I started writing this blog some 550 days ago to put down my reflections on the daily reading of the Bible. Thus far, I have made it no closer to Divina Lectio. I have not followed the Rules of St. Benedict (480-543) and have been too intellectual.
The article written by Terry Matz in Catholic OnLine throws a new light on my understanding of the life of St. Benedict. She began with a very perceptive description of modern life.

Our impatience to get to the end, our focus on completion rather than process is a real danger in reading Scripture when every word is from God and has a power all its own.

At the end, Terry mentions the miracle of a nearly empty bottle overflowing with oil. So, when we read the Bible, let us empty our hearts like the oil-bottle in the miracle. Allow God to fill it until it overflows. This is a lovely image. We modern people are too busy, too much occupied to make room for God to work miracle in us. St. Benedict, pray for us, that we may truly benefit from the correct way of reading the Scripture. Amen.

Let me return to Genesis.
At his deathbed, Jacob told his children to bury him with his fathers.
Then he charged them, and said to them, "I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 
in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 
There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah -- 
the field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites." (Genesis 49:29-32) 
After reading this, the memory of my grandmother began to materialize in my mind's eyes. My grandmother became a widow when my father was still very young. Probably, it was rather prevalent at a time of opium-infested China. She lived to a full age. I can still remember the scene when a "bare-foot doctor" administered acupuncture to cure her illness. But I do not have the faintest memory of what my grandfather looked like. Ashamed to say, I even am not sure of his name! No, I must do something to make sure that my children know my father's name!

And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel; 
forty days were required for it, for so many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days (Genesis 50:2-3).
It took 40 days to embalm Jacob and the Egyptians wept for Jacob for 70 days. Jacob settled in Egypt at the age of 130 (Genesis 47:9). He had spent only 17 years in Egypt and in such an advanced age, Jacob could not have contributed much to the Egyptians. Yet he received royal treatment and was buried like a Pharaoh. This must have been the gratitude the Egyptians owed Joseph, not Jacob. Joseph saved the Egyptians from famine. Therefore, Jacob was honoured because of his son Joseph.
To a certain extent, Egyptian burial customs have influenced the Jewish ones. That explains why Jesus was buried, embalmed with a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloe by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus (John 19:38-39). The author of John wanted to treat Jesus like a Pharaoh.
To a certain extent, Mary is honoured because of her son Jesus. That was why Mary was able to make this prophecy.
for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed (Luke 1:48).
Of course, the Blessed Virgin Mary has her own role to play in the salvation of mankind. Yet, like Israel, Mary cannot overshadow Jesus.

As demanded, Jacob was not buried in Egypt and the family members mourned for 7 days at the threshing floor of Atad (Genesis 50:10). Here we have another etymology story.
When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, "This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians." Therefore the place was named Abelmizraim; it is beyond the Jordan (Genesis 50:11).

וַיַּרְא יוֹשֵׁב הָאָרֶץ הַכְּנַעֲנִי אֶת-הָאֵבֶל, בְּגֹרֶן הָאָטָד, וַיֹּאמְרוּ, אֵבֶל-כָּבֵד זֶה לְמִצְרָיִם; עַל-כֵּן קָרָא שְׁמָהּ, אָבֵל מִצְרַיִם, אֲשֶׁר, בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן

Today was a hectic day. In the afternoon, I attended the ordination of 5 deacons at the Cathedral.
Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty (Acts 6:3).
Alex, are you a man of good repute? Are you full of Spirit and of wisdom?
My Lord, I know I still have a long way to go.
In the evening, I went to the farewell dinner in honour of John Wong. Had it been a regular annual dinner for the staff of Shung Tak, there would only have been about 6 tables. Tonight, there were nearly 40 tables. The alumni were really very supportive to their alma mater. When speeches were made, the majority of the guests did not listen. It was a rare opportunity for old friends to come together and share. But when John made his vote of thanks, he had all our ears. John was as diplomatic and humble as he always has been. He did not take the limelight but paid tribute to nearly everyone he had come across in these forty years and were present at the dinner. When these people, ex-principals, ex-colleagues as well as the alumni, were honoured, he was honoured. In particular, those ex-colleagues who spent their whole career in Shung Tak, were elated. "One life, one job" was the keynote of John. I still have a lot to learn from him, his proficiency in English as well as his diplomacy. The dinner came to a climax when the 4 tenors of Shung Tak, all vice-principals, sang together a Canto pop song on stage. What a memorable night.

