Washed, Sanctified and Justified in the Sacraments of the Catholic Church.
Showing posts with label Catholic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Catholic. Show all posts
Monday, November 9, 2015
Saturday, December 13, 2014
December 14, 2014 - Third Sunday of Advent
Lectionary: 8A reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah. This reading is in the context of the Babylonian exile. The Jews were captured and taken away from their homes. Now God has relented and is sending the Prophet Isaiah to proclaim liberty and salvation. Therefore, Isaiah says:
Reading 1 IS 61:1-2A, 10-11
The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,This verse is a double entendre. The Prophet Isaiah is being described as a type of Jesus Christ. Foreshadowing the time when Jesus Christ, the anointed of God, will come to set the captives free.
because the LORD has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,
to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners,
to announce a year of favor from the LORD
and a day of vindication by our God.
"Proclaiming liberty to the captives and releasing the prisoners" especially draws me to Hebrews 11. There it is described that the Elect of the Old Testament. Those who had persevered in faith, had not received the promise of salvation. But awaited the coming of Christ before they would "receive the promise."
I rejoice heartily in the LORD,Now, he is speaking for the Church and this verse reminds me of the Magnificat, "My soul rejoices in God my Saviour".
in my God is the joy of my soul;
for he has clothed me with a robe of salvationAlthough the Church is usually represented as the Bride of Christ, in this case, the Church is represented both as bridegroom and as bride. We are all, man or woman, united to God. Again, this takes me back to another verse, Romans 7:4.
and wrapped me in a mantle of justice,
like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem,
like a bride bedecked with her jewels.
As the earth brings forth its plants,Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus, come! We are anxiously awaiting your second coming!
and a garden makes its growth spring up,
so will the Lord GOD make justice and praise
spring up before all the nations.
Responsorial Psalm LK 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54
R/ (Is 61:10b) My soul rejoices in my God.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
R/ My soul rejoices in my God.
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
R/ My soul rejoices in my God.That is the beautiful Magnificat of our Lady. I used to know it by heart. I recommend it to all.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
R/ My soul rejoices in my God.
I consider the Canticle of Zechariah, the perfect companion prayer.
What do we rejoice about? Why should we be happy?Reading 2 1 THES 5:16-24
Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice always.
We rejoice because God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to save us from our sins.
Pray without ceasing.This is hard to do. I found that the easiest way for me to do this, is to continually thank God. Just repeat the words, "Thank you, God", all day. Then you can move on to prayer ejaculations, and the Rosary, and then to the Presence of God. Or you could pray the Liturgy of the hours.
In all circumstances give thanks,
for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.Eucharist, is the Greek word for "thanksgiving". St. Paul may be using a euphemism to recommend the frequent reception of the Eucharist.
Or, maybe he just wants to recognize, that all things, whether we experience them as pleasurable or suffering, all things are for the good of those who love God.
Do not quench the Spirit.Don't be a party pooper. Do not take a man's confidence or peace which he has found in God.
Do not despise prophetic utterances.If a man says he has received a special privilege from God, don't reject it out of hand. Give the benefit of the doubt. How many people have persecuted the Saints for their prophetic utterances. Don't be one of them. Let the Church study the question. It is up to the Church to decide if it is legitimate.
Test everything; retain what is good.Don't believe everything that people tell you. Test them. You shall know them by their fruits. A good tree gives good fruit. A thistle gives you thorns.
Refrain from every kind of evil.Keep the Commandments. Do unto others as you would have them to do for you.
May the God of peace make you perfectly holyAnd God will give you the grace to receive the promise of eternal life in our Lord Jesus.
and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body,
be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The one who calls you is faithful,Because it is God who works through us to accomplish His good pleasure.
and he will also accomplish it.
All of us, who have been baptized and receive the Sacraments, have been anointed to bring the good tidings of our Lord Jesus Christ to the world. Let us begin. Let your light shine before the world that they may see it and give God the glory.Alleluia IS 61:1 (CITED IN LK 4:18)
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You are John.Gospel JN 1:6-8, 19-28
A man named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light,
so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light,You have been sent to testify to all who come in contact with you. How do you do this? Well, when you talk about your children, say, "Thanks be to God! for my children." And when your football team wins, say, "By the grace of God! We won!" And don't just say, "JESUS CHRIST!" When you're angry. Instead, say, "Help me, Jesus! I need your help!"
but came to testify to the light.
And this is the testimony of John.St. John was so holy, that the people of Jerusalem mistook him for Christ. Do the same.
When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests
and Levites to him
to ask him, “Who are you?”
He admitted and did not deny it,
but admitted, “I am not the Christ.”
So they asked him,St. John took no credit upon himself, but only pointed to Christ. Do the same.
“What are you then? Are you Elijah?”
And he said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
So they said to him,
“Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us?
What do you have to say for yourself?”
He said:
“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘make straight the way of the Lord,’”
as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Some Pharisees were also sent.St. John the Baptist, the Precursor, prepared the way of the Lord and is an apt symbol in this time of Advent. Let us all do the same. Prepare the way of the Lord in our hearts and in our lives.
They asked him,
“Why then do you baptize
if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”
John answered them,
“I baptize with water;
but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
This happened in Bethany across the Jordan,
where John was baptizing.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Is your marriage in trouble?
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Friday, October 10, 2014
Cont'd from the 7QT's about The Big Bang, Evolution, Science, Genesis, heaven and earth and the Bible
Question: But according to science birds are a later development than animals. According to science birds descend from dinosaurs. Yet day 4 has creatures in the seas and birds on the land, "And God said, "Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven....Genesis 1:20." and day 5 has animals on land.
Answer: Pterosaurs were the birds of the ancient world. Science has of yet no explanation for their existence. No transitional fossils have been found to account for the existence of pterosaurs.
Question: But Pterosaurs aren't birds.
