Our theme for 2023: Wrestle & Rest

“Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.” – Genesis 32:24

 It is in the stillness, silence, and ‘alone-ness’ of prayer that God wants to encounter us. He waits for us in a “deep sanctuary where human thought cannot penetrate”. (St. Faustina; Diary, #1721)

Entering into this ‘innermost sanctuary’ takes true grit. We need to wrestle against our own desires, our distractions, our preferences. But we are also invited into a deep experience of wrestling with the Father, allowing His mind, His heart, and His knowledge of us to take precedence over our own.

It is only with patience and by staying in the place suffering – by waiting ‘until daybreak’ – that we receive the intimate blessing and friendship God has created us for. “God will give us a new name, which contains the meaning of our entire life; he will change our heart and will offer us the blessing reserved to those who have allowed themselves to be changed by him. He knows how to do so, because he knows each one of us. Each of us can say, ‘Lord, you know me. Change me’.” (Pope Francis, General Audience, June 10 2020)