!