Dear Lord, I pray for John. I wish him a happy retirement ahead. I pray for myself. If You permit, may I continue to contribute to the character formation of the students You entrust in my hand. May I continue to pursue Your call to serve the Church and the needy. Amen.

The late Pope John Paul II canonized 120 Chinese martyrs on October 1, 2000. It was a gesture of good intention to the People's Republic of China but drew criticisms from both mainland China and Taiwan. In the following two years, the feast was celebrated on September 28. Since 2003, the feast has been moved forward to July 9.

Today, my father-in-law received baptism in St. Benedict Church in Shatin. We attended the ceremony. Fr. Francis Lau Tak Kwong officiated at the mass. He explained why the parish chose this feast day for the baptism of these 10 senior citizens. Nowadays, Catholics do not undergo violent martyrdom as they usually did in previous centuries. Yet, martyrdom should be a daily practice of Catholics. As followers of Christ, we should follow the Lord's instruction to renounce our lives.
And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it (Mark 8:34-35).
On the one hand, it is God's choice. On the other, it is ours. We are blessed because God has prepared for us an eternal life to partake in His glory. Out of His infinite mercy, He sent His only begotten Son to die for us so that we may reclaim the lost paradise. He generously left us His body and blood to sustain and nourish our souls so that we may come home. The ball is in our court. It is our turn to return serve. For different reasons, many ignore this invitation. For those of us who accept, there are obligations to fulfil.
Jesus taught us to shift our focus from earthly living to heavenly goal. Earthly living bogs us down. Heavenly goal lifts us above. Therefore, our daily life on earth becomes a daily exercise to migrate upward. In the process, we need to sacrifice, to give up mundane things and spend our energy on more important goals --- to fight off distractions and turn always towards God. The 120 Chinese martyrs had set before us good models to follow. We get bogged down by a lot of worries. Let us learn to let go and lead a life of true freedom.

Dear Lord, I thank You for Your kindness that my father-in-law may share Your eternal life. I beg You to shower Your mercy on my parents and younger brother so that they too may have a share in Your eternal life. Amen.

In our lack of biblical knowledge, many Old Testament figures tend to be one-dimensional. They were stereotypes of heroes or villains. Like Isaac, many of these prototypes are not fully appreciated. On the contrary, Jacob was a more colourful figure.

Our first impression of Jacob was that he was a quiet boy. Sorry, it should be "a quiet man".
When the boys grew up, Esau was a skilful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents (Genesis 25:27).
In his leisure time, Jacob boiled pottage (Genesis 25:29a)! Were these not girlie jobs? How could you expect such a man to shoulder the responsibility of a family? Would you expect the women to go out to earn a living for the household?
Immediately, Genesis proves our prejudice wrong. Jacob was able to persuade his elder brother Esau to exchange his birthright for the red-bean soup he was boiling (Genesis 25:29-34). Jacob saw the value of this birthright while Esau despised it.
Esau annoyed his parents for marrying two Hittite wives (Genesis 26:34-35). Therefore, Rebekah the mother helped Jacob cheat the blessing of the firstborn from Isaac, his father. Esau was enraged and swore to kill Jacob after the death of Isaac (Genesis 27:41). The situation was desperate. Isaac did not retract his blessing from Jacob. He sent Jacob away to his uncle, Laban the brother of Rebekah in Paddanaram. He still blessed Jacob.
God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. 
May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your descendants with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings which God gave to Abraham (Genesis 28:3-4).

Jacob started his journey from Beersheba. He reached Bethel and dreamed of a ladder reaching heaven.
And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! (Genesis 28:12). 
This is the famous Jacob's ladder. You will be disappointed to find that this ladder, and the word ladder, appears only once in the whole Bible. But this is a famous symbol for Jesus.
After calling Nathanael, Jesus alluded to this ladder.
And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." (John 1:51)
Truly, Jesus is the way through which we may reach God (John 14:6). He is the channel through which God's grace come to us.
Back to Jacob, this is only an etymology story. It explains the meaning of Bethel בֵּית-אֵל, the house of God.
And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." (Genesis 28:17)

וַיִּירָא וַיֹּאמַר מַה-נּוֹרָא הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה אֵין זֶה כִּי אִם-בֵּית אֱלֹהִים וְזֶה שַׁעַר הַשָּׁמָיִם

