MODULE 10: “LOVING GOD” IN THE TEN COMMANDMENTS  Love for God.

o We must love God above all things, and avoid indifference, ingratitude
In light of Jesus’ moral teaching, the ethical wisdom of the Old Testament is and hatred against Him.
seen in its full glory. The Old Testament summary of man’s response to God is, of Forbids:
course, the Ten Commandments. These commandments are fully understood only  Idolatry
in the context of the covenant. o Idolatry is to love something or somebody more than God.
The Jew understood his special relationship to Yahweh in terms of covenant.  Superstition, divination, magic.
A covenant implies certain rights and duties. o Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices
this feeling imposes. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of
On Yahweh’s part, he especially blessed the Jewish people. He delivered them sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the
from Egypt, gave them a land and nationhood. In brief, he created them as a people interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition.
and sustained them through his abundant blessing whenever they were undergoing
trials, hardships, sufferings and persecutions. Indeed, he sustained them despite their  God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound
unfaithfulness. Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of
Providence for whatever concerns the future, and giving up all unhealthy
For their part, the Jews were to live a certain quality of life which would help curiosity about it.
them maintain their identity as God’s Chosen People and help them be a sign to all
nations of the oneness, majesty and glory of their God – the one true God. In sum, the  Sacrilege
Jews were to live the Law, summarized in the Ten Commandments, as an o It is to desecrate people, things, or places consecrated to God. The
affirmation of Yahweh’s gracious calling and his act of creating them as his worst sacrilege is the one against the Holy Eucharist.
chosen people.  Simony
Today, the Christian also lives the Ten Commandments, not as a burdensome o It is to buy or sell spiritual things. Peter said to Simon the magician,
list of obligations, but as a willing response to God’s loving call to be his people. who wanted to buy the Holy Spirit: May your silver be lost forever, and
you with it, for thinking that money could buy what God has given for
In responding, that is, living in the spirit of the Ten Commandments, the nothing (Acts 8:20)
Christian is saying “yes” to his identity, his vocation. That vocation is to witness in
the Spirit to the Father of Jesus the Lord.  Atheism
o It is to refuse to believe in God.
The first three of these commandments emphasize our need “to love God
above all things”; the last seven indicate our obligation “to love our neighbour as  To worship the images of idols
ourselves.” o Nobody is allowed to worship the images of the idols. When we
venerate the images of Christ, of the Virgin Mary and of the saints, we
In analysing the Ten Commandments, we should try to focus on how each is a do not venerate the images themselves, but the persons represented by
response in love to a loving God. them.

