Commandments I-III
Errors regarding the Ten
Commandments What the Ten Commandments are Commandment I Commandment II Commandment III Christ and the Ten Commandments The New Law of Christ
They are simply a list of do’s and don’ts Following the letter of the Law makes
you a “good” person We do not have to follow the Ten Commandments anymore because of the sacrificial death of Jesus (we are no longer under Law) Moral Law vs. Ceremonial Law The Law of Christ
… Moral existence is a response to the Lord's
loving initiative. It is the acknowledgement and homage given to God and a worship of thanksgiving. It is cooperation with the plan God pursues in history. - CCC 2062
Since they express man's fundamental duties
towards God and towards his neighbor, the Ten Commandments reveal, in their primordial content, grave obligations. They are fundamentally immutable, and they oblige always and everywhere. No one can dispense from them. The Ten Commandments are engraved by God in the human heart. - CCC 2072
Deut 5:6-9 6 I am the Lord your God, ‌ you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, ... 9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them;
8
Adoration
Prayer
To adore God is to acknowledge, in respect and absolute submission, the "nothingness of the creature" who would not exist but for God. … The worship of the one God sets man free from turning in on himself, from the slavery of sin and the idolatry of the world. - CCC 2097
… Prayer is an indispensable condition for being able to obey God's commandments. "[We] ought always to pray and not lose heart.“ - CCC 2098
Sacrifice
…: "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit...." … The only perfect sacrifice is the one that Christ offered on the cross as a total offering to the Father's love and for our salvation. By uniting ourselves with his sacrifice we can make our lives a sacrifice to God. - CCC 2100
Promises and vows … A vow is an act of devotion in which the Christian
dedicates himself to God or promises him some good work. By fulfilling his vows he renders to God what has been promised and consecrated to Him. … - CCC 2102
Social duty (evangelization)
… The social duty of Christians is to respect and awaken in each man the love of the true and the good. It requires them to make known the worship of the one true religion which subsists in the Catholic and apostolic Church. Christians are called to be the light of the world. Thus, the Church shows forth the kingship of Christ over all creation and in particular over human societies. - CCC 2105
Superstition … To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental
signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition. - CCC 2111
Idolatry
… Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, Satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. Jesus says, "You cannot serve God and mammon." - CCC 2113
Divination and magic All forms of divination are to be rejected: …
horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, … - CCC 2116
All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one
attempts to tame occult powers, ... - CCC 2117
Irreligion
Tempting God consists in putting his goodness and almighty power to the test by word or deed. … The challenge contained in such tempting of God wounds the respect and trust we owe our Creator and Lord. … - CCC 2119
Sacrilege consists in profaning or treating unworthily the sacraments and other liturgical actions, as well as persons, things, or places consecrated to God. … - CCC 2120
Atheism
… Atheistic humanism falsely considers man to be "an end to himself, and the sole maker, with supreme control, of his own history." … - CCC 2124
…. "Believers can have more than a little to do with the rise of atheism. To the extent that they are careless about their instruction in the faith, or present its teaching falsely, or even fail in their religious, moral, or social life, they must be said to conceal rather than to reveal the true nature of God and of religion.“ - CCC 2125
Agnosticism
Agnosticism can sometimes include a certain search for God, but it can equally express indifferentism, a flight from the ultimate question of existence, and a sluggish moral conscience. Agnosticism is all too often equivalent to practical atheism. - CCC 2128
ď‚— Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God
ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim. - CCC 2130
ď‚— The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to
the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, "the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype," and "whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it." The honor paid to sacred images is a "respectful veneration," not the adoration due to God alone - CCC 2132
Deut 5:11 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
Blasphemy … Blasphemy is contrary to the respect due God
and his holy name. It is in itself a grave sin. - CCC 2148 Taking The Name Of The Lord In Vain The holiness of the divine name demands that
we neither use it for trivial matters, nor take an oath which on the basis of the circumstances could be interpreted as approval of an authority unjustly requiring it. … - CCC 2155
Deut 5:12 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work.
Sunday- fulfillment of the Sabbath … In Christ's Passover, Sunday fulfills the spiritual
truth of the Jewish Sabbath … - CCC 2175
The celebration of Sunday observes the moral
commandment inscribed by nature in the human heart to render to God an outward, visible, public, and regular worship … - CCC 2176
The Sunday obligation The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation
of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin. - CCC 2182 A day of grace and rest from work On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful
are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord's Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body. Family needs or important social service can legitimately excuse from the obligation of Sunday rest. … - CCC 2185
Matt 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. ď‚— The Law has not been abolished, but rather man
is invited to rediscover it in the person of his Master who is its perfect fulfillment. - CCC 2053
ď‚— In the Sermon on the Mount Christ calls His
disciples to a radical following of the Ten Commandments by commanding them to adhere not only to the letter of the Law but to the spirit of the Law
Matt 5:21-44
21 "You have heard that it was said…, 'You shall not kill; ...' 22 But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; ....
27 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
33 "Again you have heard that it was said …, 'You shall not swear falsely, ...' 34 But I say to you, Do not swear at all, … Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil.
38 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; …
43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…
John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Matt 7:12 So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.
Gal 6:2
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Matt 22:36-40 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.“
As charity comprises the two commandments to which the Lord related the whole Law and the prophets . . . so the Ten Commandments were themselves given on two tablets. Three were written on one tablet and seven on the other . - St. Augustine
GOD
Man
Man
Man
What is Social Justice? â€
The Church's social teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society. Modern Catholic social teaching has been articulated through a tradition of papal, conciliar, and episcopal documents. - USCCB Website, Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching
Why is the idea of social justice important to me? †
“Both and” not “Either or” •
•
•
To be Christian one must have personal piety (love of God) and work for the good of his neighbor (love of neighbor) This split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age. - Vatican II Long since, the Prophets of the Old Testament fought vehemently against this scandal and even more so did Jesus Christ Himself in the New Testament threaten it with grave punishments. - Vatican II
Summary of Contemporary Issues †
Human dignity is the fundamental and foundation issue of social justice • • •
Abortion Euthanasia Capital Punishment
† Rights and Duties • •
people have basic rights and corresponding responsibilities
† Option for the poor •
we must arrange society in such a way that the poor are given preference
† Role of Government – we have to avoid the errors of • •
extreme individualism and extreme collectivism
† Economics – we have to avoid the errors of • •
lassie fair economics and socialism
† Stewardship of Creation – we have to avoid the errors of • •
extreme disregard for how we use creation and the disordered elevation of nature that puts it above man and not at his service
Modern Catholic Social Teaching
1891 Rerum Novarum 1931 Quadragesimo Anno 1961 Mother and Teacher 1963 Peace on Earth 1965 Church in the Modern World 1967 The Development of Peoples 1971 A Call to Action 1971 Justice in the World 1979 Redeemer of Humanity 1981 On Human Work 1988 On Social Concern 1991 The One Hundredth Year 1995 The Gospel of Life 2009 Charity in Truth
Leo XIII Pius XI John XXIII John XXIII Vatican II Paul VI Paul VI Synod of Bishops John Paul II John Paul II John Paul II John Paul II John Paul II Benedict XI