Answer: That is true, and whales aren't fish but many people consider them fish even today, simply because they inhabit the oceans. In the same way, Pterosaurs can be considered birds.
Question: There are still problems, Day 6, God created man but as yet "..And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew.... Genesis 2:5" How does this jive with day 3, 4 and 5.
Answer: Genesis Chapter 2 is a shift in the narrative. It doesn't focus on the creation of the universe and the earth as much as on the creation of man and the infusion of the Holy Spirit.. It is more Spiritual and theological in nature. Suffice to say for now, that Genesis 1 is completely consistent with science in its portrayal of the creation of the earth. In Genesis 1, man is created after the creatures and after the grasses, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.....Genesis 1:26"
HUMAN EVOLUTION VS BIBICAL CREATION OF MAN
Question: Doesn't human evolution contradict the Biblical account of the the creation of man by God?
Answer: No. CCC 366 The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God - it is not "produced" by the parents....
Pope John Paul II in his Message to Pontifical Academy of Sciences October 22, 1996 said,
Pius XII stressed this essential point: if the human body takes its origin from pre-existent living matter the spiritual soul is immediately created by God ("animal enim a Deo immediate creari catholica fides nos retinere inhet"; Encyclical Humani generic, AAS 42 [1950], p. 575).
Catholic Information Network (http://www.cin.org/jp2evolu.html)
Therefore, Adam and Eve's soul was created directly by God. The body evolved by processes put into effect by God.
Question: But science says that man descended from apes, while the Bible says that man was formed out of dust, Genesis 2:7 "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul....."
Answer: No. CCC 366 The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God - it is not "produced" by the parents....
Pope John Paul II in his Message to Pontifical Academy of Sciences October 22, 1996 said,
Pius XII stressed this essential point: if the human body takes its origin from pre-existent living matter the spiritual soul is immediately created by God ("animal enim a Deo immediate creari catholica fides nos retinere inhet"; Encyclical Humani generic, AAS 42 [1950], p. 575).
Catholic Information Network (http://www.cin.org/jp2evolu.html)
Therefore, Adam and Eve's soul was created directly by God. The body evolved by processes put into effect by God.
Question: But science says that man descended from apes, while the Bible says that man was formed out of dust, Genesis 2:7 "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul....."
Answer: Science also says that originally all life came fom some primordial mud. In comparison to God, we are all bits of mud and dirt. The Biblical Narrator may have been referring to some apes as a bit of clay and portrayed God as taking a bit of genetic material from this ape to make Adam.
Note also, that all animals were created out of the ground, Genesis 2:19 "And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof....."
Question: So, did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?
Answer: I don't know. To keep the following answers in perspective we must remember that the human soul was (and continues to be) made directly by God and put into Adam and Eve. The human body may have evolved by processes put in place by God or it may have been made directly by God. I can envision the following possibilities:
1. Adam and Eve were both miraculously created by God as fully formed adults. No belly buttons were necessary.
2. Adam was miraculously engendered in the animal from which the genetic material was taken. Belly button necessary. Eve was miraculously engendered from Adam's Rib, cloned so to speak, no belly button necessary.
3. The Rib taken from Adam may symbolize something else, perhaps the genetic material or process that was used to engender Adam. That is, Eve may have been engendered in the same animal or type of animal as Adam. In which case, Eve may be more accurately described as Adam's sister, not his clone. Belly buttons would be necessary for both.
If the body evolved from an animal, this explains our concupiscence, which we will talk about later.
Question: Concupiscence?
Answer: Yes. Man's propensity to sin.
Question: How does any of that work exactly?
Answer: No one knows that answer. But we can speculate for instance, that an ape existed which had evolved to a certain level of intelligence. God took a little dust, a male infant (or an adult), breathed into it and made it into the first man. Then God took a female from the same species and made the first woman in the same way. He then put them in the Garden of Eden.
Question: What is the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and why can't Adam and Eve eat of it?
Answer: In my opinion, it isn't a green tree. It is a family tree.
God has forbidden Adam and Eve from participating in an animal society which already existed and from which he is keeping them separate. I am speaking specifically of the animal society from which Adam's genetic material may have been taken.
It is a common theme in the Bible that God was setting His People apart from the heathen world. To be set apart is to be holy. Abraham and Moses and the other Prophets were supposed to keep the Hebrew people holy, set apart from the existing pagan societies which would teach them to sin.
Deuteronomy 7
1When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; 2And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: 3Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. 4For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
Question: Where is the sin in Adam and Eve wanting to participate in a pre-existing society?
Answer: First, the sin is in disobeying God's command. Next, the sin is in desiring to participate in a life which is not intimately united to God in the way and with the dignity in which Adam and Eve were created. It is the same as rejecting the love of God.
Question: Where does the snake come into all this?
Answer: I prefer to call him the dragon (See Revelations 12). The Dragon, his name is Lucifer, was once the most beautiful of angels, he became jealous of men when he saw that God had clothed himself in flesh and created beings in His image and likeness. He knew that these beings were inferior to him and that he would be called upon to minister to them as all angels are. Therefore he cried, "I will not serve!" He was thrown from heaven to earth and took 1/3 of the angels with him. Then he decided to trick the humans as well. He showed them their family tree and told them they could be like Gods amongst them.
Question: Like Gods? Then Adam and Eve were already prideful!
Answer: No. Notice that Satan worked on the Woman first. He used her good, maternal feelings to make her believe that they could, with their higher intellligence and strength, take care of these poor creatures. Adam and Eve had never known anything but a loving nurturing God and that is what they wanted to be, loving and nurturing towards these creatures which resembled them so much.
Question: Don't most people say that the Original Sin was a sin of the flesh?
Answer: Yes. But I personally don't subscribe to that answer. The entire Bible characterizes the relationship between God and His people as a marriage covenant. Anytime they sin, it is considered that they have been unfaithful. Sin is characterized as adultery.
