[goldenchild]

I fell behind on my note-taking of the readings. So I will try to do a couple a day to catch up.

Day 7

Genesis 8-9 -- The flood continues and wipes out all who lived upon the earth. Then God sent a wind over the earth and the water started to recede. The ark comes to rest on Mount Ararat. After more waiting, Noah and his family finally stepped out of the ark onto the new earth. This is a symbolism of our baptism. The flood washed away all sin and corruption from the earth and Noah, with his family, entered into a new covenant with God, "God said to Noah and to his sons with him: See, I am now establishing my covenant with you: all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark. I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood to devastate the earth."(Gen. 9:8-11). God's seal and sign of this covenant was a rainbow in the sky(9:13).

Now something interesting happens. Noah gets drunk. His son, Ham, saw Noah naked in his tent and told his brothers, Shem and Japheth. These two took a robe and covered their father.

But what exactly happened? It seems possible that Ham may have had relations with his mother, Noah's wife, and this is how he sinned against his father. I will comment more on this after a bit more study.

At any rate, we see that Ham has sinned against Noah, and that Canaan is cursed because of it, Genesis 9:25, 26 "Cursed be Canaan . . . Let Canaan be his slave". Corruption has now already entered into the world again. Shem and Japheth are praised because of their obedience to their father in this time, Genesis 9:26, 27 "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem! . . . May God expand Japheth, so that he dwells among the tents of Shem . . ."

There is again division among the people. There are the righteous, from the line of Shem(from whom comes the word Semite). And their are their enemies, the line of Ham, from whom come the worst of the enemies of Israel(as we will see in chapter 10).


Psalms 7 -- Here David is asking again for God's protection. However, David says that if he is at fault in any way that God should let his enemy defeat him and dishonor him. David asks for fair judgment. He doesn't try to weasel his way out of a situation and try to put the blame on someone else(as Adam, Eve and Cain all did). No, he's only asking that he be judged fairly. If he is innocent, spare his life from his enemies. If he is guilty of any wrongdoing, let his enemy take over him.

Matthew 5:21-48 -- Here Jesus takes the opportunity to teach about anger, adultery, divorce, swearing, retaliation, and love for enemies. In each teaching he starts out by stating the Old Testament law. Then He takes it even further and makes an even more exact teaching. "You have heard it said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgement."(verse 21) Jesus takes this a step further and says, "But I say to you whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement."(v. 22). So, not only are we not to kill, but we are not even to be angry with our brother, lest we be thrown into the fires of hell.

"You have heard it said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart."(verses 27-28) Jesus expands on the Old Testament law about adultery and says, not only are those who commit adultery literally in the flesh disobeying the law, but also those who even look at a woman lustfully.

"It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce. But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."(verses 31-32). Jesus is saying here that one cannot divorce unless there is a good reason to. He says if the marriage was lawful then anyone who divorces causes his/her spouse to commit adultery. Also if one is to marry a divorced person, they commit adultery. That part that says, "unless the marriage is unlawful" is important. Because there are times when a marriage is unlawful and this is grounds for a person to separate without incurring any penalty.

"Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.' But I say to you, do not swear at all . . . Let your Yes mean Yes and your No mean No. Anything more is from the evil one."(verses 33-34, 37). The Old Testament law is saying not to make a false oath. Jesus is saying that there should be no need to swear oaths, we should be trusted to do what we say we will do. If we that yes we will do something, we should not lie. We should follow through with our promise.

"You have heard it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil."(verses 38-39). We are not to fight back, as this would be to fall into the act of the evil. We shouldn't stoop to their level.

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies . . ."(verses 43-44). It is easy for us to love those who love us back. But it takes a true follower of Christ to love those who hate us.



CCC 39-49 -- 39-43 discusses how we might speak about God, with philosophy and science, through His creation. Especially through man, his greatest creation, through whom we can see proof of God: our truth, beauty, and goodness. Nothing we can ever say will fully grasp the reality of God, but we can speak about him through his creation.

44-49 sums up what has been talked about so far. Man is a religious being, made to live in communion with God, able to arrive at a certainty about God's existence through human reason. We can name God, through his creation. Without God, the creation vanishes.
"it

[goldenchild]

Day 8

Genesis 10-11 -- Chapter 10 focuses on the descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth. Among the descendants of Ham are Cush(Ethiopia) and Mizraim(Egypt), two of the Israelites great enemies. Out of Cush came Nimrod who was the father of Babylon(another fallen city). Out of Mizraim came, of course Egypt, but also the Philistines(another enemy of Israel). Out of Canaan(son of Ham) came the Canaanites(more enemies). Then comes the descendants of Shem. What is interesting to note, like I said in my last notes, is that the word Semites, comes from Shem.

Next comes the story of the Tower of Babel. The people in Shinar got big heads and decided to make a name for themselves, literally make themselves great among the people on earth, by building a great tower that reached into the heavens. God halted their plans by confusing their speech, so that they were unable to do what they wished, and so humbled them.

And yet again we see a record of ancestry, this time from Shem all the way down to Abraham. This is important to know, because it shows how the line of righteousness has not yet been broken. Even among all the wickedness in the world and the flood, this line of God still exists. We must pay important attention to these lines because eventually when we get to the Gospels we will see that Jesus has descended from this line of righteousness.



Psalms 8 -- The psalmist wonders at the greatness of God. He wonders at God's love for us, humans, who are nothing compared to Him. He notes that God has created us above all the rest of creation and that He has given us power to rule over the rest of creation.


Matthew 6:1-18 -- Jesus now talks about our faith and how we are not to flaunt it about to try and gain respect among men. We are not to do good deeds so that men may see them, otherwise these works will recieve no reward(which is an implication that if they are done right, they will indeed recieve favor from God). We are not to make a big thing out of what we do so that other's may see it. Our almsgiving must be silent. "And your Father who sees in secret will repay you."(6:4)

When we pray, we are not to flaunt it out in public so that other's may see it. We are to do it quietly without trying to gain favor from others. We are not to babble on and on in our prayer in order to make some illustrious, intellectual looking prayer just to look good. Then Jesus gives us the Our Father prayer, which contains all the requests that we need.

