Rachel, being barren, delivereth her handmaid to Jacob; she beareth two sons. Lia ceasing to bear, giveth also her handmaid, and she beareth two more. Then Lia beareth other two sons and one daughter. Rachel beareth Joseph. Jacob, desirous to return home, is hired to stay for a certain part of the flock’s increase, whereby he becometh exceeding rich.
“And Jacob being angry with her, answered: Am I as God, who hath deprived thee of the fruit of thy womb?” (Genesis 30:2)
God is the author of life and the giver of every good thing.
“See the good man’s common sense in that, though provoked to anger by her words, he replied to her with great wisdom, instructing her precisely in everything and making the responsibility clear to her, lest by ignoring the Lord she might seek from another what God alone was able to provide.” (4) -St. John Chrysostom
In Job we read of his great submission under heavy trials, “the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord, so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)
Discussion: How does attaching us to people or things hurt us? How do we practice the spirit of detachment?
“Give me my wives, and my children, for whom I have served thee, that I may depart: thou knowest the service that I have rendered thee.” (Genesis 30:26)
Jacob’s meekness wins over Laban’s favor even when departing.
“Nothing is really more efficacious than meekness and nothing more powerful than it. See at any rate how, by a disarming use of meekness, Jacob also brought Laban to reply to him with great deference. ‘Laban replied to him,’ the text goes on, remember, ‘If I have found favor in your sight, and the omens do not deceive me, God has blessed me in your coming. Name your wage to me, and I will pay.’ ‘I am not unaware,’ he is saying, that in the wake of your coming I enjoyed favor from God more richly. So, since I recognize the kindness done me in your coming, ‘name any wage you care to mention, and I will readily pay it.’ Consider what a great thing meekness is, and don’t pass idly by these words. Instead, keep in mind that the good man had made no mention of this nor looked for any payment for his trouble. [He] had said only this: ‘Let me have my wives and children, for whom I was in your service, so that I may depart.’ And yet the other man, out of respect for the good man’s great meekness, replied, ‘Tell me what wage you want to be paid by me, and I will cheerfully pay it.’ After all, were not ‘Jacob’s wives and children in his company’? So why did he say, ‘Let me have my wives and children’? Jacob was giving him due respect and displaying in every circumstance his typical behavior, and wishing as well to take his leave without hindrance. Notice, at any rate, from these words how he won Laban over to the extent of promising to pay a wage and to leave the decision to him.” (4) -St. John Chrysostom
“Learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: And you shall find rest to your souls.” (Matthew 11:29)
“Take care to practice well the humble meekness that you owe to everybody, for it is the virtue of virtues which our Lord greatly recommended to us.” (4) -St. Francis de Sales
“And Jacob took green rods of poplar, and of almond, and of plane trees, and pilled them in part: so when the bark was taken off, in the parts that were pilled, there appeared whiteness: but the parts that were whole remained green: and by this means the colour was divers.” (Genesis 30:37)
The devout produce good spiritual fruit, being nourished by Christ’s wellspring of graces.
“The just man Jacob comes in like a hired hand and yet is the master who, in his ministry of preaching the gospel, gathered together a flock that is resplendent in the brilliance of its many signal virtues. Thus, when the flock came to drink, he would set before them in the troughs the bough of storax and walnut and that from the plane tree; those who felt desire for the mysteries of the most blessed Trinity that were prefigured there could engender offspring that were not at all discolored, by conceiving them in a devout mind. Good were the sheep that produced the offspring that were good works and that were not degenerate in holy faith. By the storax is meant the incense and the evening sacrifice that is offered to God the Father in the psalm; by the walnut bough, the priestly gift that is offered by Christ. For this is Aaron’s bough, that blossomed when it was set down, and through it the grace of priestly holiness was manifested. By the plane tree is meant an abundance of spiritual fruit, because a vine attaches itself to this tree so that the tree may be fertile through the symbiosis and pour itself out into rich offspring. Even so, the addition of the grace of the Spirit has generally nurtured the gifts of the Lord’s passion as well as the forgiveness of all sins.” (4) -St. Ambrose
“And he put them in the troughs, where the water was poured out: that when the flocks should come to drink, they might have the rods before their eyes, and in the sight of them might conceive.” (Genesis 30:38)
The pure and beautiful doctrines and laws of Christ bring about virtue in words and actions.
“But where did Jacob place his rods? In the troughs of water. And these troughs, in which the reasonable herd, that is we, go to water, must be interpreted as the writings of Moses and the prophetical predictions that nearly burst forth for us like a heavenly sermon from God. In fact, it was written, ‘You draw water with joy out of the wells of salvation.’ And there we will find the Immanuel, the rod of power. And in his death for us he is also the firstborn from the dead, and is exalted in glory and increases the number of the believers, as I have just said. Every word of the holy prophets, including Moses, hints at the mystery of Christ. Therefore also the wise Paul says, ‘Christ is the end of the prophets and the law.’ Jacob peeled in the rods white stripes alternated with green ones, and the sheep that were by them conceived a spotted and speckled progeny. Jesus somehow removed the shadow from the law and the veil from the prophetical writings. And he showed the pure and beautiful doctrine which was in them, and he transferred it to the spiritual song, in order that he might lead people to virtue since they wanted to be speckled, that is, they wanted to exercise a double virtue in words and actions. And therefore the divine prophets of those who were justified in the faith, by bringing the image before them, openly proclaim, ‘Because of the fear of you, we conceived, O Lord, and were in pain and brought forth the spirit of your salvation.’ And the same blessed Isaiah, in another passage, says properly: ‘Strengthen your relaxed hands and palsied knees; comfort one another, you fainthearted; be strong, fear not. Behold, our God renders judgment, and will render it.’ And again: ‘Behold the Lord! The Lord is coming with strength, and his arm is with power. He shall tend his flock as a shepherd, and shall gather the lambs with his arm and shall soothe them who are with young.’ That is, he will be a spiritual consolation for those who have already brought forth the divine sermon, for those who will be fruitful and for those who are about to bring forth the glories of evangelical life. This is the fruit of the holy and uncorrupted soul.” (4) -St. Cyril of Alexandria
Catechism of the Catholic Church:
1803 “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Phillipians 4:8)
A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions.
The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God.
“And Jacob separated the flock, and put the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the rams: and all the white and the black were Laban’s: and the rest were Jacob’s, when the flocks were separated one from the other.” (Genesis 30:40)
There is no association between good and evil.
“There is no association between the holy and the profane, between the pure and the impure. Those who belong to Christ are separated and refuse to mix with those who are in the world; they are free from carnal desires. They are marked by their way of life or rather are distinguished by their virtue. ‘The unmarked ones were Laban’s, and the marked ones were Jacob’s.’” (4) -St. Cyril of Alexandria
“With the holy thou wilt be holy; and with the innocent man thou wilt be innocent: And with the elect thou wilt be elect: and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted.” (Psalm 17:26-27)
Women's Prayer Group In Christ 