In this sense, the sin of Eve was an act of adultery. If we go back to the serpent reference we can readily see that the metaphor fits. Satan is depicted as a serpent that has entered the garden. This is the same garden that Adam must till and protect Genesis 2:15 "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it....." This garden is a metaphor for the Woman.
Question: Where does the nakedness come in?
Answer:
1. Adam and Eve had seen these creatures from afar and had come in for a closer observation. They hadn't realized that, although they were the same color and overall shape, they were different. They were naked, they had no fur. Their eyes were opened and they were ashamed. They realized that these creatures were not human after all. They realized they had sinned in disobeying.
2. Adam and Eve realized they were naked after they had disobeyed God's command. That is, they realized that they no longer had God's protection and like wild animals searched for a place to hide. They had never known fear before, until then.
Question: Who did Cain marry?
Answer: It is important to note first of all that Cain's line did not survive. It was destroyed during the flood.
Note that Cain's age was not specified as to when he married. This suggests that Cain married immediately after he was exiled from his family. If you notice, Cain never repented from his sin and when he left he had not reconciled with God. His soul was dead and he was essentially no better than the animals that surrounded him. Cain united himself to an ape. His children inherited no soul and their behavior illustrates that they fell further and further away from God. Genesis 4, "23And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. 24If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold."
Seth, on the other hand, married within the family. The Spiritual Soul given man by God remained in tact and was passed on by the Sons of God (Seth's line). That is why they are called the sons of God. Genesis 4:26 "And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD."
At that time, the sons of God (Seth's line) began to mix with the daughters of man (Cain's line) and the result was that fewer and fewer men were born with a Spiritual Soul until God had to lament, "My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years....Genesis 6:3"
And the only ones who remained blameless in that age were Noah and his sons, who were from Seth's line. Then came the flood and all of Cain's line was destroyed. A new beginning.
Question: So which is it? According to the 1st Creation Story man was the last creature created, but according to the 2nd Creation Story, man was the first creature created. Compare Genesis 1:26, 27 to Genesis 2:1-23.
Answer: Not really. Man was not complete without woman and woman was created last. Also, the 2nd Creation Story has to be understood in an allegorical sense. Even so, it still fits into the scientific theories we have been addressing.
First of all, when God created man from dust before the first bush sprouted, we must understand that God knew from the beginning that He would create man and Creation itself was ordered in that direction. When God put man in the Garden we understand that all plants were created for man. When God created all creatures and Adam named them, we understand that all creatures were made for man (see Genesis 1:28-31). And then God created Woman thereby completing man.
Question: Nope, that is unacceptable. It is a serious flaw in your ideas.
Answer: Genesis 2:8-9 "And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Note in Genesis 2:8-9, that the Garden existed before man and it can be understood that the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was already in this garden.
Question: But the scriptures say that God gave all creatures plants to eat, not flesh. How does this relate to Science?
Answer: In an allegorical sense, plants do feed all animals. Flesh eating animals eat plant eating animals and without plants all life as we know it would disappear from this planet.
Question: But death didn't enter the world when Adam sinned. Animals were killing others before man came into being, according to science.
Answer: God is Life. Sin is the separation of man from God. Death is the separation of man from Life.
So it was the introduction of sin in the world which introduced the death of the soul to the world. Since there were no other souls in the world except Adam's and Eve's and they had both separated themselves from God by their sin, then death (of the soul) did enter the world for the first time.
Question: What did God mean "he must not be allowed to eat from the fruit of the tree of life and live forever. paraphrase of Genesis 3:22"?
Answer: He meant, "nothing impure will enter heaven." Revelations 21:27 "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."
To "eat from the fruit of the tree of life" means to participate in the life of God. One can not participate in the life of God if one chooses to separate himself from God. That is, if one chooses to commit sin, one separates himself from God.
Notice that Adam and Eve did not immediately repent of their sin. Instead they blamed each other and the serpent. They essentially justified their sin. Therefore they were banished from the presence of God, from paradise.
Question: Who wanted to kill Cain?
Answer: Cain was afraid of the members of the pre-existent family tree. It is scientifically proven that ape societies, gorillas and chimps, even today, attack and kill strangers. Not to mention human societies.
In a sense, Cain was already dead. There is no indication in Scripture that Cain ever regained his soul. Note that Eve is overjoyed to have a 3rd son, Seth, to replace Abel whom Cain killed. Not only had Cain killed Abel but he had effectively killed himself. He was banished fom the ground that had received his brother's blood and could never return. There is tension in the Scriptures between the line of Seth and the line of Cain.
Note that Cain's offspring Lamech bragged that he had killed a young boy and said, "if Cain is avenged sevenfold, I am avenged seventy seven fold." Effectively, Lamech had declared himself God, since God is the one who would avenge Cain, but Lamech avenged himself. Cain's line had descended into hell.
But to Seth a child was born whom he named Enoch and at this time men began to call God by name. Seth's line had ascended towards heaven.
Question: But what is the sin that Adam and Eve committed?
Answer: We can assume that Adam and Eve wanted to do good, because they were good. God said so. They had complete mastery over themselves. Somehow the Serpent (Dragon) tricked them into wanting to be like God. But in what way? All they knew was a loving and nurturing God who had made them in His own image. I assume, they wanted to love and nurture the apes of their family tree and make them into people like themselves,much like we want to love and nurture puppies when we are young.
Question: Surely an excess of love could not be a sin?
Answer: No. But an excess of pride is. Suddenly, where they wanted to love and nurture, pride entered in by way of Satan. Instead of obeying God, they tried to do something independently of God. The Dragon made them forget that without God we can do nothing. They succeeded only in cutting themselves off from God.
Question: So what exactly is the Original Sin and why do we all participate in it?
Answer: You are asking two questions.
1st, what did Adam and Eve actually do to commit Original Sin?