Jacob met Rachel beside a well (Genesis 29:10). The Bible has recorded a number of such encounters, usually ended up with marriage arrangements. The last one was between Jesus and a Samaritan woman mentioned in John 4. No marriage arrangement resulted. Why did Jesus enable such an encounter? He could have met this Samaritan woman under other circumstances. Why did Jesus choose such a situation pregnant with marital connotations?
Laban cheated Jacob to marry the ugly elder sister Leah first. In the end, Jacob married 4 women: Leah and her maid Zilpah; Rachel and her maid Bilhah. They gave birth to the 12 sons and one daughter to Jacob (Genesis 35:23-26). Dinah the daughter was born of Leah (Genesis 34:1). Jacob paid a rather heavy price for these women because he had spent 14 years working for Laban in exchange for the two cousins. Again, there were wife-rivalries between the two sisters. Later, Jacob had to work for another six years in order to earn enough riches to reconcile with Esau, his brother. Jacob had cheated his brother. If he ever wanted his brother to forgive him, Jacob had to build up enough wealth to negotiate, to repay his debts and to redeem his own life. He was so successful within the last six years that the sons of Laban wanted to chase him away.
Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, "Jacob has taken all that was our father's; and from what was our father's he has gained all this wealth."
And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. 
Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you." (Genesis 31:1-3)
Jacob set about returning to his brother. Laban chased after him but God warned Laban not to harm Jacob. So, Laban made a covenant with Jacob by building a heap of stones. The place was therefore called Galeed.
Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today." Therefore he named it Galeed (Genesis 31:48).

וַיֹּאמֶר לָבָן הַגַּל הַזֶּה עֵד בֵּינִי וּבֵינְךָ הַיּוֹם עַל-כֵּן קָרָא-שְׁמוֹ, גַּלְעֵד

This is yet another etymology story.
Jacob continued his way and met the angels of God.
and when Jacob saw them he said, "This is God's army!" So he called the name of that place Mahanaim. (Genesis 32:2, MT 32:3).

וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב כַּאֲשֶׁר רָאָם, מַחֲנֵה אֱלֹהִים זֶה; וַיִּקְרָא שֵׁם-הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא, מַחֲנָיִם

But Jacob's wrestling with an angel should be counted the most famous part of the story.
Jacob was in a dilemma. He wanted to seek reconciliation but at the same time, he was afraid for his own life. Esau had brought along 400 men. What if Esau was as hostile as before? Therefore, Jacob sent his riches in front of him, acting as a buffer between Esau and himself. The following formed one present and Jacob had prepared several such droves.
two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 
thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten he-asses (Genesis 32:14-15).
His last line of defence was his family members.
And he put the maids with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all (Genesis 33:2).
Benjamin was not yet born to Rachel. The "presents", wives and children were dispensable. Jacob had prepared well for twenty years. That night before meeting Esau, Jacob could not sleep and wrestled with a stranger who was believed to be an angel. The struggle lasted the whole night. At last, the angel renamed Jacob Israel. In short, this is yet another etymology story explaining where Israel came from.
Then he said, "Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed." (Genesis 32: 28, MT 32:29)

וַיֹּאמֶר, לֹא יַעֲקֹב יֵאָמֵר עוֹד שִׁמְךָ--כִּי אִם-יִשְׂרָאֵל: כִּי-שָׂרִיתָ עִם-אֱלֹהִים וְעִם-אֲנָשִׁים, וַתּוּכָל

Thus Israel was explained.
The same renaming event appears in Genesis again, but this time without explanation.
God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddanaram, and blessed him. 
And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." So his name was called Israel (Genesis 35:9-10).
The two brothers reconciled in a very touching scene (Genesis 33:4). Still, Jacob remained highly cautious until he safely reached Succoth (Genesis 33:8-18).
But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house, and made booths for his cattle; therefore the name of the place is called Succoth (Genesis 33:17).

וְיַעֲקֹב נָסַע סֻכֹּתָה, וַיִּבֶן לוֹ בָּיִת; וּלְמִקְנֵהוּ עָשָׂה סֻכֹּת, עַל-כֵּן קָרָא שֵׁם-הַמָּקוֹם סֻכּוֹת

There are many more etymology stories that I have not put down here. Otherwise, it would be too overwhelming.

Dear Lord, it is edifying to observe the evolution of Jacob/Israel. You have set up these models for us to imitate. May we learn from their journeys of faith and encounter You on the way home. Amen.