Week 43: Passages 2221-2291

I'll be back soon!

Week 42: Passages: 2168-2220

Catching up....

Week 41: Passages 2101 -2167

I'm sorry to be so behind on posting these readings. My mother has been battling cancer and it looks like she doesn't have much time left. I am out visiting her. Please keep her in your prayers!

Week 40: Passages 2052 - 2100

Here we go with....


The Ten Commandments!





The Ten Commandments or Decalogue were written by "the finger of God." Jesus reminds us that they are necessary to follow him. The Commandments take on their full meaning within the Covenant between God and man. A moral life in obedience to the Ten Commandments is the proper response to God's love for us.


The Commandments have unity, following one naturally leads to following the others.


The Decalogue is revelation, but can be obtained through reason alone. Because of sin, humanity needed this revelation. The Decalogue is a privileged expression of the natural law.


The Ten Commandments reveal grave obligations. They are engraved on the human heart.





Chapter One: You Shall Love the Lord Your God With All Your Heart, and With All Your Soul, and With All Your Mind


Article 1 The First Commandment

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall
not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in
heaven above, or that is n the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them.
It is written: 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you
serve.'" (CCC 2083)

I. You Shall Worship the Lord Your God and Him Only Shall You Serve


God's first call is that man accept him and worship him. We are called to the theological virtues:

• faith


• hope


• charity

II. Him Only Shall You Serve


The theological virtues give rise to the religious virtues:

• Adoration


• Prayer


• Sacrifice


• Promises and Vows


• Social duty of religion and right to religious freedom

Questions for Reflection:

• What are some ways we can nurture the theological and religious virtues in ourselves and our families?


• Our we meeting what St. Paul calls our first obligation: "obedience of faith"? Our we fulfilling our duty to believe in God and bear witness to him?


• CCC 2098 says "prayer is an indispensable condition for being able to obey God's commandments." How can we set aside more time for prayer in our families?