From the Rector/CCD, First Sunday of Lent, 2/21/21

The Ten Commandments #1

Commandments 1-3

Lesson 19

198. What is the first commandment of God? I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.

199. What are we commanded by the first commandment? To offer to God alone the supreme worship that is due Him.

200. How do we worship God? By acts of faith, hope, and charity, and by adoring Him and praying to Him.

204. How can a Catholic best safeguard his faith? A Catholic can best safeguard his faith by making frequent acts of faith, by praying for a strong faith, by studying his religion very earnestly, by living a good life, by good reading, by refusing to associate with the enemies of the Church, and by not reading books and papers opposed to the Church and her teaching.

205. How does a Catholic sin against faith? A Catholic sins against faith by apostasy (leaving the faith), heresy (believing something opposed to the faith), indifferentism, and by taking part in non-Catholic worship. Also by superstition (attributing to a creature a power that belongs to God alone, as when he makes use of charms or spells, believes in dreams or fortune-telling, or goes to spiritists) and sacrilege (mistreating sacred persons, places, or things).

207. What are the sins against hope? The sins against hope are presumption (when someone trusts that he can be saved by his own efforts without God’s help, or by God’s help without his own efforts) and despair (when a person deliberately refuses to trust that God will give him the necessary help to save his soul).

214. Does the first commandment forbid us to honor the saints in heaven? No, provided we do not give them the honor that belongs to God alone.

220. When does the first commandment forbid the making or the use of statues and pictures? Only when they promote false worship.

223. Do we pray to the crucifix or to the images and relics of the saints? We do not pray to the crucifix or to the images and relics of the saints, but to the persons they represent.

224. What is the second commandment of God? Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

225. What are we commanded by the second commandment? To speak with reverence of God, of the saints, and of holy things, and to be truthful in taking oaths (calling on God to witness the truth of what we say) and faithful to them and to our vows (deliberate promise made to God by which a person binds himself under pain of sin to do something that is especially pleasing to God).

230. What is meant by taking God’s name in vain? When the name of God or the holy name of Jesus Christ is used without reverence; for example, to express surprise or anger.

233. What is blasphemy? Blasphemy is insulting language which expresses contempt for God, either directly or through His saints and holy things.

234. What is the third commandment of God? Remember thou keep holy the Lord’s day.

235. Why does the Church command us to keep Sunday as the Lord’s day? Because on Sunday Christ rose from the dead, and on Sunday the Holy Ghost descended upon the apostles.

236. What are we commanded by the third commandment? To worship God in a special manner on Sunday, the Lord’s day: by assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

238. What is forbidden by the third commandment of God? All unnecessary servile work on Sunday is forbidden. This is work which requires labor of body rather than of mind. Servile work is allowed on Sunday when the honor of God, our own need, or that of our neighbor requires it.