282: Catechism of the Catholic Church; Catechesis on creation is of major importance. It concerns the very foundations of human and Christian life: for it makes explicit the response of the Christian faith to the basic question that men of all times have asked themselves: "Where do we come from?" "Where are we going?" "What is our origin?" "What is our end?" "Where does everything that exists come from and where is it going?" The two questions, the first about the origin and the second about the end, are inseparable. They are decisive for the meaning and orientation of our life and actions.
283: Catechism of the Catholic Church; The question about the origins of the
world and of man has been the object of many scientific studies which have splendidly
enriched our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the cosmos, the development of life
forms and the appearance of man. These discoveries invite us to even greater admiration
for the greatness of the Creator, prompting us to give him thanks for all his works and
for the understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers. 
With Solomon they
can say: "It is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists, to know the
structure of the world and the activity of the elements… for wisdom, the fashioner of
all things, taught me"
Genesis 15:2-6; "My Lord Yahweh" Abram replied, What do you intend to give me? I go childless…" * Then Abram said, "See, you have given me no descendants; some man of my household will be my heir." * And then this word of Yahweh was spoken to him, "He shall not be your heir; your heir shall be of your own flesh and blood." Then taking him outside he said, "Look up to heaven and count the stars if you can. Such will be your descendants," he told him. Abram put his faith in Yahweh, who counted this as making him justified.
Genesis 17:15-16; God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah. * I will bless her and moreover give you a son by her. I will bless her and nations shall come out of her; kings of peoples shall descend from her."
Genesis 17:19; * But God replied, "No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son whom you are to name Isaac. With him I will establish my Covenant, a Covenant in perpetuity, to be his God and the God of his descendants after him.
Genesis: 21:1-3; Yahweh dealt kindly with Sarah as he had said, and did what he had promised her. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the time God had promised.
Genesis: 22:15-18: The angel of Yahweh called Abraham a second time from heaven. * "I swear by my own self-it is Yahweh who speaks-because you have done this, because you have not refused me your son, your only son, * I will shower blessings on you, I will make your descendants as many as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants shall gain possession of the gates of their enemies. * All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants, as a reward for your obedience."
Genesis 25:21-22; Isaac prayed to Yahweh on behalf of his wife , for she was barren. Yahweh heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.
Genesis 26:23-24; From here he (Isaac) went up to Beersheba. * Yahweh appeared to him that night and said: "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid for I am with you. I will bless you and make your descendants many in number on account of my servant Abraham."
Judges: 13:3-7; The angel of Yahweh appeared to this woman and said to her, "You are barren and have had no child. But from now on take great care. Take no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean. For you will conceive and bear a son (Samson). No razor is to touch his head, for the boy shall be God's nazirite from his mother's womb. It is he who will begin to rescue Israel from the power of the Philistines." * Then the woman went and told her husband, "A man of God has just come to me; his presence was like the presence of the angel of God, he was so majestic. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not reveal his name to me. * But he said to me , 'You will conceive and bear a son. From now on, take no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean. For the boy shall be God's nazirite from his mother's womb to his dying day.'
1 Samuel 1:10-11; In the bitterness of her soul she (Hannah) prayed to Yahweh with many tears * and made a vow, saying, "Yahweh Sabaoth! If you will take notice of the distress of your servant, and bear me in mind and not forget your servant and give her a man-child, I will give him to Yahweh for the whole of his life and no razor shall ever touch his head."
2 Samuel 7:12-16; Yahweh will make you (David) great; Yahweh will make you a House. * And when your days are ended and you are laid to rest with your ancestors, I will preserve the offspring of your body after you and make his sovereignty secure. * (It is he who shall build a house for my name, and I will make his royal throne secure for ever). I will be a father to him and he a son to me; if he does evil, I will punish him with the rod such as men use, with strokes such as mankind gives. * Yet I will not withdraw my favor from him, as I withdrew it from your predecessor. Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established for ever.'"
Psalm 78:5-6; When he issued the decrees for Jacob and instituted a Law in Israel, he gave our ancestors strict orders to teach it to their children; the next generation was to learn it, the children still to be born,
Isaiah 7:14; The Lord himself, will give you (House of David) a sign. It is this: The maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel.
Jeremiah: 1:4-5; The word of Yahweh was addressed to me , saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I consecrated you; I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
Matthew: 1:20-25; "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. * She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins." * Now all this took place to fulfill the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet (Isaiah): The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel, a name which means "God-is-with-us."
Luke: 1:13-18; But the angel said to him, "Zechariah, do not be afraid, your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth is to bear a son and you must name him John. * He will be your joy and delight and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord; he must drink no wine, no strong drink. Even from his mother's womb he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, * and he will bring back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah, he will go before him to turn the hearts of fathers toward their children and the disobedient back to the wisdom that the virtuous have, preparing for the Lord a people fit for him."
Luke: 1:26-34; In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, * to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. * He went in and said to her, "Rejoice, so highly favored! The Lord is with you," * She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, * but the angel said to her, "Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God's favor. * Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. * He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; * he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end." * Mary said to the angel, "But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?" "The Holy Spirit will come upon you ," the angel answered, "and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. *Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, * for nothing is impossible to God,"
Luke 2:21; When the eighth day came and the child was to be circumcised, they gave him the name Jesus, the name the angel had given him before his conception.
2 Timothy 1:1-2; From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus in his design to promise life in Christ Jesus; * to Timothy , dear child of mine, wishing you grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans: 9: 9-10: * The actual words in which the promise was made were: I shall visit you at such and such a time, and Sarah will have a son.
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©2000, James J. Schwarzwalder, 400 East Elm Avenue, Lindenwold, N.J. 08021