THE 1ST 3 COMMANDMENTS Second Commandment

First Commandment YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD, YOUR GOD, IN VAIN.
I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD: YOU SHALL NOT HAVE OTHER GODS BESIDE ME. The Second Commandment prescribes respect for the Lord’s name. Respect
God has loved us first. The love of the One God is recalled in the first of the “Ten for his name is an expression of the respect owed to the mystery of God himself
Words.” The commandments, then, make explicit the response of love that man is and to the whole sacred reality it evokes. The sense of the sacred is part of the
called to give to his God. God’s first call and just demand is that man accepts Him and virtue of religion.
worship Him. Commands:
Commands:  To respect the Holy Name of God.
 To worship God alone. o We must keep the Holy Name of God in our heart with love and
 Faith in God. respect. We can use the Name of God only to bless, praise, and glorify
o We must keep and nourish our faith. Him.
 Hope in God.  To announce the Holy Name of God.
o We must hope in God, and avoid despair and presumption. Despair o God wants us to be missionaries and to proclaim his Holy Name to all
is to think that we cannot be saved. Presumption is to claim that we peoples.
can be saved by ourselves without the help of God.
  To keep oaths and vows. MODULE 11 & 12: “LOVING OTHERS” IN THE TEN
o The most common vows are the ones of chastity, poverty, and COMMANDMENTS
obedience for the religious, and the one of perfect fidelity for
married couple.
The 4th Commandment
Forbids: HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER.
 Blasphemy
o It is mortal sin to utter words of hatred against God, Jesus Christ, The 4th Commandment is addressed expressly to children in their
the Virgin Mary, and the saints. relationship to their father and mother, because this relationship is the most
 To make false oaths in the Name of God. universal. It likewise concerns the ties of kinship between members of the
o Every false oath and promise in the name of God is a serious offense to extended family.
his Holy Name.
Observing the 4th Commandment brings its reward: “Honor your father and
your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God
Third Commandment
gives you.” Respecting this commandment provides, along with spiritual fruits,
REMEMBER TO KEEP HOLY THE SABBATH DAY.
temporal fruits of peace and prosperity. Conversely, failure to observe it brings
The Third Commandment of the Decalogue recalls the holiness of the great harm to communities and to individuals.
Sabbath: “The seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord.”
The reasons why of all the commandments, this should be the easiest to obey:
God’s action is the model for human action. If God “rested and was 1. It is natural to do so.
refreshed” on the seventh day, man too ought to “rest” and should let others, 2. It is a duty of gratitude to keep this commandment.
especially the poor, “be refreshed.” The Sabbath brings everyday to a halt and 3. To honor our parents is a matter of common sense.
provides a respite. It is a day of protest against the servitude of work and the (listen to the voice of experience)
worship of money.
We honor our parents by:
The Gospel reports many incidents when Jesus was accused of violating the 1. Loving them and showing them that we love them.
Sabbath law. But Jesus never fails to respect the holiness of this day. He gives this law 2. Doing the things which will bring pleasure and pride to them.
its authentic and authoritative interpretation: “The Sabbath was made for man, not
“There is a higher duty than even the duty of honoring our parents.”
man for the Sabbath.” With compassion, Christ declares the Sabbath for doing
good rather than harm, for saving life rather than killing. The Sabbath is the day Jesus said, “He who loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me,”
of the Lord or mercies and a day to honor God. The Son of Man is lord even of the (Matthew 10:37)
Sabbath.
The greatest loyalty, in the end, is to Jesus Christ.
Commands:
Commands:
 To participate in the Holy Mass.
1. To honor our parents.
o We must attend the Holy Mass on Sundays and holy days of
2. To honor the religious and civil authority.
obligation. We have also to sanctify the Lord’s day by means of
prayer and good deeds. Forbids:
 To care for the poor and the suffering. 1. To dishonor and disobey our parents.
o Every Sunday, we must take good care of the poor, sick, and suffering 2. To love our parents more than God.
people. 3. To obey an evil authority.

Forbids: The 5th Commandment

 Unnecessary servile work. YOU SHALL NOT KILL.
o We must avoid all the works which prevent us from sanctifying the
Lord’s day. “Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative
 To rest, play, and enjoy without God. action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator,
o It is a great sin to spend the Lord’s day concerned only for the body. who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end:
no one can, under any circumstance, claim for himself the right directly to
destroy an innocent human being.”
Murder is forbidden in any society.
Are all killings forbidden? 1. The Integrity of the Person
Article III, Section 19 of the Philippine Constitution:  The chaste person maintains the integrity of the powers of life and love
“Congress can impose death penalty for compelling reasons involving heinous placed in him.
crimes.”  Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is training in
human freedom.
Heinous crimes = rape with murder, killing one’s parents, killing a person in stages.
 “either man governs his passions and find peace, or he lets himself be
Some Important Statements: dominated by them and becomes unhappy.”
1. Killing a man in anger can never be justified.  Chastity is a moral virtue. It is also a gift from God, a grace, a fruit of
2. Employing people in conditions that are not safe and injurious and poisonous spiritual effort.
to the worker is killing them.
3. Living in conditions that are inhumane is equivalent to killing them. 2. The Integrality of the Gift of Self
4. Widespread abuse of drugs which can kill.  Chastity leads him who practices it to become a witness to his neighbor
5. Killing in war. of God’s fidelity and loving kindness.
 The virtue of chastity blossoms in friendship which leads to spiritual
Commands: communion.
1. To safeguard life.
2. To respect our neighbor. Homosexuality – relations between men or between women who experience an
exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex.
Forbids: o To be homosexual isn’t a sin but homosexual acts are intrinsically
1. Murder – to kill the innocent is one of the greatest sins. disordered.
2. Suicide – Our life belongs to God. We are not the owners of our life. o Homosexual persons are called to chastity.
3. Abortion – Man starts his existence from the moment of conception.
Abortion is murder! The LOVE of Husband and Wife
4. Euthanasia – it is a shameful sin to kill the old, sick, and abnormal people.  Sexuality is ordered to the conjugal love of man and woman. (not only
5. To use drugs and other dangerous substances – We must avoid everything physical union but also spiritual union)
which is harmful to our health and to the health of our neighbor.  Sex in marriage is noble and honorable.