And also when we fast. Don't act it out, all melodramatic like. When we fast we must dress up as we always do so that people don't know that we are fasting. We are to keep it hidden just as we should do when we pray and give alms. Don't look for favor among men by flaunting our faith. God is the only one to whom we should be looking to.


CCC 50-53 -- We can know God through human reason. But we can know Him also through Divine Revelation. God has freely decided to give us heavenly means by which we can come to know him. He does this through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Catholic Church. It pleases God to reveal Himself to us. He wants us to know who he truly is, so that we might come to Him and believe in Him.

[goldenchild]

Day 9

Genesis 12-13 – God tells Abram to leave his homeland and go to a place that will be shown to him. Abram goes and takes Lot with him. Abram was a rich man at this point in his life. Why would he risk it all by leaving his prosperous land? But he places his trust in God and leaves everything he ever knew, takes his possessions to another unknown land. God takes him to a land inhabited by the Canaanites and promises that all this land would be given to Abram. But this land is far from prosperous. In fact, at the time there was a famine in the land, so Abram took his wife Sarai to Egypt. Abram asks Sarai to identify herself as his sister, so that he won’t receive any trouble from the Egyptians.

Then Abram took all his belongings to Negeb. As I noted in the beginning, Abram is a very wealthy man. So is Lot, who went with them. They had so many animals that the land would not be able to support them all. So they decide to split up. Abraham offers any land to Lot that he might want. He could’ve taken the good land but he gives it to Lot. This shows how generous he was. It shows that even though he was rich, his wealth(his “mammon”) did not rule over him. This is what Jesus wants to warn us of, not to be poor, but to not let money be our God.

Psalms 9 – The first part of a Psalm praising God. It speaks again of fair judgment and God’s protection of His followers.

Matthew 6:19-34 – The section starts off by talking about wealth. We are not to build up riches for us on earth, because these things decay with age, but instead concentrate on storing up riches in heaven, which will never decay. “No one can serve two masters.”(6:24), this is talking about God and money. We cannot claim to serve God and yet be obsessed with wealth. This is not to say that we cannot be rich, because as we saw in Genesis 12-13 Abram was a very wealthy man, yet he was generous with it, and submitted himself to the Lord at the risk of losing his earthly wealth. We are not to worry about earthly possessions. We aren’t to stress over what we will eat, or what we will wear, or anything of this sort. God will provide everything for us that we need.



CCC 54-64 -- God wishes salvation for us all. Even after we sinned, God did not give up on us. He kept making new covenants with us so that we can be saved, starting with Noah, and more fully with Abraham. God adopted the people of Israel as His children when He freed them from slavery in Egypt. God forms His people in the hope of Salvation. Many holy women of God kept alive this hope: the most pure of them all was Mary.

[goldenchild]

Day 10

Genesis 14-15 – Chapter 14 describes a war that takes place. What is important here is that Abram received word that his nephew was captured in the war, he rose up and took with him an army of his men and went to retrieve his nephew. He rescued his nephew Lot and brought back many more riches. Abram then went to Melchizedek and gave him an offering of one-tenth of all his possessions. Again, he doesn’t lord over his possessions, but offers them up because he recognizes that all his success is from God, and not from himself.

In Chapter 15 God makes a covenant with Abram. God promises to give Abram a son(as at this time he is childless and one of his servants is the potential heir to all his riches). And God promises Abram all the land of the Chaldeans there. Then God gives some bad news. He tells Abram about the future enslavement of His people in Egypt, but that God will judge the oppressors. And again God promised the land to Abram with a covenant.


Psalms 10 – Starts by talking about how the wicked are able to succeed in their evil-doing. Then there is an appeal made to God asking Him to rise up and punish these unbelievers, affirms that God does indeed see what is happening in the world and that He will prevail over all.

Matthew 7:1-14 -- This section is more various commandments by Jesus. Here is a command telling us not to judge others. We are often quick to tell other’s their faults but refuse to see the problems that we ourselves have. It talks about the power of prayer. Whatever we ask of the Lord will be given unto us, if it is for our good. If we ask for good, God will not give us bad. “Do unto others whatever you would have them do to you.” Do we want others to hate us, and to do evil to us? Then why do we do these things to others? Jesus says that the narrow road is the one we want to follow. The wide road is easy to spot and many follow it. It is so hard to miss, because it is such a pleasing route for many to take. But we must search for the narrow road, the road that is hard to spot. This is the way to salvation.


CCC 65-73 – God has revealed everything to us that he wants us to know. Nothing more will God disclose to us, for He has already provided all necessary information for our salvation. However, just because God’s revelation has already been given, this does not mean that we have already grasped what this revelation is. We will continue to uncover the meanings of God’s revelation until the end of time, this job is given to the Church. There are still “private” revelations. These are messages given from heaven to individuals, but not to the Church as a whole. These are not part of the Divine Revelation, but they complement divine revelation. Any private revelation that claims something higher than Divine revelation is to be shunned by the faithful.

[lizwrenne]

got a little behind because of studying and everything, but i am back at it...

i guess what impacted me the most over the past few readings was in genesis, when abraham was talking to God about the destruction of sodom and gemorrah. He was willing to spare an entire city for the sake of just a few innocent people...our infinite worth that we have been given.

[goldenchild]

I fell way behind on note-taking. I'll do a couple a day to catch up.

Day 11

Genesis 16-17 -- Ch. 16 speaks of the birth of Abram's first son, Ishmael. Sarai was too old to bear a child naturally, so they took matters into their own hands, not trusting what God had in store for them. Hagar, the servant, concieved by Abram and bore Ishmael.

