Today, we read Genesis 7-9 and Psalm 1, and Fr. Mike reflects on the covenant God made with Noah and how the family of Noah became broken. Today's readings contain adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.
Chapter 1: What does Genesis chapters 7-9 discuss?
This is day four, so let's get started. We are reading today from Genesis. Genesis chapter 7 and chapter 9, as well as diving back into the Psalms, but all the way back to the beginning. We're going to be reading Psalm 1. So to get your Bibles queued up, Genesis chapter 7, 8, and 9, and Psalm 1. A couple of reminders.
The Bible translation that I'm using is the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. It's the RSVCE, the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition. If you want to read along as well as listen along, you can download your Bible in a Year reading plan by going to ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. Go to the website ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year.
You can also subscribe in your podcast app, and we will keep showing up every morning for you. And then lastly, if you want to sign up for our email list, you can do that by texting the word Catholic Bible to 33777. You probably have that memorized by now after these four days. Catholic Bible 233-777. Let's get started. Genesis 7 and 9.
Then the Lord said to Noah, Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and its mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and its mate, and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive upon the face of all the earth.
For in seven days I will send rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground. And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. Noah was 600 years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth.
And Noah and his sons and his wife and his son's wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood of clean animals and of animals that are not cleaned and of birds and of everything that creeps in the ground. Two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah as God had commanded Noah. And after seven days, the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
In the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the 17th day of the month, on that day, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth and the windows of the heavens were opened and rain fell upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights.
On the very same day, Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, and they and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every bird of every sort.
They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life, and they that entered, male and female of all flesh." went in as God had commanded him, and the Lord shut him in. The flood continued forty days upon the earth, and the waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.
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Chapter 2: What covenant did God make with Noah?
And the covenant between God and mankind is interwoven with reminders of God's gift of human life and man's murderous violence. That's a quote from the Catechism, paragraph 2260. I want to say that again. It says, the covenant between God and man is interwoven with reminders of God's gift of human life. That is God's gift of human life.
That God made man, he says this, whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. That's a gift to us as human beings to be made in God's image and likeness. That's God's gift of human life. And also man's murderous violence. That one of the things we recognize is,
is that the story of Noah points out the fact that human beings in our hearts are broken. We heard it in chapter three of Genesis, that story of the fall. We saw it in chapter four with Cain and Abel. And we see it now as we continue in the story of the brokenness of the human heart, that actually the thoughts of the human heart are, as scripture says, are murderous.
And so what we need to do is we need to bring those thoughts. We need to bring those desires of the human heart under God's dominion, under his rule. And so God prohibits, right? Prescribes murder and says, if you shed the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed. but also says that you can eat of the animals, the flesh of animals. And it's the interesting thing the Catechism says about that.
In paragraph 2416 and 2417, it says that animals are God's creatures, and he surrounds them with his providential care. By their mere existence, they bless him and give him glory. Thus men owe animals kindness. That's an important thing to note.
24 17 says god entrusted animals to the stewardship to those whom he created in his own image that's us human beings hence it is legitimate to use animals for food and clothing they also may be domesticated to help man in his work and his leisure also medical and scientific experimentation on animals is morally acceptable if it remains within reasonable limits and contributes to caring for saving human lives but it is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly
or to expend extravagantly on animals when human beings could be helped. But there's this notion, right, where God has made a distinction here that animals may be killed and eaten. Human beings may never, innocent lives may never be taken. And that's a commandment given. Why? Because our hearts are broken.
And there's almost maybe nothing that more clearly reveals the brokenness of the human heart than the story immediately following the covenant with Noah. Because maybe if you've never heard this story, you've heard the story of the animals and heard the story of the ark, heard the story of the flood and the dove. But maybe you never heard the story of his sons, Sham, Ham and Japheth.
Because you have this story where Noah planted a vineyard and drank the wine, became drunk. lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, told his two brothers outside. Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid upon their shoulders, walked backwards. They did not see the nakedness of their father. And you say, wait, how is Ham cursed now?
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