The 6th Commandment 2-Fold End of the Spouses’ Union

YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY 1. The good of the spouses themselves
2. Transmission of Life
Important Terms: 2-Fold Obligation of the Conjugal Love of Man and Woman
 Adultery – is sexual intercourse with another person who is married. 1. Fidelity
 Fornication – is the sexual union between a man and a woman 2. Fecundity
outside the sacrament of marriage.
o Premarital sex – sex before marriage. Fidelity – expresses constancy in keeping one’s given word.
o Non-marital sex – sexual relationship with no intention of getting o “Two become one flesh.”
married. Fecundity – is a gift, an end of marriage, for conjugal love naturally tends to be
 Holy Sex – sex that takes place between a husband and wife in fulfillment fruitful.
of their marital relationship. o “A child is a fruit of the love of husband and wife.”
 Unholy sex – is everything else except holy sex. Regulation of Procreation
 Sexuality – affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body  Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-
and soul. It is a mode or way of being in the world. observation and the use of infertile periods, are in conformity with the
 Chastity – the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus objective criteria of morality.
the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being.
o To be chaste means to use our sexuality according to the will of God. The 7th Commandment
YOU SHALL NOT STEAL.
The virtue of chastity involves:
1. Integrity of the person The 7th Commandment forbids unjustly taking or keeping the goods of one’s
2. Integrality of the gift of self. neighbour and wronging him in any way with respect to his goods. It commands
justice and charity in the care of earthly goods and the fruits of men’s labor. For
the sake of the common good, it requires respect for the universal destination of
goods and respect for the right to private property. Christian life strives to order this If a witness is found to be a false witness, the same penalty he tried to inflict
world’s goods to God and to fraternal charity. will be inflicted upon him.
“We must never take what we have no right to take.” Certain things to be recognized in telling the truth
1. It is by no means easy to tell the truth.
Natural Sin – it is human nature to want what we don’t have.
 We need to get rid of prejudice.
“Everyone agrees that stealing is wrong.”  We need to get rid of personal interest.
 We need to get rid of self-protection.
But then, there are kinds of stealing which are considered clever rather than 2. It is easy to slip into inaccuracy.
blameworthy in our society. 3. It is extremely dangerous not to tell the truth.
1. Three typical examples of stealing in which some people take almost pride. 4. Must we always tell the truth baldly and bluntly?
a. Traveling by bus without paying the fare
b. Stealing in the supermarket 3 Questions we should always ask about anything we say about anyone else, or
c. Pilfering at work to anyone else
1. Is it true?
2. Stealing in a game. (Sportmanship, Gamesmanship) 2. Is it necessary?
3. Stealing of time 3. Is it kind?