Ch. 17 Now, God establishes His covenant with Abram. Abram's name is changed to Abraham. Abraham is promised many descendants. God gives to Abraham and his family the land of Canaan. This is all well and good for Abraham, but then God tells him what he must do in order to keep his part of the covenant. It is at this time that God institutes circumcision. This is the sign that they are in the covenant of God. This often took place when the baby boy was an infant, seven days old. It shows us that we do not enter the kingdom of our own power. It shows that even infants who cannot express a relationship with God, are able to enter into his covenant and inherit all the graces. This is why we know that babies can be baptized. Baptism is the sign of the new covenant, the covenant established through the suffering and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Even infants are able to come to God and enter the kingdom, as Scripture says, "let the children come to me" and "if you do not have the faith of a child you cannot enter the kingdom".

Psalms 11 -- "The Lord is just and loves just deeds". Every good that we do for God, he sees and cherishes. God protects those who do good, and hates those who love evil.

Matthew 7:15-29 -- Wow. This passage is great. It shows how faith and works must work(no pun intended) together in order for each of them to be useful. It is by a person's actions that we will know the heart of their faith. A good, faithful person does not commit evil works, and a bad, faithless person does not do good. Any one of us who does not do good works through the grace of God will be cut down, and will not enter heaven. An affirmation that Jesus is Lord is not good enough. No, only the one who DOES the will of the Father will enter the Kingdom. Not only must we hear the words of Christ, we must also act upon them. Jesus is blatantly clear that we cannot just call Him "Lord, Lord" and think that it is enough to get by. No, we need to prove our faith to be real. We need to have a faith that working and alive in the Lord! As James says, "Even the Demons believe and still tremble". The demons believe in the Lord, but they are not in heaven. This is evidence that it is not enough to just believe in Jesus. We must have a faith that produces good works. Because if it does not produce good fruits(good works) then it is a dead faith, and we will be cut off and thrown into the fire.



CCC 74-79 God wishes for ALL MEN to be saved. Not only the ones whom he predestines. God does NOT predestine anyone to Hell. This is something that a person chooses on their own.

God commanded the apostles to PREACH the gospel, not only write it down and hope that we could understand it. The message of salvation is presented to us orally, through the preaching of the Apostles in what they had learned from Christ. And it's presented written, through the most Holy Scriptures. The two preach the SAME gospel, they are united with each other, not opposed. God does not wish that only the people who lived during the times of Apostles were saved. He wishes that all men, in all generations are saved. This is why the gospel message is passed on untainted by any error, from bishop to bishop. This is why the Catholic Church can truly know that She has the source and summit of truth, that She is indeed "The pillar and foundation of Truth" (1 Tim. 3:15) And we know that the truth the Catholic Church teaches today, is the same truth that the Apostles taught in the first century. This is made clear by the overwhelming consent to Catholic teaching in the writings of the Early Church Fathers. The things they believed are the same things that Catholics today believe.

[goldenchild]

Day 12

Genesis 18 -- Three men come to visit Abraham, these men are not humans but angels of God. Abraham's hospitality is shown brightly by his actions here. He invites them to stay and rest and have dinner with him. Then one of the angels asks Abraham where Sarah is. Then he says that at this time next year Sarah will have concieved and bore a son. This is how God decided to show his glory, by taking an old couple and giving them a child so that God's covenant will be fulfilled, Abraham will have many descendants. But Sarah's faith was lacking and she laughed because she thought that this was impossible. But nothing, nothing at all, is impossible with God. As verse 14 says, "Is anything too marvelous for the LORD to do?" No, of course not.

Then the men(angels) leave for the city of Sodom. God had planned to destroy this city because of the evil people that dwelled within. Abraham asked God if he would really destroy a whole city because of a number of evil people. Would God really destroy any good people that lived there, just because of the evil of the rest? Well we know that God would never do this. He did save Noah and his family who were righteous, when he wiped out the rest of the world. So why would He destroy a whole city here? Abraham pleads with God to save the city for the sake of any righteous people that could be found there. And God agrees.

Psalms 12 -- The author is overwhelmed by the evil in the world. The whole generation has become evil. He asks that the righteous be protected from this generation.

Matthew 8:1-17 -- In this passage Jesus heals a number of people. First a leper who says "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." How true. God can do anything that pleases Him. There is nothing that the Lord cannot do. This faith in the leper is very strong and he is healed.

Then a centurion comes to Jesus and asks that his servant be healed. Instead of going to the house Jesus heals the servant right then and there on the basis of the centurion's faith. This is important because often we see people being healed only after they have portrayed their faith to Jesus. But here a man is healed on the basis of another man's faith. This is important in the light of baptism. Through baptism we are healed from sin. We can recieve baptism after portraying a true faith in Christ, or we can be baptised as an infant on the basis of another person's faith. It shows that one is not saved by what we do(i.e. show a faith in God) but only by the grace of God.

Jesus also heals Peter's mother-in-law who immediately gets up and serves them, showing that she is completely healed from any ailment she had.

CCC 80-90 -- Scripture and Tradition are bound closely together, neither one opposes or contradicts the other. They both work together towards the same goal, that is to present the truth to the world. Sacred Scripture is the word of God, put into writing by men inspired by the Holy Spirit. Holy Tradition shows this Scripture for what it really means. It passes this truth on to the successors of the apostles(the bishops of the Church) so that they may teach without error. Both Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition must be accepted as of equal authority and of equal truth. Neither one ever overrides the other. Holy Tradition is a Tradition recieved from the Apostles. This Tradition is truth and cannot err. There is also the ecclesial traditions. These deal with practices inside of the Church and are not doctrine. Therefore they can and do err at times, are changed or modified or even done away with completely. The Apostles handed down the Holy Tradition to all of us. We are all called to be in accordance with it. The task of authoritatively explaining Scripture(whether through writing or preaching) is reserved to the bishops who are in communion with the bishop of Rome, speaking in the name of Jesus Christ. This is called the Magisterium of the Church. The Magisterium is not superior to the Scriptures. The Magisterium is the servant of the Scriptures. Everything that comes from the Magisterium comes from the Scriptures. The Magisterium has no power to make anything up, but only explains to the faithful the meaning of the most holy Scriptures. This is done so that we may not fall into error, as so many Protestant churches have done who believe that any man is enlightened enough to explain Scripture to fit his own fancies. Whatever we recieve from the Church, we recieve from Christ. When the Magisterium pronounces a teaching as a dogma it is fulfilling it's purpose. It is giving us a teaching from Scripture that we are bound to. Our faith and the dogmas of the Church are closely related. Dogmas make our faith secure and if we have a true faith we will be open to the dogmas pronounced by the Church.

