Episode 15: The 1st 5 Commandments
The Role of the Commandments*
An opening mediation
“We must not see the Ten Commandments as limitations to liberty. No, they are not this, but we must see them as indications for liberty. They are not limitations but indications of liberty! They teach us to avoid the slavery to which the many idols reduce us that we build ourselves - we have experienced this so many times in history and we are experiencing it also today...”
In our study of Theology, we have now covered what we believe (Creed) and the help God gives us (Sacraments), so we must know shift our attention to how we should live (Commandments),
God helps us in many different ways to live a moral life. He gives us grace, which awakens in us the desire to say no to temptation and sin and to choose only that which is good. He gives us the Theological and Cardinal Virtues and the grace to practice human virtues so that we can grow stronger in them. God gives us help and grace through the Church and through our reception of the Sacraments. He also teaches us how we should live. One way he does this is by giving us laws to guide our actions. The Ten Commandments are laws that God has revealed to us. Heeding the guidance God gives us in the Commandments will help us know how to serve God and how we should live with each other. It also helps us to be open to the grace of the Holy Spirit and what God can accomplish in us and through us by that grace.
O LORD, HOW GLORIOUS IS YOUR NAME OVER ALL THE EARTH (CF. PS 8:2)
When we bring to our culture this experience of the holiness of God's name, we arrive with a gift for society that can be all the better when the sacred is accepted as beneficial for the culture. It is no secret that irreverence for God and sacred matters is present in certain sectors of our society. For believers this is embarrassing, painful, and inappropriate. Public discourse at times routinely displays little sensitivity to the revered values of people of faith. Of course, this is not universally true. There are many people who show respect for matters religious. People of goodwill can be as dismayed as men and women of faith at the departures from decency in speech and the disregard for the holiness of God's name.
Everyone's name is important. We honor the dignity of persons by using their names with respect. Surely we will honor each other's names if we acquire a habitual reverence for God's name. Reverencing the name of God honors him. This is the beginning of treating each other with the respect for a dignity that is based on our being created as an image of God.
Scripture highlights numerous ways in which God's name is vital for our faith life. When Job was in the midst of his worst sufferings, he said, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; / blessed be the name of the Lord" (Jb 1:21). God's name sustained him in his suffering. When the psalmist wanted to express exultant praise of God and thanksgiving for favors received, the holy name was invoked, "Bless the Lord, my soul; / all my being, bless his holy name" (Ps 103:1).
Jesus taught that he would be present to those who come together in his name. "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Mt 18:20). St. Peter staked his entire ministry on the utter uniqueness of Jesus, the only Savior, by employing the power of his name: "There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved" (Acts 4:12). St. Paul proclaimed that the name of Christ is an occasion for the adoration of the Son of God:
God greatly exalted him / and bestowed on him the name / that is above every name, / that at the name of Jesus / every knee should bend, / of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth. (Phil 2:9-10)
When the Blessed Virgin Mary praised God for calling her to be the Mother of his Son, she chanted, "Holy is his name" (Lk 1:49). All of these sublime tributes to God's name enliven our faith and love for God. They provide us with the context to understand the meaning of the Second Commandment.
This is a good time for people of faith to witness their love for God's name by appealing to those who err in this regard to reconsider what they say and appreciate how it affects others. Those who are involved in preaching and catechizing should always remember to model and encourage adoration. In order to be examples to society, believers themselves need to be temperate in the use of their tongues.
The Burden of a Good Example
Princeton is a small town and comes with great charm and a chance to get to know people rather well. That's the beauty of a small town. But small towns can also feel a little like close quarters. I have lived in Princeton long enough that I can rarely go anywhere on Nassau Street without running into someone that I know. It also means that there can be a lot of pressure to always be on their best behavior. For some, this can feel like an exhausting dance of minding your Ps & Qs or your manners, so to speak. When I began teaching RCIA, I became acutely more aware of the how often people in my RCIA class would see me out around town, and it certainly made me very aware of what I was doing, who I was with, and most importantly how it appeared, as I would never want my behavior not to mirror the convictions that I teach others.