2nd, what are we guilty of? That is, what sin did we inherit from them?
1st, what Adam and Eve did was not an actual physical sin. It was an act of will. They willed something which was not in accord with God's will. By doing so, they separated themselves from God. This is what is known as the original sin.
2nd, what we are guilty of and what we inherited from them is simply the state of being separated from God. We were born in a state of separation from God.
Question: So, what does the apple represent and what does biting the apple represent?
Answer: Its not literally an apple but a fruit. What is the fruit of a family tree but its young. Eve, the Mother of all mankind, saw the young of the pre-existent society and wanted to love and nurture it. The Dragon told her she would be like God amongst these animals. She showed Adam and he felt the same. They believed the Dragon's lie and willed to disobey God. They did not see how they could possibly die amongst these creatures.
Question: So, since we are born in Original Sin, are our souls imperfect?
Answer: No. The CCC 366 states that every "soul is created immediately by God." Therefore our "spiritual" souls must be perfect. The Scriptures say that before we were knit in the womb, God knew us. Jesus says, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.... John 6:63" And Paul says, "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.... (Romans 8:6)"
Here, we are using the words spirit and soul interchangeably. Therefore, we can deduce that sin is not originally in the soul or spirit, but in the flesh.
CCC 365 also says that the union of soul (spirit) and body in man forms a single nature.
At some point, probably conception, the soul is united to the flesh and the sin of the flesh spreads to the soul. Effectively, this cuts us off from God because the soul, before its union with the flesh, is in union with God. Therefore, it is the flesh which causes the spiritual soul to fall and thus we inherit a fallen nature.
Question: But how did sin enter our flesh and stay there?
Answer: The answer is in CCC 377. It says that Adam and Eve had mastery over themselves. In other words, they were created with complete control. But that insinuates that they had something to control. What would that be? Concupiscence and the other faults of the flesh which were already present there but were supernaturally held at bay by the grace of God. This is called "sanctifying grace." However, our parents (Adam and Eve), in deciding to ignore God's command, decided that they didn't want sanctifying grace and lost if for themselves and for us, until Jesus gave it back to us.
Question: But how could sin already be in the flesh if everything that God made is good?
Answer: Consider the animals, they are good, but they are not in union with God to the extent that humans are in union with God. The reason is because animals can't have sanctifying grace. Sanctifying grace is one of the ways in which Adam and Eve resembled God. Sanctifying grace is what we acquire after Baptism and which washes away our sins. But in animals concupiscence and other weaknesses of the flesh aren't sins, they are simply instincts, because they do not have Sanctifying grace. Animals do not have the spiritual souls to tell them of God's existence and to guide them in His ways. Nor do they have God's laws written in their hearts, nor are they created in God's image, nor do they have free will. It is a sin for us to act like animals, without regard to God who created us because we have all of these.
Question: What is the difference between Eve and Mary?
Answer: The short answer is sin. But more than that, Eve was made from pre-existent matter. The concupiscence was held at bay by God's justification but it was not removed, it was still in the flesh but only contained. Mary's flesh on the other hand was purified by the Blood of Christ before it was joined to the soul and knit in the womb.
Question: Didn't Mary inherit human flesh from her parents?
Answer: Yes, but that human flesh was purified before she was concieved in the womb. It never stained her soul.
Question: Are you implying that Adam and Eve's souls were stained in the womb? Isn't that the same as Original Sin?
Answer: No. Their souls were maintained in a state of justice by the presence of God in whose union they were created. When they abandoned God by disobeying Him, their souls were immediately stained by the flesh which contained the animal instincts which do not recognize God's existence (i.e. concupiscence, our tendency to act as animals, without regard for God.)
7QT's about The Big Bang, Evolution, Science, Genesis, heaven and earth and the Bible
I am a revert to Catholicism from atheism. I was a product of the public schools and well versed in all the scientific dogma they try to pass off as science. During that time, when I was struggling to understand my faith, if I asked a Christian, whether Protestant or Catholic, about the Big Bang or about Evolution, I would simply be told not to ask stupid questions. That was not the case if I asked an atheist. They welcomed questions and gladly threw in their opinions about Church and religion as well. So, I quickly came to the conclusion, something which I had long suspected to be true, Christianity was a fiction which someone was passing off as the truth.
When I first came back to the Church, I was a product of prayer, meditation and a student of the Mystics and Saints. I had forgotten the questions and doubts which led me to atheism in my youth.
Then I became a Catechist.
Suddenly, all the questions and doubts, the cynical comments, the objections came pouring back. But not from me. They were coming from my students. My students were mostly public school children well versed in the theories of the Big Bang and Evolution. And they asked many probing and skeptical questions. The very same questions I had asked at their age.
And I didn't have an answer. At least, not answers that I liked. You see, I also was taught in public schools and I was thoroughly familiar with the Big Bang and Evolution. Theories which I found thoroughly plausible but which my traditionally trained Catholic and nonCatholic Christian friends told me completely opposed Christian teaching and the Bible.
So, I prayed. Then, in 1996, I read that Pope John Paul II said that the theory of evolution was not necessarily against Catholic teaching.
So, I prayed some more. And I think I received many answers.
One caveat, I am a layman. The answers I am providing are binding on no one. I believe these answers are true and I have educated my own children based upon these ways of correlating our faith and some scientific theories. Also, I believe these are the types of answers I was looking for when I was questioning Christianity as a child.
I pray that these answers may be a help and not a hindrance to Catholic Cathechists and that they may be used to evangelize those skeptics who have been produced and are being produced by the Public School systems.
One more thing, I don't believe these answers contradict Catholic Teaching. But if I discover that they do, I'll be the first to drop them.
THE BIG BANG VS BIBLICAL CREATION
Question: Doesn't the Big Bang contradict the Biblical account of creation?