[goldenchild]

Day 13

Genesis 19 -- The two angels who left Abraham now reached the city of Sodom. They meet Abraham's kinsman, Lot, who brings them into his house. Sodom was a very messed up place, based on the fact that all of the people of Sodom came Lot's home when they found out that he had visitors. They want to have relations with these men! Lot pleads with them to leave his visitors alone. But the people pressed upon his home and tried to force their way in. The visitors, the angels of the Lord, cast before them a blinding light so that the people could not see. Then the angels instruct Lot and his family to leave, for they are about to destroy the city. They are told not to look back as they left, but Lot's wife does so and is turned into a pillar of salt. Verse 29 says "Thus it came to pass: when God destroyed the Cities of the Plain, he was mindful of Abraham by sending Lot away from the upheaval by which God overthrew the cities where Lot had been living." The Lord did not forget Abraham's request to save the righteous of the city. He sent away the family of Lot, so that they might be saved. The chapter ends with another crazy event. The daughters of Lot saw that they did not have husbands and they wanted to have a family. So they got their father drunk and had relations with him. A son was born to each of them, one the father of the Moabites, and the other the father of the Ammonites.


Psalms 13 -- "How long, LORD? Will you utterly forget me? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I carry sorrow in my soul, grief in my heart day after day? How long will my enemy triumph over me?"(verses 2 and 3) Oftentimes it seems as if God has abandoned us. It seems as if God has allowed our enemies to destroy us. But just as the author says, "I trust in your faithfulness."(v. 6) we must always believe that God knows what He is doing and that He has plans that we cannot yet see. No matter how bad things are going in our life at a certain point, we must never believe that the Lord has abandoned us, we must know that He is sovereign and has a plan for our suffering.

Matthew 8:18-34 Two of Jesus' disciples approach him. One says that he would follow Him everywhere. Jesus replies, saying that He has no home, that has no resting place. The other disciple asks Jesus to let him go and bury his father. Jesus replies, telling him to let the dead bury the dead.

Then Jesus enters into his boat and falls asleep. A great storm overtakes them, and they become afraid. So they plead with the Lord asking Him to do something. He rebukes their lack of faith, for being afraid of the storm. Then He performs a great miracle, and commands the waters and the wind to be still. The disciples are amazed at this, that even the water and wind obey Jesus.

When they reached shore, they were met by two men possessed by demons. The demons inside the men knew the power of Jesus and tell him that if they are going to be expelled from the men, they wished to be allowed to enter into a herd of pigs. Jesus allows this. They enter the pigs and run them off of the cliff into the water. The people are now afraid of Jesus! He performs great miracles in this chapter, heals many people, calms a storm, and expells demons from men. But the people are afraid of Him and beg Jesus to leave their town.


CCC 91-100 -- All the faithful share in the understanding and passing on of truth. The body of the faithful cannot err in teaching truth, when they are all in accordance together with the Bishops of the Church. By the Holy Spirit the faithful are able to come to understand the realities of faith. The Sacred Scriptures, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium all are connected to each other and each is necessary for the passing on of truth to all generations. None of them can stand on there own.

Christ handed truth on to His apostles. They passed this truth on through writing and preaching to all nations, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition make up one body of truth, not two. They are not separated from each other, but in fact, are one and the same truth. In everything the Church is and does, she passes on the truth and what she believes. The people of God never cease to welcome the truth, and to dive deep into the truth in order to understand it more clearly. This truth is interpreted and explained to all the faithful by the Magisterium of the Church, which is the Pope and all the Bishops in communion with him.

[goldenchild]

Day 14

Genesis 20 -- Abraham and Sarah travel again, this time to Gerar. Again he says that she is his sister, so that no harm would come upon himself, on her account. He did not lie, Sarah was in fact Abraham's sister(see verse 12). So Abimelech takes Sarah. The Lord tells him that he is about to die because he took a woman who has a husband. Understandably Abimelech is confused, because he did not know this. He thought Abraham was only her brother. God instructs Abimelech to return Sarah to Abraham. He does this and also gives Abraham many gifts of flocks and also his land. Abimelech says that Sarah has been vindicated and has kept her honor. Abraham then intercedes for them that the health of Abimelech's family be restored to them, and it was done for them.

Psalms 14 -- "No one does what is right, not even one"(verse 3). This Psalm is the one of which Romans 3 is derived. Romans 3 talks about how all have sinned. As we see in this Psalm, God is with the just(verse 5). So it seems clear that the word "all" is not referring to each and every human being upon the earth, because there are some just people on the earth. So is it true that in Romans 3, all have sinned, but this does not require that every human upon the earth has sinned.

Matthew 9:1-17 -- Jesus leaves the people, and enters into his own land. There he heals a paralytic saying "Courage child, your sins are forgiven". The scribes are angry with Jesus because he forgave this mans sins. But Jesus replies saying, " Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'?" Then Jesus meets Matthew, a tax collector, and calls him to follow Him. Jesus eats with the tax collectors. The pharisees ask why he does this, and Jesus tells them, Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do." The Church is not a hotel for holy people. It is a hospital for sinners. Then Jesus is asked why He and His disciples do not fast. Jesus replies, it is because He is still with them. Why be in mourning and fasting when He is still there? They will fast when He has gone.


