“You must go back to the country where I was born and get a wife for my son Isaac from among my relatives.” Genesis 24:4
“He will send an angel before you, so that you can get a wife there for my son.”
This Week’s Prayer
In Your Arms
“Beautiful angel, loving protector,
hold me close in the fold of your arms.
Surround me with your warm embrace,
keeping away all fear and harm.
Sent by God to give me peace,
You bring this light to ease my fright.
Hold me close and help me sleep,
dear angel, be with me through the night.”
Amen.
Source: Catholic Prayer Book for Children
For Parents to Share with Their Children
We Finish Learning Our Creed, Stanza by Stanza
“I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.
Amen. “
Source: SaintCharlesBorromeo.org
Our Readings
Inspiration for Camel and Sun come from Layers of Learning.com.
An Excerpt from the USCCB.org
“Isaac and Rebekah”
Source: USCCB.org “Genesis”, chapter 24:1-27
Isaac and Rebekah.*
1
Abraham was old, having seen many days, and the LORD had blessed him in every way.
2
a Abraham said to the senior servant of his household, who had charge of all his possessions: “Put your hand under my thigh,*
3
and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live,b
4
but that you will go to my own land and to my relatives to get a wife for my son Isaac.”
5
The servant asked him: “What if the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land? Should I then take your son back to the land from which you came?”
6
Abraham told him, “Never take my son back there for any reason!
7
The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, and who confirmed by oath the promise he made to me, ‘I will give this land to your descendants’—he will send his angel before you, and you will get a wife for my son there.c
8
If the woman is unwilling to follow you, you will be released from this oath to me. But never take my son back there!”
9
So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore to him concerning this matter.
10
The servant then took ten of his master’s camels, and bearing all kinds of gifts from his master, he made his way to the city of Nahor* in Aram Naharaim.
11
Near evening, at the time when women go out to draw water, he made the camels kneel by the well outside the city.
12
Then he said: “LORD, God of my master Abraham, let it turn out favorably for me* today and thus deal graciously with my master Abraham.
13
While I stand here at the spring and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water,
14
if I say to a young woman, ‘Please lower your jug, that I may drink,’ and she answers, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels, too,’ then she is the one whom you have decided upon for your servant Isaac. In this way I will know that you have dealt graciously with my master.”
15
d He had scarcely finished speaking when Rebekah—who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor—came out with a jug on her shoulder.
16
The young woman was very beautiful, a virgin, untouched by man. She went down to the spring and filled her jug. As she came up,
17
the servant ran toward her and said, “Please give me a sip of water from your jug.”
18
“Drink, sir,” she replied, and quickly lowering the jug into her hand, she gave him a drink.
19
When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels, too, until they have finished drinking.”
20
With that, she quickly emptied her jug into the drinking trough and ran back to the well to draw more water, until she had drawn enough for all the camels.
21
The man watched her the whole time, silently waiting to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful.
22
When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose-ring weighing half a shekel, and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels for her wrists.
23
Then he asked her: “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please. And is there a place in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24
She answered: “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.
25
We have plenty of straw and fodder,” she added, “and also a place to spend the night.”
26
The man then knelt and bowed down to the LORD,
27
saying: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not let his kindness and fidelity toward my master fail. As for me, the LORD has led me straight to the house of my master’s brother.”
Note* The symbols and letters are related to the commentary on the USCCB.org webpage that has this reading, Genesis, chapter 24. All of the Bible readings have this notation for readers.
An Excerpt for Children
A Blessing for Rebekah
“May you sister,
become
the mother of millions!
May your descendants conquer
the cities of their enemies.”
“Isaac had come into the wilderness of ‘The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me” and was staying
in the southern part of Canaan. He went out in the early evening to take a walk in the fields and saw the camels coming.
When Rebekah saw Isaac, she got down from her camel and asked Abraham’s servant,
‘Who is that man walking toward us in the field?’
‘He is my master,’ the servant answered.
So she took her scarf and covered her face.
The servant told Isaac everything he had done. Then Isaac brought Rebekah into the tent that his mother Sarah had lived in, and she became his wife. Isaac loved Rebekah, and so he was comforted for the loss of his mother.”
Source: The Catholic Children’s Bible, Genesis chapter 25:62-67 Page 55
An Excerpt for Young Children
“A Wife for Isaac” Genesis 24
“Years later Abraham sent his most trusted servant back to his homeland to find a wife for his beloved son. When the servant reached his master’s hometown, he prayed to God to send a sign.
Before he finished praying, beautiful Rebekah came out to draw water from the well. When the servant asked if he might have a drink, she offered her jar straightaway, and then hurried to draw water for his camels too.
This was the sign the servant had asked for! He thanked God and then explained his mission to Rebekah, and when her father was asked, it was agreed that she should become Isaac’s wife. When Isaac and Rebekah finally met, they fell in love with one another instantly!”
Source: The Illustrated Bible for Little Ones, Page 31
A Silly Song About Abraham’s Sons
“Father Abraham Had Many Sons”
“Father Abraham, had many sons,
Many sons had Father Abraham, I am one of them, and so are you,
So let’s all praise the Lord! (right hand, left hand, right foot, left foot)”
Source: SundaySchoolSources.com
This is a camp-type song that is a fun and silly way to reinforce the fact that Abraham was the patriarch of a great lineage of people who became the Jewish people. In the song, each time a body part is called out the singers have to wave it, adding the parts until the singers practically fall to the floor! Little kids get a kick out being silly but will remember the important point: “Father Abraham had many sons (descendants).”
Writing Project–Abraham Vocabulary
There are many new words and concepts introduced in the readings about of Abraham. Talk with your children about these words, their meanings, and why they are important to understand when reading the Bible.
Patriarch: (Abraham)
Matriarch: (Sarah)
Patrimony: (The land Abraham bought and his possessions)
Inheritance: (Abraham gave Isaac all of his wealth, land and property.)
Modesty: (Rebekah covered her face with a scarf when meeting Isaac for the first time.)
Matrimony and Arranged Marriages:
(Marriage; Rebekah’s father, and then Rebekah, agreed to marry Isaac sight unseen.)
Water Well: (The source of life-giving water and social meeting area in a desert; a water source that comes from a spring.)
Invite your child to write the word, “Well” and then list a few words or simple sentences about the importance of the well in a desert community. Perhaps they could decorate the paper with pictures they draw.
Here are some key words for this exercise: thirst, water, spring, fountain, life, draw water, animals, camels, meeting place, irrigation, faming, livestock, and community.
Art Projects
Tell a Story Using a Pictograph
Here are two pictographs that illustrates the symbols of the story about Rebekah at the well. They were made using painted watercolor paper that has dried and been cut into shapes to be glued onto a large piece of watercolor or black construction paper. I used liquid watercolors and also cut out shapes that were first drawn in pencil then traced over with a black Sharpie. You can also simply cut shapes freehand. The key elements are: the well, the camel, the desert sun, the bucket used to water the camels, the scarf on Rebekah’s head for modesty, the heart (love), the oasis, and water. The black collage features the stars and the grains of sand representing descendants promised to Abraham by God. I cut shapes from paintings done previously for other projects. This is a fun way to repurpose art projects–cut flowers or shapes from free-form watercolor paintings and paste onto black or white sturdy paper. If you want a simpler pictograph, use the supplies you have on hand and invite your child to draw with crayons or markers. The objective is to remember the story by learning the symbols or key points of it through pictures.