Answer: No. All we need add to the Scientific account is the Prime Mover, the Creator who caused the Big Bang in the first place. Science may have postulated a big bang and found some evidence of the expansion of space, but without God as the explanation for the occurence in the first place they have nothing. Because nothing from nothing is nothing.
Perhaps an example might help. If you found a watch on the floor, would you assume the watch had miraculously made itself? Or would you assume that someone had made it? The universe is far more intricate than a mere watch, some intelligence had to make it.
Question: Science tells us that the stars and planets were made first but the Bible says that the earth was made first. Which is right?
Answer: The Bible does not say that the earth was made first. Please read Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth....."
Note that God made the heavens first then the earth. It is concise language, full of meaning and science agrees with this order of events.
Question: How could the earth and the universe have been made in 7 days?
Answer: Scripture does say that the universe and the earth were made in 7 days. But, the 7 day arrangement is a literary device used by the author to more effectively convey the ideas being expressed. It allows the author to single out what he wants to discuss in an orderly fashion. It allows the reader to focus on one thing at a time. It allows our minds to visualize something unknown by using something known.
Answer: To this day the surface of Venus is dark. It is covered with clouds. The earth was then much like Venus is today, "formless and empty".
Question: Even if I believe that, you must admit that the day by day sequence of events is out of order. According to science, the land was populated last not first.
Answer: The Bible says: And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters....Genesis 1:2
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) paragraph 703 says:
It belongs to the Holy Spirit to rule, sanctify, and animate creation, for he is God...
That means that the Holy Spirit is the animator, principle of life and the Holy Spirit was already over the waters from the beginning before the first day.
Question: But the Bible says that the land was populated with life first (Genesis 1:11).
Answer: If the Spirit of God, the Principle of Life, was over the waters first (Genesis 1:2), we can assume that life was in the waters first and then spread to the earth in response to God's call. God didn't say, "Let the land have life" on the first day, He said, "Let the earth bring forth grass....". And this makes complete sense because the life bearing waters had just been drained from the land, leaving there, in my opinion, the seeds of life.
Question: But look at day 3, He just now made the sun and the moon.
Answer: If I make my child get up in the morning, I don't literally bring him into existence at that time. I simply order my pre-existing child to get up.
God made the sun, moon and stars when He made the Heavens (Genesis 1:1). God ordered the pre-existing sun, moon and stars to give light and mark the times (Genesis 1:17). This can be understood as some sort of covering being removed from the earth and light penetrated to its surface for the first time.
If you enjoyed that, read the rest, here.
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Sunday, September 28, 2014
Pray that you will be admitted to heaven and quit bearing false witness against Christ's brethren
Lutero:Then the very same sins perpetrated by Protestants have proven the teachings of Protestants.
DM - The teaching of the Roman Catholic Church has been proven sufficiently because it is routinely acted out in the lives of a majority of Roman Catholics who display the RC's teachings and practices by their acts of sex upon children, drunkeness in all forms, adultry, fornication, divorce, child endangerment, serial and mass murders, theft, extortion, lies and cover-ups, and the list goes on and on and on. Yes, RCs have proven for centuries what they have been taught.
We live in a Protestant country. The majority of people who surround me are Protestant. And they all fit the same description. Drunkards who wallow in their vomit.
Drink to get drunk, vomit, fall and wallow in his vomit seems to be the jolly alcoholic Romcan Catholic motto. Sounds exciting don’t it? That is the wonderful picture of a Roman Catholic seeking to let Christ shine in their lives. The Roman Catholic Church does not teach their 'flock' that the character of a child of God does not fit with drinking. The RCC does not preach that believers in Christ Jesus are commanded to “not be drunk with wine, in which is excess, but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Christians who drink grieve the Holy Spirit (but then with all their pious pontificating, Roman Catholics don't know a thing in the world about what it means to grieve the Holy Spirit - the 'spirit' they are more interested in following are the ones that come out of a bottle.)
Now, learn this teaching from Scripture:
Matthew 13:24-30
King James Version (KJV)
24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
The Kingdom of heaven is the Church. And it is God who will judge who is unfit for the Kingdom and who isn't. At that time, He will send His Angels to separate the two. And one set will be sent to hell. The other admitted to heaven.
Pray that you will be admitted to heaven and quit bearing false witness against Christ's brethren.
Sincerely,
De Maria
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
So I will pay you the compliment of believing you to care about truth
Continued fromIn your opinion. In my opinion, I have devastated your argument, whether you accept that fact or not.
Lutero:
I believe my previous post here was fair comment. You were drawing conclusions based on a premise that was not accepted by me and for which you had not yet provided any argument.
To what end? I have read all the Protestant hogwash that I want.
You have since provided some. Thank you. I have read those arguments for the Catholic church, and I have read far more. I am not ignorant of how Catholicism is defended. In return, I ask you to read this:
http://ccel.org/ccel/hodge/theology1.iii.v.vii.html
Pre-judging what? I have tested all the Protestant doctrines from Scripture and found them wanting.
Stop pre-judging.
Who can admit error when they are right. First prove that I am wrong and then I will admit error. But until you do, you need to admit your error when I prove you wrong.
Please. If you are unable to admit the possibility of being wrong, then why are we having this conversation.
Truth dishonors no one.
Surely as Christians we ought to not dishonour others, not be easily angered, and we ought to "rejoice in the truth"...
I am not angry. You should talk to your Protestant brethren about that. It is they who get angry when they are proven wrong.
Yes, I rejoice in the truth. That is why I'm Catholic.
and let the chips fall where they may.
Amen!
Thank you. I return the compliment.
So I will pay you the compliment of believing you to care about truth and to weigh the evidence as fairly as you can.
Sincerely,
De Maria
Monday, May 12, 2014
Genesis 32
Book Of Genesis Chapter 32
Jacob's vision of angels; his message and presents to Esau; his wrestling with an angel.