CCC 101-108 -- God speaks to us in human words, so that we may come to understand Him. God speaks only one word, one utterance, through which all of His truth is made know to us. The Church has always venerated God's word as she venerates the Lord's body. The bread of life is presented to the people, through the Scriptures and through Holy Communion. The Church finds here nourishment in the Scriptures. God is the author of the Scriptures, written down by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God used the power and abilities of human men to convey to us His word. These books infallibly teach truth, they never err for they are the word of God. But Christianity is not a religion of a book. It is a religion of the word. The Church must adhere to all of the word, not just the written, and not just the spoken. But both of them must be accepted before we can know God's truth.

[goldenchild]

Day 15

Genesis 21 -- Now Sarah gives birth to Isaac. Abraham had Isaac circumcised as was commanded by God, so that Isaac might enter into God's kingdom. This occured when Isaac was eight days old, he could not accept the faith of his family, but he was brought into the saving kingdom of God anyways. It shows that the infants of today's covenant with God can be baptised and enter into the saving covenant of Christ. Then Sarah commands that Hagar and Ishmael should be sent away. God promises to make a great nation from Ishmael since he too came from Abraham. So Hagar and Ishmael go away and soon they run out of water. An angel of God sees this and tells Hagar that a great nation will be made of Ishmael. And then God showed to her a well of water and she gave water to the boy to drink. God was with Ishmael as he grew up.

We go back to Abraham and see that Abimelech has visited him. Abimelech tells Abraham to swear to him that he will deal fairly with him. Abraham questions Abimelech about a well that Abimelech's men had siezed. Abimelech knows nothing about it. So, they make a pact so that they know that the well was dug by Abraham.

Psalms 15 -- In this Psalm it is written that the righteous are those who not only believe and have faith in God. But also act in an upright manner. It is not good enough to just have faith, we must also show this faith, through charity. "Whoever walks without blame, doing what is right, speaking truth from the heart; Who does not slander a neighbor, does no harm to another, never defames a friend; Who disdains the wicked, but honors those who fear the LORD; Who keeps an oath despite the cost, lends no money at interest, accepts no bribe against the innocent. III Whoever acts like this shall never be shaken."(verses 2-5)

Matthew 9:18-38 -- An official comes to Jesus and asks him to come and heal his daughter who has just died. So Jesus goes with the man to see his daughter. While on the way, a woman who suffered from hemorrhages, told herself that all she had to do was touch the clothes of Jesus and she would be healed. Jesus turns to her and tells her that she had been saved by her faith. Then Jesus arrives at the house of the dead daughter, a commotion has been made because there are people who believe nothing can be dead for the dead girl. But Jesus tells them that the girl is not really dead, but just sleeping. So, he goes in and tells the girl to get up and this happens. A great deal is made of this and the news spreads over the land. When Jesus left he met two blind men. They ask Him to have pity on them. And Jesus asks if they believe that He can heal them. The men reply that they do believe this. So he touched them and tells them that they are healed because of their faith. Jesus commands them to tell no one what He did for them, but the men spread the word and soon it was know throughout the land that Jesus restored their eyesight to them. Then a person possessed by demons comes to Jesus and he too is healed. The crowds are amazed, but the pharisees say that he does this by the power of Satan. He preaches and heals more people and is sad because these people are like sheep without a shepherd, or in other words, like a chicken running around with it's head cut off. They have no direction.

CCC 109-119 -- When we read Scripture we must try to determine what the authors, and God, wanted us to understand. The truth of the authors' words are presented in many different ways. For us to truly be able to understand their meaning we must take into consideration their culture, writing style, time period, mode of feeling, and other factors that influence the way the authors' wrote their books. Scripture must be read in light of the Holy Spirit. There are three ways to do this: 1. Pay attention to the unity and connection between the books of the Bible. They are written differently and about different stories, but they all pertain to the same story of salvation. 2. Read the Scriptures according to the Holy Tradition of the Church. The Scriptures are written on the heart of the Church, and it is only through the Tradition of the Church that we can come to understand the meaning of Scripture. 3. Be attentive of the analogy of faith, the coherence of the truths of the faith.

There are four senses found in Scripture, mainly the literal and the spiritual. Within the spiritual are the allegorical, moral and anagogical. Scripture must be read in light of all these meanings. The literal sense is the meaning that we derive from reading the words of Scripture just as we see them. All the other senses are derived from the literal sense. The allegorical sense shows us that we can come to understand important Old Testament events, by understanding how it relates to Christ, like the Red Sea is a sign of Christ's victory over death and of Christian baptism. The moral sense shows us that the events written in Scripture are meant to make us live a more righteous life. The anagogical sense shows us that we can see earthly realities in light of their eternal significance. For example, the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.

All of these senses must be used while reading Scripture so that we can come to understand the fullness of faith expressed in the Bible.

[goldenchild]

Day 16

Genesis 22-23 -- God decides to put Abraham to the test. He tells Abraham that He wants him to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering. So Abraham sets out with Isaac to the place that God pointed out to him. An interesting verse is verse 6, "Thereupon Abraham took the wood for the holocaust and laid it on his son Isaac's shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife." Here we see Isaac carrying the wood for his own sacrifice. This is a type of Jesus. Just as Isaac carried the wood for his sacrifice, so too did Jesus carry His wood(the Cross) for His sacrifice. Abraham gets everything ready for the sacrifice and is just about to sacrifice his son when an angel appears to him and tells him not to kill his son. The angel reveals that God now knows that Abraham is faithful to Himself. So faithful that he was willing to sacrifice his own son, just to please God.

What is interesting is the fact that God had to test Abraham in order to know whether or not his faith was strong. Doesn't God know everything? Of course He does. He commands Abraham to do this, emphasizing the fact that having faith is not enough. We must also be willing to show this faith, even if it means doing things that we would rather not do.

Abraham looked around and found a ram that could be sacrificed instead.

Then the angel declared that because Abraham had found favor with God for showing his faithfulness, God would make Abraham rich and give him many descendants. All the earth was to be blessed because of Abraham's faithfulness. This blessing was fulfilled when Jesus saved all the nations from their sins.

