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1/20- Catechism of the Catholic Church Response

This is my first time reading the “Catechism of the Catholic Church”. This is actually my first time reading religious texts since I attended a catholic middle roughly four years ago. I have since lacked comfortability in my knowledge of the writings of and about the catholic church. I appreciated the explanatory nature of these passages, quotes followed by further breakdowns of the context of the text.   

I am roughly aware of the stories of the bible but I am not versed in all the details attached. I experienced some confusion, that was followed by googling for clarification, when reading paragraphs 56-64. They were describing ‘The Stages of Revelation’ and the stories within that book of the Bible, including passages about Noah, Abraham, and Moses. After all these years some of those stories have all morphed away from what they originally are and it was nice to have a simple yet concise explanation. 

Out of the assigned reading, I most enjoyed paragraph 79 which stated “The Father’s self communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church” and is then followed by a passage from a bible discussing God communicates through the Holy Spirit and dwells within the richness of life. 

The main aspect of the reading that stuck out to me was the capitalization of certain words that I would not necessary capitalize in daily use. It adds another layer of emphasis and importance the words used describing religion. 

1/30– Genesis 1-4

My catholic middle school was a montessori school, so in the hours devoted to religious study we had free reign over how we wanted to study religion. I love reading, my friends and I set the goal to try to read the whole Bible. We tried every week but never got past a few books since we were ten year olds and physically did not have that focusing capability. This is my way of saying that I have read the opening chapter of Genesis an excessive amount of times, to the point where I am nearing absolute memorization. What has always struck a chord with me when reading that chapter was how God thought of the terms for each word when creating the world. I am aware that Genesis should not be read as scientific fact, but when you read lines like “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants, and fruit trees on earth, bearing fruit with their seed inside, each corresponding to its own species”, I can not help but get stuck in the mindset of why did he name each thing as it is and know how to form nothingness into what we know call the earth.

Upon reading the second chapter of Genesis in the Bible, I came across the term Yahweh God. A term that I was unfamiliar with and required further research to properly understand. In the prior reading in the Introduction to the Pentateuch, the Yahwistic traditions are explained as when after Creation, God is referred to as Yahweh which is the name tells to Moses on the mountain. I was not aware that in the written text he is continuously referred to as Yahweh and found it very interesting to learn the origins.

2/6

Genesis 25:19-32

Exodus 1-14

Upon reading Chapter 27 of Genesis, I found myself confused. Chapter 27 is the story of how Jacob obtained Issac’s blessing by fraud. Issac sends out his eldest son Esau to go hunting and bring back prime game, prove himself one last time to his father, so he can then receive a blessing before his father passes. Jacob’s mother Rebekah overhears Issac telling this to Esau, so when Esau leaves for his hunt, Rebekah schemes with Jacob to get Issac’s blessing meant for his brother. He pretends to be his older brother and presents his father with two baby goats he had taken from a pen and slaughtered. Convincing Issac, Jacob receives the blessing just as Esau comes home. When Esau comes back he cries because he fears his father will not bless him as well now. My question is, what are the ceremonial traditions at this time surrounding a blessing and why was Jacob refused one from the beginning? Is he denied the blessing from Issac because he forces Esau to give up his birthright and therefore acted undeserving of a blessing? Can a father only bless his first born? The way they describe the blessing is almost as if it is a spell or prophecy. What level of importance is carried with a blessing?

2/12

This week, we read sections from the books Samuel l, Samuel ll, Kings l, and Kings ll. I was most struck by the romantic involvement of David and Bathsheba. The story goes that David stayed in Jerusalem, and one evening while walking on the roof of the palace, he sees Bathsheba. Bathsheba, who was the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite, is bathing in a nearby building. David sees her bathing and tells his messengers to bring her to him and they do so, leading to David and Bathsheba engaging in sexual relations. I am not in favor of this story. I am aware that the title of this chapter in the Bible is David’s Sin so when reading this, one should expect the figure of David to be somewhat morally inferior to others, but his actions are just truly rancid. Once it is discovered that Bathsheba is pregnant with David’s child, he sends her husband Uriah the Hittite away to the toughest of battles so he would die in battle, allowing David to slide in and snatch away Bathsheba. The act of placing a man in mortal danger so you can guiltlessly pursue his wife is just morally and ethically corrupt and the way it is written about in the Bible, almost seems as though they are normalizing the action.

4/6

I was not very receptive to this week’s reading, particularly while reading the first chapters of the Book of Romans. When reading I almost felt a sense of defensiveness while reading, it was very to be an unbiased reader. When reading text I try to remain neutral in my opinions so I can appreciate the words for what they are as a whole, rather than get caught up in little disagreements I may have with the speakers within. 

I got caught in chapter one, beginning at verse 26, when there was a description of the immoral disarray humans fall into when they are not following the law of God. The passage reads “women have exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural practices; and the men, in a similar fashion, too, giving up normal relations with women, are consumed with passion for each other, men doing shameful things with men and receiving in themselves due reward for their perversion”. I understand that this was an entirely different time period with entirely different understandings of human sexuality and gender roles, but it is text like this that allows blatant ignorance to be passed off as a divine judgement. As a not very religious person reading text that damned those who do not follow in God’s presence, I found myself questioning the judgement and severity that is linked with a book and higher power. I hope future readings can change that opinion.