[1] Jacob also went on the journey he had begun: and the angels of God met him. [2] And when he saw them, he said: These are the camps of God, and he called the name of that place Mahanaim, that is, Camps. [3] And he sent messengers before him to Esau his brother to the land of Seir to the country of Edom: [4] And he commanded them, saying: Thus shall ye speak to my lord Esau: Thus saith thy brother Jacob: I have sojourned with Laban, and have been with him until this day. [5] I have oxen, and asses, and sheep, and menservants, and womenservants: and now I send a message to my lord, that I may find favour in thy sight.
[6] And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying: We came to Esau thy brother, and behold he cometh with speed to meet thee with four hundred men. [7] Then Jacob was greatly afraid; and in his fear divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the sheep, and the oxen, and the camels, into two companies, [8] Saying: If Esau come to one company and destroy it, the other company that is left shall escape. [9] And Jacob said: O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who saidst to me: Return to thy land and to the place of thy birth, and I will do well for thee, [10] I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of thy truth which thou hast fulfilled to thy servant. With my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I return with two companies.
[11] Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am greatly afraid of him: lest perhaps he come, and kill the mother with the children. [12] Thou didst say that thou wouldst do well by me, and multiply my seed like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. [13] And when he had slept there that night, he set apart, of the things which he had, presents for his brother Esau. [14] Two hundred she goats, twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams, [15] Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and twenty bulls, twenty she asses, and ten of their foals.
[16] And he sent them by the hands of his servants, every drove by itself, and he said to his servants: Go before me, and let there be a space between drove and drove. [17] And he commanded the first, saying: If thou meet my brother Esau, and he ask thee: Whose art thou? or whither goest thou? or whose are these before thee? [18] Thou shalt answer: Thy servant Jacob' s: he hath sent them as a present to my lord Esau: and he cometh after us. [19] In like manner he commanded the second and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying: Speak ye the same words to Esau, when ye find him. [20] And ye shall add: Thy servant Jacob himself also followeth after us: for he said: I will appease him with the presents that go before, and afterwards I will see him, perhaps he will be gracious to me.
[21] So the presents went before him, but himself lodged that night in the camp. [22] And rising early he took his two wives, and his two handmaids, with his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of Jaboc. [23] And when all things were brought over that belonged to him, [24] He remained alone: and behold a man wrestled with him till morning. [25] And when he saw that he could not overcome him, he touched the sinew of his thigh, and forthwith it shrank.
[26] And he said to him: Let me go, for it is break of day. He answered: I will not let thee go except thou bless me. [27] And he said: What is thy name? He answered: Jacob. [28] But he said: Thy name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel: for if thou hast been strong against God, how much more shalt thou prevail against men? [29] Jacob asked him, Tell me by what name art thou called? He answered: Why dost thou ask my name? And he blessed him in the same place. [30] And Jacob called the name of the place Phanuel, saying: I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved.
[31] And immediately the sun rose upon him, after he was past Phanuel; but he halted on his foot. [32] Therefore the children of Israel, unto this day, eat not the sinew, that shrank in Jacob' s thigh: because he touched the sinew of his thigh and it shrank.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Genesis 31
Book Of Genesis Chapter 31
Jacob's departure: he is pursued and overtaken by Laban. They make a covenant.
[1] But after that he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying: Jacob hath taken away all that was our father' s, and being enriched by his substance is become great: [2] And perceiving also that Laban' s countenance was not towards him as yesterday and the other day, [3] Especially the Lord saying to him: Return into the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee. [4] He sent, and called Rachel and Lia into the field, where he fed the flocks, [5] And said to them: I see your father' s countenance is not towards me as yesterday and the other day: but the God of my father hath been with me.
[6] And you know that I have served your father to the uttermost of my power. [7] Yea, your father also hath overreached me, and hath changed my wages ten times: and yet God hath not suffered him to hurt me. [8] If at any time he said: The speckled shall be thy wages: all the sheep brought forth speckled: but when he said on the contrary: Thou shalt take all the white ones for thy wages: all the flocks brought forth white ones. [9] And God hath taken your father' s substance, and given it to me. [10] For after that time came of the ewes conceiving, I lifted up my eyes, and saw in my sleep that the males which leaped upon the females were of divers colours, and spotted, and speckled.
[11] And the angel of God said to me in my sleep: Jacob? And I answered: Here I am. [12] And he said: Lift up thy eyes, and see that all the males leaping upon the females, are of divers colours, spotted, and speckled. For I have seen all that Laban hath done to thee. [13] I am the God of Bethel, where thou didst anoint the stone, and make a vow to me. Now therefore arise, and go out of this land, and return into thy native country. [14] And Rachel and Lia answered: Have we any thing left among the goods and inheritance of our father' s house? [15] Hath he not counted us as strangers and sold us, and eaten up the price of us?
[16] But God hath taken our father' s riches, and delivered them to us, and to our children: wherefore do all that God hath commanded thee. [17] Then Jacob rose up, and having set his children and wives upon camels, went his way. [18] And he took all his substance, and flocks, and whatsoever he had gotten in Mesopotamia, and went forward to Isaac his father to the land of Chanaan. [19] At that time Laban was gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole away her father' s idols. [20] And Jacob would not confess to his father in law that he was flying away.
[21] And when he was gone, together with all that belonged to him, and having passed the river, was going on towards mount Galaad, [22] It was told Laban on the third day that Jacob fled. [23] And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days; and overtook him in the mount of Galaad. [24] And he saw in a dream God saying to him: Take heed thou speak not any thing harshly against Jacob. [25] Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain: and when he with his brethren had overtaken him, he pitched his tent in the same mount of Galaad.