Then Sarah dies. Abraham addresses the Hittites and asks for a spot to bury his wife. They offer him the best of their land for a grave. Abraham insists on paying for the site and he agrees on terms with a man named Ephron. Then Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, there.

Psalms 16 -- Here the author praises God. He says that he will never abandon God or worship another false god in His place. He blesses the Lord and thanks him because he knows that God will never abandon him.

Matthew 10:1-23 -- Jesus gives his twelve apostles the power to drive out demons in His name. Then the apostles are named, Peter first(as he always is) and Judas last(as he always is). There seems to be some importance in noting that Peter is always named first and Judas last. Judas is the one who turned Jesus in, and Peter is the leader of the twelve(and of the Church).

Jesus commands them not to go to gentile lands, but only to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel." He commands them to do all the things that He, Himself, had been doing: warn of the coming kingdom, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons, all the same things Jesus did, they did. They were to take no money or extra clothes. They were to denounce all earthly riches, and not worry about food or clothing. We are called to this same commandment today. He told them that if a house is accepting of them, let them stay and teach. If not, then leave, the destruction of that house will be worse than it was for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He says that he is sending them into the world to preach the gospel, but that some will persecute them. He says that they will not need to worry about what to say, because the Holy Spirit will speak through them(just as He speaks through the Pope, and bishops in communion with the Pope, today). He says that they will be persecuted but if they persevere until the end they will be saved.

CCC 120-130 -- Our Holy Tradition has discovered for us the canon of Scripture. This list contains 46 Old Testament books(7 more than Protestant Bibles) and 27 New Testament books(same as Protestantism). The Old Testament books are divinely inspired and are of utmost value, because the Old Covenant has never been done away with. The Old Testament prepares for and declares through prophesy and typology the coming of Jesus Christ. The Church has always affirmed that the Old Testament is a part of inspired Scripture. The New Testament displays the faith and the power of God most strongly. This Testament relates the story of Jesus Christ, His life, death, resurrection, His coming, His acts, and His teachings. The four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are the heart of the Scriptures because they are the principle source for knowing our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There are three principles in the gospels: 1. The life and teaching of Jesus Christ, 2. the oral tradition, and 3. the written Gospels. The Gospels are the most precious of all written texts and deserve the utmost respect and veneration. The Old and New Testaments are intertwined and so well connected that they are one story. This is shown most clearly through typology. The New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New. This is shown by the reading and understanding of typology.

[goldenchild]

Day 17

Genesis 24 -- This chapter recounts the story of how Isaac was given a wife. Abraham sent his servant out to his own people(making the servant promise not to go to the Canaanites) so that Isaac could have a wife. The servant set out and when he arrived he prayed that his task be made easy for him. He prayed that the one who offered him, and his camels, water would be the one who God wished Isaac to marry. This occurred when Rebekah came and offered him water, and a place to rest. The servant stays with her family and retells his story and his mission. The family agrees to the marriage, but they ask that she be allowed to stay for ten more days. The servant persists and they are allowed to go back home. They meet Isaac on the way back home. Isaac and Rebekah marry and Isaac is comforted after the death of his mother.

Psalms 17 -- David tells God that he has followed His commands and is just. He asks God to protect him from his enemies.

Matthew 10:24-42 -- Starting in verse 27 which is very interesting, "What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops." Jesus is still talking to his apostles. He's telling them that He will relate to them His teaching quietly for only them to hear. Then they will go out and tell the whole world what God wants from us. This is the same function of the Pope and bishops today(the apostles successors). The Holy Spirit shows them the truth, and they then preach it to us so that we can understand what is God's word. This is a necessary function, without such authoritative teaching from the Pope and bishops, we would all be trying to decide for ourselves what we think Scripture means. God did not mean for this to happen, that is why He gave us an infallible source to interpret infallible Truth. Non-Catholics do not have this infallible interpreter, that is why there are so many thousands of non-Catholic Christian religions, because they all try to decide for themselves what Scripture means. Without an infallible interpreter we each come to a different interpretation. This is exactly what has happened in the Protestant Church.

Jesus tells them not to worry about physical death, but to worry about spiritual death. He tells them not to worry about anything because God has counted every hair on our head, and will always take care of us. He tells them that we need to be comfortable and open with our faith. It is well and good to be faithful in private, but if we deny our faith while we are out in public then so to will Jesus deny us when we die and want to go to heaven. Jesus demands the best out of us. He tells us that we must love Him more than we love our own family. He says that if we want to follow Him we must take up our cross, just as He did. If we do not do this, we are not worthy of Him. We must die to ourselves and to the world for the sake of Jesus. He says that if we recieve righteous people and serve them, we will not lose our reward.


CCC 131-141 -- The Word of God is so powerful that it is the support and vigor of the Church. The Word of God should be open to all of the faithful, so that they may be strengthened in their faith as they study God's holy message. The study of Scripture should be the very essence of theology. We must continue to teach and study the word through pastoral homilies and catechesis. The Church exhorts all the faithful to study the Scriptures daily, to learn of Christ's saving work. "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ".

Sacred Scripture is one book because all parts of Scripture speak of Jesus Christ and this book is Christ. The Scriptures contain the Word of God, and because they are inspired, they are the word of God. God is the author of the Scriptures, written through the inspiration of man. Interpretation of Scripture must take into account what God wanted to reveal through human authors. The Church accepts and venerates all 46 books of the Old Testament, and 27 books of the New Testament. The Gospels hold a prime spot of veneration, because Jesus Christ is their primary story. The Old and New Testaments are united as one story. The Old Testament prepares for the New, and the New Testament fulfills the Old. The Church has always venerated Scripture has She has venerated the Body of Christ.

