Fragmenda

Scripture

Genesis 25–26

Genesis 25

Abraham’s children by Cetura; his death and that of Ismael. Isaac hath Esau and Jacob twins. Esau selleth his first birthright to Jacob.

1 

And Abraham married another wife named Cetura:

2 

Who bore him Zamram, and Jecsan, and Madan, and Madian, and Jesboc, and Sue.

3 

Jecsan also begot Saba, and Dadan. The children of Dadan were Assurim, and Latusim, and Loomim.

4 

But of Madian was born Epha, and Opher, and Henoch, and Abida, and Eldaa: all these were the children of Cetura.

5 

And Abraham gave all his possessions to Isaac:

6 

And to the children of the concubines he gave gifts, and separated them from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, to the east country.

7 

And the days of Abraham’s life were a hundred and seventy-five years.

8 

And decaying he died in a good old age, and having lived a long time, and being full of days: and was gathered to his people.

9 

And Isaac and Ismael his sons buried him in the double cave, which was situated in the field of Ephron the son of Seor the Hethite, over against Mambre,

10 

Which he had bought of the children of Heth: there was he buried, and Sara his wife.

11 

And after his death, God blessed Isaac his son, who dwelt by the well named Of the living and seeing.

12 

These are the generations of Ismael the son of Abraham, whom Agar the Egyptian, Sara’s servant, bore unto him:

13 

And these are the names of his children according to their calling and generations. The firstborn of Ismael was Nabajoth, then Cedar, and Adbeel, and Mabsam,

14 

And Masma, and Duma, and Massa,

15 

Hadar, and Thema, and Jethur, and Naphis, and Cedma.

16 

These are the sons of Ismael: and these are their names by their castles and towns, twelve princes of their tribes.

17 

And the years of Ismael’s life were a hundred and thirty-seven, and decaying he died, and was gathered unto his people.

18 

And he dwelt from Hevila as far as Sur, which looketh towards Egypt, to them that go towards the Assyrians. He died in the presence of all his brethren.

19 

These also are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac:

20 

Who when he was forty years old, took to wife Rebecca the daughter of Bathuel the Syrian of Mesopotamia, sister to Laban.

21 

And Isaac besought the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and he heard him, and made Rebecca to conceive.

22 

But the children struggled in her womb, and she said: If it were to be so with me, what need was there to conceive? And she went to consult the Lord.

23 

And he answering, said: Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be divided out of thy womb, and one people shall overcome the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.

24 

And when her time was come to be delivered, behold twins were found in her womb.

25 

He that came forth first was red, and hairy like a skin: and his name was called Esau. Immediately the other coming forth, held his brother’s foot in his hand: and therefore he was called Jacob.

26 

Isaac was threescore years old when the children were born unto him.

27 

And when they were grown up, Esau became a skilful hunter, and a husbandman: but Jacob, a plain man, dwelt in tents.

28 

Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his hunting: and Rebecca loved Jacob.

29 

And Jacob boiled pottage: to whom Esau, coming faint out of the field,

30 

Said: Give me of this red pottage, for I am exceeding faint. For which reason his name was called Edom.

31 

And Jacob said to him: Sell me thy first birthright.

32 

He answered: Lo I die, what will the first birthright avail me?

33 

Jacob said: Swear therefore to me. Esau swore to him, and sold his first birthright.

34 

And so taking bread and the pottage of lentils, he ate, and drank, and went on his way; making little account of having sold his first birthright.


Genesis 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 fulfil 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 Philistines 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.

Catechism

An Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism of Christian Doctrine, Lesson 1, Questions 6-8

6 Q. Why did God make you?

A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.

"To know" Him, because we must know of a thing before we can love it. A poor savage in Africa never longs to be at a game or contest going on in America, because he does not know it and therefore cannot love it. We see a person and know him; if he pleases us we love him, and if we love him we will try to serve him; we will not be satisfied with doing merely what he asks of us, but will do whatever we think might give him pleasure. So it is in regard to God. We must first know Him—learn who He is from our catechisms and books of instruction, but especially from the teaching of God's ministers, the Holy Father, bishops and priests. When we know Him, we shall love Him. If we knew Him perfectly, we should love Him perfectly; so the better we know Him the more we shall love Him. And as it is our chief duty to love Him and serve Him upon earth, it becomes our strict duty to learn here whatever we can of His nature, attributes, and holy laws. The saints and angels in Heaven know God so well that they must love Him, and cannot therefore offend Him.

You have all seen some person in the world, or maybe several persons, whom you have greatly admired; still you did not love them perfectly; there was always some little thing about them in looks, manners, or disposition that could be rendered more pleasing; some defect or want you would like to see supplied; some fault or imperfection you would like to see corrected. Now suppose you had the power to take all the good qualities you found in the persons you loved and unite them in one person, in whom there would be nothing displeasing, but everything perfect and beautiful. Do you not think you would love such a person very much indeed?

Moreover, suppose you knew that person loved you intensely, would it not be your greatest delight to be ever with such a friend? Well, then, all the lovable qualities and beauties you see in created beings come from God and are bestowed by Him; yet all the good qualities on earth and those of the angels and saints in Heaven, and even of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph, if united in one person would be nothing compared to the goodness and beauty of God. How good and how lovable, therefore, must He be! And what shall we say when we think that He loves us with a greater love than we could ever love Him, even with our most earnest efforts? Try then first to know God and you will surely love and serve Him. Do not be satisfied with the little you learn of Him in the Catechism, but afterward read good books, and above all hear sermons and instructions.

"In this world." Because unless we do what is pleasing to Him in this world we cannot be with Him in the next. Our condition in the next world depends entirely upon our conduct in this. Thus we have discovered the answer to the great question, What is the end of man; for what was he made?

7 Q. Of which must we take more care, our soul or our body?

A. We must take more care of our soul than of our body.

8 Q. Why must we take more care of our soul than of our body?

A. We must take more care of our soul than of our body, because in losing our soul we lose God and everlasting happiness.

Every sensible person will take most care of that which is most valuable. If a girl had a hundred dollars in a ten-cent pocket-book, you would consider her a great fool if she threw away the hundred dollars for fear of spoiling the pocket-book. Now, he is a greater fool who throws away his soul in order to save his body some little inconvenience, or gratify its wicked desires or inclinations. Wherever the soul will be, there the body will be also; so we should, in a certain way, try to forget the body and make sure of getting the soul safely into Heaven. You would not think much of the wisdom of a boy who allowed his kite to be smashed in pieces by giving his whole attention to the tail of the kite. If he took care to keep the kite itself high in air and away from every danger, the tail would follow it; and even if the tail did get entangled, it would have a good chance of being freed while the kite was still flying. But of what use is it to save a worthless piece of rag, if the kite—the valuable thing—is lost? Just in the same way, of what use is our body if our soul is lost? And remember we have only one soul. Therefore, make sure to save the soul, and the body also will be saved—that is, the whole man will be saved; for we cannot save the soul and lose the body; they will both be saved or both be lost.