[26] And he said to Jacob: Why hast thou done thus, to carry away, without my knowledge, my daughters, as captives taken with the sword. [27] Why wouldst thou run away privately and not acquaint me, that I might have brought thee on the way with joy, and with songs, and with timbrels, and with harps? [28] Thou hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and daughters: thou hast done foolishly: and now, indeed, [29] It is in my power to return thee evil: but the God of your father said to me yesterday: Take heed thou speak not any thing harshly against Jacob. [30] Suppose thou didst desire to go to thy friends, and hadst a longing after thy father' s house: why hast thou stolen away my gods?
[31] Jacob answered: That I departed unknown to thee, it was for fear lest thou wouldst take away thy daughters by force. [32] But whereas thou chargest me with theft: with whomsoever thou shalt find thy gods, let him be slain before our brethren. Search, and if thou find any of thy things with me, take them away. Now when he said this, he knew not that Rachel had stolen the idols. [33] So Laban went into the tent of Jacob, and of Lia, and of both the handmaids, and found them not. And when he was entered into Rachel' s tent, [34] She in haste hid the idols under the camel' s furniture, and sat upon them: and when he had searched all the tent, and found nothing, [35] She said: Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up before thee, because it has now happened to me, according to the custom of women, So his careful search was in vain.
[36] And Jacob being angry, said in a chiding manner: For what fault of mine, and for what offence on my part hast thou so hotly pursued me, [37] And searched all my household stuff? What hast thou found of all the substance of thy house? lay it here before my brethren, and thy brethren, and let them judge between me and thee. [38] Have I therefore been with thee twenty years? thy ewes and goats were not barren, the rams of thy flocks I did not eat: [39] Neither did I shew thee that which the beast had torn, I made good all the damage: whatsoever was lost by theft, thou didst exact it of me: [40] Day and night was I parched with heat, and with frost, and sleep departed from my eyes.
[41] And in this manner have I served thee in thy house twenty years, fourteen for thy daughters, and six for thy flocks: thou hast changed also my wages ten times. [42] Unless the God of my father Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had stood by me, peradventure now thou hadst sent me away naked: God beheld my affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesterday. [43] Laban answered him: The daughters are mine and the children, and thy flocks, and all things that thou seest are mine: what can I do to my children, and grandchildren? [44] Come therefore, let us enter into a league: that it may be for a testimony between me and thee. [45] And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a title:
[46] And he said to his brethren: Bring hither stones. And they gathering stones together, made a heap, and they ate upon it. [47] And Laban called it The witness heap: and Jacob, The hillock of testimony: each of them according to the propriety of his language. [48] And Laban said: This heap shall be a witness between me and thee this day, and therefore the name thereof was called Galaad, that is, The witness heap. [49] The Lord behold and judge between us when we shall be gone one from the other. [50] If thou afflict my daughters, and if thou bring in other wives over them: none is witness of our speech but God, who is present and beholdeth.
[51] And he said again to Jacob: Behold, this heap, and the stone which I have set up between me and thee, [52] Shall be a witness: this heap, I say, and the stone, be they for a testimony, if either I shall pass beyond it going towards thee, or thou shalt pass beyond it, thinking harm to me. [53] The God of Abraham, and the God of Nachor, the God of their father, judge between us. And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. [54] And after he had offered sacrifices in the mountain, he called his brethren to eat bread. And when they had eaten, they lodged there: [55] But Laban arose in the night, and kissed his sons, and daughters, and blessed them: and returned to his place.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Douay Genesis 28
Book Of Genesis
Jacob's journey to Mesopotamia: his vision and vow.
[1] And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, saying: Take not a wife of the stock of Chanaan: [2] But go, and take a journey to Mesopotamia of Syria, to the house of Bathuel thy mother' s father, and take thee a wife thence of the daughters of Laban thy uncle. [3] And God almighty bless thee, and make thee to increase, and multiply thee: that thou mayst be a multitude of people. [4] And give the blessings of Abraham to thee, and to thy seed after thee: that thou mayst possess the land of thy sojournment, which he promised to thy grandfather. [5] And when Isaac had sent him away, he took his journey and went to Mesopotamia of Syria to Laban the son of Bathuel the Syrian, brother to Rebecca his mother.
[6] And Esau seeing that his father had blessed Jacob, and had sent him into Mesopotamia of Syria, to marry a wife thence; and that after the blessing he had charged him, saying: Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Chanaan: [7] And that Jacob obeying his parents was gone into Syria: [8] Experiencing also that his father was not well pleased with the daughters of Chanaan: [9] He went to Ismael, and took to wife, besides them he had before, Maheleth the daughter of Ismael, Abraham' s son, the sister of Nabajoth. [10] But Jacob being departed from Bersabee, went on to Haran.
[11] And when he was come to a certain place, and would rest in it after sunset, he took of the stones that lay there, and putting under his head, slept in the same place. [12] And he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven: the angels also of God ascending and descending by it; [13] And the Lord leaning upon the ladder, saying to him: I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land, wherein thou sleepest, I will give to thee and to thy seed. [14] And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth: thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and IN THEE and thy seed all the tribes of the earth SHALL BE BLESSED. [15] And I will be thy keeper whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land: neither will I leave thee, till I shall have accomplished all that I have said.
[16] And when Jacob awaked out of sleep, he said: Indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. [17] And trembling he said: How terrible is this place! this is no other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven. [18] And Jacob, arising in the morning, took the stone, which he had laid under his head, and set it up for a title, pouring oil upon the top of it. [19] And he called the name of the city Bethel, which before was called Luza. [20] And he made a vow, saying: If God shall be with me, and shall keep me in the way by which I walk, and shall give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
[21] And I shall return prosperously to my father' s house: the Lord shall be my God: [22] And this stone, which I have set up for a title, shall be called the house of God: and of all things that thou shalt give to me, I will offer tithes to thee.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Douay Genesis 27
Book Of Genesis Chapter 27
Jacob, by him mother's counsel, obtaineth his father's blessing instead of Esau. And by her is advised to fly to his uncle Laban.