[goldenchild]

Day 18
Genesis 25-26 – Abraham marries again and many more sons are born to him. Abraham still wills everything to Isaac, and sent his other sons away, away from Isaac. Then Abraham dies. Isaac and Ishmael bury Isaac next to his wife, Sarah. Then God blessed Isaac. The sons of Ishmael made their home from Egypt to Asshur and they fought constantly. Isaac gave birth to two twins, Esau and Jacob. Esau was the older twin and was the favorite of Isaac. Rebekah favored Jacob. God told Rebekah while the twins were still in her womb that Jacob would rule over Esau. When they grew up, Esau was a hunter and Jacob stayed at home. One day, Jacob was preparing some stew and Esau, who had just come home from hunting, asked for some. Jacob first made Esau promise to give over his birthright. This is quite a high price for a bowl of soup! But Esau must have been near starving because he said that he was at the point of dying so the birthright wouldn’t do him any good. Then he gives his birthright to Jacob! The Scripture then says that Esau didn’t care much for his birthright.

Then a famine strikes the land. Isaac went to Abimelech who promised to give everything that Isaac wanted, because of the pact that Abimelech had made with Abraham. Abimelech promised to make Isaac a wealthy man, and his descendants many. So Isaac stayed in the land, despite the famine. When people questioned him about Rebekah he told them that she was his sister, taking the same path that his father took. Abimelech discovered that she was his wife and questions him about why he lied to them. Isaac replied that he didn’t want to lose his life on account of his wife. Abimelech warns his people not to molest either Isaac or his wife, because they are married, and to do so would bring dishonor on the people. Isaac became rich, so rich that the Philistines became jealous and Abimelech tells him that he must go away. Then Isaac reopens the wells that his father, Abraham, had dug. But the people argue that the well is theirs. Then he dug a well that they did not argue about. Then he left for Beer-sheba. The Lord appeared to him and promised him that he would be blessed and multiplied because of the covenant that he made with Abraham. Then Abimelech comes to him and wants to make peace(after having sent him away). Isaac wants to know why, and Abimelech says that he knows that God is with Isaac. So he wants to exchange oaths that they are kind to each other, and it is done so, just as it was between Abraham and Abimelech.

Esau also married, Judith. But they were a source of embitterment for Isaac and Rebekah.

Psalms 18:1-30 – David praises God because God has saved him from his enemies. David uses very vivid descriptions in showing how he was saved. These descriptions are symbolic of the might of the Lord.

Matthew 11:1-15 – Jesus finishes his teaching to his Apostles and then leaves to preach elsewhere. John the Baptist, who was in prison, sent his disciples to Jesus in order to discern if this was the Messiah. Jesus tells them to report to John what they see: the blind regaining their sight, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised… Let this be proof that He is the Messiah. Then Jesus preaches about John the Baptist. He says that John was the messenger of God that was sent to proclaim to the world that a savior was coming. He says that John the Baptist is the greatest of those on earth, but less than those in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus teaches that people are trying to fight against Jesus’ teachings and are causing harm to the kingdom of heaven. He says that all the prophets have told of the coming kingdom and now that it is at hand, the people must be willing to listen and to accept it.


CCC 142-149 – God addresses us as his friends and invites us into His company. We must answer with faith that we accept His invitation. Faith is the total submission of will and intellect to God. To obey is the free submission to God’s will. The Virgin Mary is the perfect example of such obedience. Abraham obeyed in faith. He went out from his home into a place that he did not know. By faith he lived as a stranger among a land he did not know. By faith he was willing to sacrifice his son. Abraham is the father of all who have faith. Abraham fulfills what faith is, “The assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. By faith Mary agrees to bear the savior, even without knowing how this is going to happen, for she was also a consecrated virgin. Throughout her life and until her death, Mary’s faith never failed. The Church venerates this perfect faith of Mary.

[goldenchild]

Day 19

Genesis 27 -- Isaac then grew old. He was on his death-bed when he called his son Esau. He told Esau to go out and hunt. He told him to bring back game and prepare an appetizing dish with it. After this, Isaac would give Esau a blessing. Isaac's wife, Rebekah, overheard Isaac. She called Jacob and told him to bring in two lambs from the fields. With them, she would prepare a dish that Isaac would enjoy, and he would give Jacob his blessing. Jacob was concerned that Isaac would discover that it was not Esau who came for the blessing, but himself. But Rebekah covered Jacob in Esau's clothes, and covered his arms and legs in the skins of the two lambs. So Jacob took the dish to his father, and told Isaac that he was Esau. Isaac called him closer and questioned him, because he wanted to be sure. Isaac felt Jacob, and kissed him and was convinced that he was Esau. So Isaac gave Jacob his blessing. He told Jacob that he would be the master over his brothers. With this, the prophecy was fulfilled, that the younger son would rule over the older son. Then Jacob left and Esau returned. Esau prepared a dish from the game he had killed and took it to his father. Isaac was disturbed and asked who it was that brought him the dish. Esau said that it was he, Esau. Isaac then discovered that Jacob had come and taken the blessing that was promised to Esau. Esau begged Isaac for another blessing, but there is nothing left to give, Isaac already promised Jacob that he would be the master of his brothers. Esau grew angry and pledged to kill his brother, for he had already taken his birthright, and now he took his blessing. Rebekah found out what Esau planned to do and she sent Jacob to live with her brother, Laban, until Esau calmed down. Then Rebekah asks Isaac that Jacob not marry a hittite woman, because she was disgusted because of them.

Psalms 18:31-51 -- This is the second half of the Psalm. Here David continues to praise God. He praises Him because God is all-powerful. He gave David everything he needed, and made him powerful. He released him from his enemies.

Matthew 11:16-30 -- Jesus continues speaking about John the Baptist. He said that the people rebuked him because he did not eat or drink. They said John was possessed by a demon. Yet, when Jesus came, and he ate and drank, they called him a drunkard and glutton. How hypocritical is that?! He then addresses various cities who would not repent. He tells Chorazin and Bethsaida that if His miracles had been performed in Tyre or Sidon, those cities would've already repented. He rebukes Capernaum, telling them that if his actions had been performed in Sodom, that city would've still been standing(remember it had been destroyed for their faithlessness). He even says that on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for Caparnaum. He says that God has revealed his truth to the child-like, not the wise. This again is an appeal to us to make our faith like that of a child. God the Father has given everything to Jesus and no one knows God except for Jesus, and those who Jesus chose to show. He ends by telling the people to come to them if they are tired. "For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."