People often talk about the need for privacy. In fact, people often talk about their public and private lives. Yet what they are really getting at is they need to separate the things they want to get credit for doing and the things they don't want anyone to judge them for. As a child my grandmother would always say "If you can't do it when someone else is watching, then you shouldn't be doing it." First, it was unbelievably good at telling us grandkids how to behave, but there is also still some wisdom in it for us as adults. For me, this is just good impulse control. I wouldn't want someone else to watch me eat three doughnuts in one sitting, I probably shouldn't eat three doughnuts in one sitting. All that being said we do actually need a private life, just not the sort of private life people normally think of.
"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees you in secret will reward you. And in praying do not heap up empty phrases like the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." Matthew 6:5-8.
We all need a private life with the Lord, a chance to be alone in the Lord, so we can whisper our deepest fears and concerns to the Jesus, and he can comfort us with his infinite love.
*Adapted from the USCCB Catholic Catechism for Adults Chapters 25 & 26
Weekly
Prayer
Intentions
To be prayed daily
Pause for some silence
Pause for some silence
The Sign of the Cross
Start by touching your right hand to your forehead, then your stomach, followed by your left and right shoulders while saying "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen"
Act of Love
O My God, I love you above all thing, With my whole heart and soul, Because you are all good and worthy of all my love, I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you. I forgive all who have injured me, And ask pardon of all whom I have injured. Amen.
Specific intentions:
Lord, help me to love you with all my heart, my soul, and my mind.
Lord, let me prioritize my week to allow me to rest on the Sabbath.
Lord, grant me the courage to love all human life as if it were a member of my family.
Personal intentions:
Please add your own intentions here.
Our Father:
Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Glory Be:
Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end, Amen.
Weekly
Journal
Prompt
Weekly Readings
With this week's readings we have been considering the importance of the first five commandments on the way in which we live. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us the 1st and greatest commandment is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind." How does this align with your current lifestyle? Is there anything in your life that would fundamentally need to change to make this true? Take a few minutes to write down your thoughts on these personal reflections.
Click on the Link to download each of the articles for further reading this week.
The 1st 2 Commandments
How do we put God first? Click here to download
The 3rd & 4th Commandments
What do we need to respect? Click here to download
The 5th Commandment
What do we kill? Click here to download
Weekly Activity:
Keeping the Sabbath
It may seem like most people these days have better things to do on Sunday than go to Church. Sunday has become a great catch-up day, an opportunity to get all the work done you procrastinated about all week. But this is different for people of faith. Did you know there are more Catholics at Mass on a single weekend than all the fans that go to major league baseball games in an entire season?
In order to keep the Sabbath as busy people, you may have to prepare all week!
Here are some things to do during the week to help you keep the Sabbath:
Put mass in your calendar so you already block that time out and plan around it.
As the weekend draws near, consider all the work you need to get done over the weekend and try to adjust your schedule to get as much of it done as possible on Friday evening or Saturday, so your Sunday can be school work free.
Use your Sunday for spending time with friends and family, getting some exercise, preparing for mass, in prayer, and by going to mass.
Here are ways to help you prepare better for Sunday Mass (either on Sunday or through out the week):
Go to Mass prepared to worship God.
Approach the Mass with the intention of participating fully and actively in the celebration, singing the hymns and psalms and reciting the prayers with conviction and faith.
Enter into the mystery of faith in the Mass. The sacrificial self-gift of Christ to the Father is made present through the Holy Spirit. If we unite ourselves with him in his self-gift, we truly fulfill what is at the heart of being a priestly people.
Read and pray over the Scripture texts for the Sunday liturgy in order to prepare for the Mass. Pray for light from God's Word on your needs.
Spend time learning about the Mass: its structure, intentions, and the meanings within the prayers and its rituals.
Come to Mass with a community-minded attitude. Keep in mind that liturgy is a communal act of worship in which faith is strengthened by contact with other believers in a context where the Holy Spirit is forming the worshipers into the unity of the Church, the Body of Christ.
Always remember the sacrifice of the Mass is the Church's greatest prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God the Father in which the Lord Jesus is truly present as Savior of the world and is received in the Sacrament of the Eucharist as food for eternal life.