[1] Now Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see: and he called Esau, his elder son, and said to him: My son? And he answered: Here I am. [2] And his father said to him: Thou seest that I am old, and know not the day of my death. [3] Take thy arms, thy quiver, and bow, and go abroad: and when thou hast taken some thing by hunting, [4] Make me savoury meat thereof, as thou knowest I like, and bring it, that I may eat: and my soul may bless thee before I die. [5] And when Rebecca had heard this, and he was gone into the field to fulfill his father' s commandment,
[6] She said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau thy brother, and saying to him: [7] Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless thee in the sight of the Lord, before I die. [8] Now, therefore, my son, follow my counsel: [9] And go thy way to the flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth: [10] Which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he die.
[11] And he answered her: Thou knowest that Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am smooth. [12] If my father shall feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he will think I would have mocked him, and I shall bring upon me a curse instead of a blessing. [13] And his mother said to him: Upon me be this curse, my son: only hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said. [14] He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She dressed meats, such as she knew his father liked. [15] And she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at home with her:
[16] And the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and covered the bare of his neck. [17] And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him bread that she had baked. [18] Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear. Who art thou, my son? [19] And Jacob said: I am Esau thy firstborn: I have done as thou didst command me: arise, sit, and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. [20] And Isaac said to his son: How couldst thou find it so quickly, my son? He answered: It was the will of God, that what I sought came quickly in my way.
[21] And Isaac said: Come hither, that I may feel thee, my son, and may prove whether thou be my son Esau, or not. [22] He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob; but the hands are the hands of Esau. [23] And he knew him not, because his hairy hands made him like to the elder. Then blessing him, [24] He said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: I am. [25] Then he said: Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my soul may bless thee. And when they were brought, and he had eaten, he offered him wine also, which after he had drunk,
[26] He said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son. [27] He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he smelled the fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said: Behold the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord hath blessed. [28] God give thee the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine. [29] And let peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee: be thou lord of thy brethren, and let thy mother' s children bow down before thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee: and let him that blesseth thee be filled with blessings. [30] Isaac had scarce ended his words, when Jacob being now gone out abroad, Esau came,
[31] And brought in to his father meats made of what he had taken in hunting, saying: Arise, my father, and eat of thy son' s venison; that thy soul may bless me. [32] And Isaac said to him: Why! who art thou? He answered: I am thy firstborn son Esau. [33] Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly: and wondering beyond what can be believed, said Who is he then that even now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before thou camest? and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed. [34] Esau having heard his father' s words, roared out with a great cry: and being in a great consternation, said: Bless me also, my father. [35] And he said: Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy blessing.
[36] But he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob; for he hath supplanted me lo this second time: my first birthright he took away before, and now this second time he hath stolen away my blessing. And again he said to his father: Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing? [37] Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy lord, and have made all his brethren his servants: I have established him with corn and wine, and after this, what shall I do more for thee, my son? [38] And Esau said to him: Hast thou only one blessing, father? I beseech thee bless me also. And when he wept with a loud cry, [39] Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above, [40] Shall thy blessing be. Thou shalt live by the sword and shalt serve thy brother: and the time shall come, when thou shalt shake off and loose his yoke from thy neck.
[41] Esau therefore always hated Jacob for the blessing wherewith his father had blessed him: and he said in his heart: The days will come of the mourning of my father, and I will kill my brother Jacob. [42] These things were told to Rebecca: and she sent and called Jacob her son, and said to him: Behold Esau thy brother threateneth to kill thee. [43] Now therefore, my son, hear my voice: arise and flee to Laban my brother to Haran: [44] And thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till the wrath of thy brother be assuaged, [45] And his indignation cease, and he forget the things thou hast done to him: afterwards I will send, and bring thee from thence hither. Why shall I be deprived of both my sons in one day?
[46] And Rebecca said to Isaac: I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the stock of this land, I choose not to live.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Douay Genesis 26
Book Of Genesis
Chapter 26
Isaac sojourneth in Gerara, where God reneweth to him the promise made to Abraham. King Abimelech maketh league with him.
[1] And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Palestines to Gerara. [2] And the Lord appeared to him and said: Go not down into Egypt, but stay in the land that I shall tell thee. [3] And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfill the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father. [4] And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. [5] Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed my ceremonies and laws.
[6] So Isaac abode in Gerara. [7] And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning his wife, he answered: She is my sister; for he was afraid to confess that she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would kill him because of her beauty. [8] And when very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech king of the Palestines looking out through a window, saw him playing with Rebecca his wife. [9] And calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should die for her sake. [10] And Abimelech said: Why hast thou deceived us? Some man of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying:
[11] He that shall touch this man' s wife, shall surely be put to death. [12] And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. [13] And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and increasing, till he became exceeding great: [14] And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great family. Wherefore the Palestines envying him, [15] Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his father Abraham had digged, filling them up with earth:
[16] Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for thou art become much mightier than we. [17] So he departed and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell there: [18] And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his father Abraham had digged, and which, after his death, the Palestines had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names by which his father before had called them. [19] And they digged in the torrent, and found living water. [20] But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the herdsmen of Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny.
[21] And they digged also another; and for that they quarrelled likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity. [22] Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which they contended not: therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude, saying: Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon the earth. [23] And he went up from that place to Bersabee, [24] Where the Lord appeared to him that same night, saying: I am the God of Abraham thy father; do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham' s sake. [25] And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent: and commanded his servants to dig a well.
[26] To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers came from Gerara, [27] Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate, and have thrust out from you? [28] And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant, [29] That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee: but with peace have sent thee away increased with the blessing of the Lord. [30] And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:
[31] Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away peaceably to their own home. [32] And behold the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him of a well which they had digged, and saying: We have found water. [33] Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city was called Bersabee, even to this day. [34] And Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hethite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon of the same place. [35] And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebecca.
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