We may be guilty of stealing in our own way. Florence Allshorn, a great teacher, has a wise advice…
How can this be avoided? “Speak the truth, say what is necessary, but take care to say it kindly, and in a
1. Epicurus (very wise philosopher in Greece) once said: “The greatest good in way that would help and not hurt.”
life is pleasure.” Commands:
2. Can you really live with yourself if you know you are a thief? 1. Truthfulness
3. Remember God sees everything! No one would want God to see him do a 2. To testify our faith.
dishonest thing. 3. To correct our neighbor.
Commands: 4. To accept brotherly correction.
1. To respect the property of our neighbor. 5. To respect the good name of our neighbor.
2. To share our goods with the poor 6. To remedy for our lies.
3. To return what we have stolen. Forbids:
4. To work. 1. To lie
Forbids: 2. Hypocrisy – behaving in a false and ambivalent way in order to attain
1. To steal favors or to cheat our neighbor.
2. To be stingy with the poor. 3. Gossip – revealing the defect and the shortcomings of our neighbor to
other people.
The 8th Commandment 4. Slander – uttering false accusations that will destroy the good
YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST YOUR NEIGHBOR. name/reputation of our neighbor.
5. Irony – destroy the good name of our neighbor by making fun of him.
The 8th Commandment forbids misrepresenting the truth in our relations 6. Reveal secrets – Do not reveal a personal or professional secret unless
with others. This moral prescription flows from the vocation of the holy people to there is a very serious reason.
bear witness to their God who is the truth and wills the truth. Offenses against the
truth express by word or deed a refusal to commit oneself to moral uprightness: The 9th and 10th Commandment
they are fundamental infidelities to God and, in this sense, they undermine the YOU SHALL NOT COVET YOUR NEIGHBOR’S WIFE.
foundations of the covenant. YOU SHALL NOT COVET YOUR NEIGHBOR’S GOODS.
Within modern society the communications media play a major role in St. John distinguishes three kinds of covetousness or concupiscence: lust of
information, cultural promotion and formation. This role is increasing, as a result of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life.
technological progress, the extent and diversity of the news transmitted, and the
influence exercised on public opinion. The "lust of the flesh" refers to the desire for sensual pleasures, such as food,
drink, and sexual gratification. It is an excessive craving for physical pleasure
Jewish Law = no man can be condemned on the evidence of one witness; there that can lead to indulgence and even addiction.
must be 2 or 3 witnesses and their stories must agree.
 The "lust of the eyes" refers to the desire for material possessions and There is wrong covetousness and there is right covetousness..
wealth. It is the coveting of things that are seen, such as money, cars, or clothing,  Our task is life is not to covet what others have, but to do the best that we can
and can lead to a preoccupation with acquiring possessions and an obsession where we are and with what we have.
with status and appearance.  All our lives, we should desire earnestly to be more like Jesus.
The "pride of life" refers to the desire for power, prestige, and recognition. It
is a desire to be esteemed and respected by others and to have control over one's
life and circumstances. It can lead to arrogance, self-importance, and a lack of
concern for others.
Etymologically, “concupiscence” can refer to any intense form of human
desire. Christian theology has given it a particular meaning: the movement of the
sensitive appetite contrary to the operation of the human reason. The apostle St.
Paul identifies it with the rebellion of the “flesh” against the “spirit.”
Concupiscence stems from the disobedience of the first sin. It unsettles man’s
moral faculties and, without being in itself an offense, inclines man to commit sins.
Most searching and most far reaching of all the commandments.
 Control actions and control thoughts and desires are different.
 Control ourselves from stealing but it is a different matter to stop ourselves
from wanting to steal.
“Inward thoughts and desires are more difficult to control.”
The most difficult commandment to obey.
Covet – is a neutral word. It means “to desire earnestly, to long for.”
Odd characteristic of the minds of most people:
 Once a thing is forbidden, it tends to become attractive.
This commandment really says, “we ought to be content with what we have.”
 Contentment comes from inside us, not from outside.
 Discontented nature – could get all the things in this world and still be
discontented.
 Wise saying of the Stoics:
o “If you want to make a man happy, add not to his possession, but
take away from his desires.”
Odd thing!
 “We covet the kind of life someone else lives and he or she covets the kind
of life we live.”
Example: poor man – envy – rich man for his money ; rich man – envy – poor man for
his health
One thing we must always say:
o “God made me as I am, and God put me where I am, and God has something he
wants me to do just as I am right here.”
o “Our job is not to envy someone else’s life, but to make the very best of our
own.”
Other side of this commandment:
o “The commandment tells us to be content with what we have, but we must
never be content with what we are.”