CCC 150-159 -- Faith is a free belief in God. It would be pointless to place this belief in any of God's creatures. We must also believe, not only in God the Father, but in God the Son(Jesus). For we are commanded to listen to him. He is the word made flesh, and we cannot come to the Father, unless we are in the Son. We also believe in the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who teaches us what God wants, and who He is. Without the Holy Spirit we can never come to know the truth, because only God can know God.

Faith is a grace from God. Without God's grace, we cannot have faith. However, after we have recieved the grace of God, we are able to come to know and understand God because He has instilled in us human reason. In faith, our free will and reason cooperate with the grace of God, "Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through grace."

We believe, not because we have proof that it is true, but because of the authority of God. God gives us certain ways to come to know that his truth is real, through Christ's miracles and the prophecies of the Church.

Faith is certain. It is more true than any scientific proof. It can be difficult to understand, because of our imperfect human wisdom, but even a thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.

Faith seeks understanding. It is important for the believer to seek to understand God and his Truth earnestly. A deeper understanding of who God is, will breed an even deeper faith. As St. Augustine says, "I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe."

Faith and Science. Faith and reason never contradict each other. God made both faith and reason. No scientific discovery, provided it was attained in a moral way, will contradict with God's truth, because they both come from God.

[goldenchild]

Day 20

Genesis 28-29 -- Isaac calls Jacob and tells him that he will not marry a Canaanite woman. He blesses Jacob and sends him to Laban's. Esau saw that Isaac did not favor the Canaanite women, so he went and married the daughter of Ishmael(the brother of Isaac).

While Jacob was on his way to Laban's he stopped to rest. While asleep, he had a dream. In the dream a staircase came down from heaven. In the dream the Lord told Jacob that he would be plentiful, he would have many descendants, and that he would be rich.

When he awoke he wondered at the place he was in and made it a memorial. He promised that if the Lord protected him, he would return one-tenth of all his possessions back to the Lord.

He continues on his trip and reaches a field where people are watering their sheep. He inquires who they are and they tell him that they are from Haran(his destination). He asks them if they know Laban and the answer that they do and that he is well. Then Rachel, Laban's daughter who tends his sheep came to water the animals. He introduces herself and Rachel goes to tell her father. Jacob goes to their house and tells of his trip. After he had stayed a month, Laban comes to him and tells him that since he is a relative he should not stay and work for free. He should name his wages. Jacob says that he will stay and work for seven years in order to be able to marry Rachel. After the seven years were over, a great feast too place and Jacob married. However when he awoke, he saw that Laban had tricked him and had given him another daughter, Leah, instead. Laban told him that it was not customary to marry away a younger daughter before an older one. Laban says that he would give Rachel to Jacob also, in return for seven more years of servitude. So, Jacob stayed the seven years more and married Rachel. He loved Rachel more than he did Leah. God saw this and made Leah fruitful, while Rachel was barren. She bore four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah.

Rachel was angry that she could not bear children. She became jealous of Leah, and offered her maidservant to Jacob so that she could have children through the maidservant. The servant bore a son and Rachel named him Dan. When the servant concieved another child Rachel named him Naphtali. Leah had stopped bearing children, so she gave her servant to Jacob, and this servant also bore a son. Leah named him Gad. Leah's servant bore a second son, whom Leah named Asher.

During the wheat harvest, Reuben brought mandrakes to Leah. Rachel asked if she could have some. Leah doesn't give her any because she is jealous of Rachel. Rachel said that she could have Jacob that night if Leah would give her some mandrakes. As a result, Issacher is born. Leah bore another son, Zebulun. Then she bore a daughter named Dinah.
Finally Rachel concieves a son on her own and names him Joseph.

After this Jacob asks Laban for permission to return home with his wives and children. Laban asks Jacob what he should want as wages for having served him(and making him wealthy because Jacob was blessed). Jacob asks that the spotted lambs be given to him, so that Laban can know that any lamb that is not spotted was stolen. Laban does this. Then they separate and Jacob continues to watch Laban's flocks. Jacob breeded the animals so that he recieved all of the strong flocks, and the weak ones went back to Laban. Through this Jacob became very rich.


Psalms 19 -- The glory of the Lord is made known throughout the world. The law of God is perfect therefore let us obey it and may we be kept in You're favor.

Matthew 12:1-21 -- Jesus and his disciples are walking through the fields on the Sabbath. They are hungry, so they they picked at the heads of grain and ate them. The Pharisees saw this and rebuked them, because it was wrong to do any work on the Sabbath. Jesus replied by telling them about how David and his followers ate of the sacrificial bread, which was reserved to the priests alone, and of the priests who work in the temple on the sabbath. But all these men are not breaking the law. So He says that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. Then he moves on to the synagogue where there is a man with a withered hand. The Pharisees want to find him doing wrong by healing on the Sabbath, but Jesus asks them if they would not try to rescue one of their own sheep, if it were the sabbath. He tells them that a human i much more important than a sheep. So he tells the man to stretch out his hand and He healed it. Then the Pharisees got together to plot about how to condemn Jesus. Jesus heard of the plot and left the place, healing more people on the way.


CCC 160-165 -- Man's response to God's grace must be free. No one should be forced to accept this faith. We must believe in Jesus Christ and in the Father if we wish to attain salvation. Once we accept this freely, we must try not to lose it. For we can and often do lose our faith, but we must persevere until the end if we wish to be saved. Faith shows us what we long for, it is a taste of what is to come if we persevere. Faith is not a clear thing. We cannot always see it easily. Our world hides faith and tries to tempt us away from our belief. In these times of trials we must turn to the parents of our faith, Abraham and the Virgin Mary. And to many others, the cloud of witnesses who have prevailed before us. With them as our inspiration, we should try to run the race all the way until the end so that we may recieve our reward.