CHAPTER SEVEN. Love for God

Transcription

1 CHAPTER SEVEN Love for God

2 Nothing More to Give God, who is Love, has given every creature the greatest gift of all, his Son, Jesus Christ.

3 Theological Virtues Faith enables us to believe in God and what the Church proposes for our belief Charity the greatest of all virtues; enables us to love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves. Hope leads us to desire heaven and eternal life through trust in God and the graces of the Holy Spirit

4 Keeping the Commandments covenant The strongest possible pledge and agreement between two parties

5 Keeping the Commandments The 10 Commandments Often called the Decalogue Means 10 words

6 Keeping the Commandments Love of God I am the Lord your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in Vain. Remember to keep holy the Lord s Day.

7 Keeping the Commandments Loving Neighbor Honor your father and mother You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor s goods.

8 Keeping the Commandments Church Tradition! The Decalogue is a unity.! Each commandment refers to each of the others and to all collectively.! To break one of the commandments is to break the whole Law.

9 The First Commandment and the Theological Virtues You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.! This commandment teaches us to accept the one true God of love.! This means we must worship God.! The theological virtues enable us to relate to God and carry out this command.

10 The First Commandment and the Theological Virtues Faith! This virtue empowers us to say yes to God.! It enables us to believe everything God has revealed to us.

11 The First Commandment and the Theological Virtues Faith Ways to strengthen faith: Ø Prayer Ø Read the Bible Ø Celebrate the sacraments Ø Study your faith Ø Associate with and listen to people of faith Ø Put your faith into action Ø Avoid temptations and sin that threaten to destroy the gift of faith

12 The First Commandment and the Theological Virtues Faith Avoid these temptations and sin that threaten to destroy the gift of faith:! voluntary doubt the decision to ignore or a refusal to believe what God has revealed or what the Church teaches.! incredulity a mental disposition that either neglects revealed truth or willfully refuses to assent to it.! heresy outright denial by a baptized person of some essential truth about God and faith that we must believe.! apostasy The total rejection of Jesus Christ (and the Christian faith) by a baptized Christian.! schism refusal to submit to the pope s authority or remain in union with members of the Catholic Church

13 The First Commandment and the Theological Virtues Hope! We trust that God controls the future and is watching out for us.! Hope gives us confidence that God keeps all his promises! Ways to violate the virtue of hope:! Despair losing hope that God can save us! Presumption we can save ourselves without God s help or God will automatically be merciful if we don t repent.

14 The First Commandment and the Theological Virtues Charity Agape selfless, giving love Agape love is the type of love Jesus has for us, and the kind of love we should show others. Latin word for love, caritas, means holding someone close to one s heart. Charity involves: Reverence Sacrifice Beginning Rooting out sin: Indifference Ingratitude Lukewarmness or spiritual laziness Hatred of God

15 The First Commandment and the Theological Virtues Living the First Commandment Adoration Acts of Religion Prayer Sacrifice

16 The First Commandment and the Theological Virtues Avoiding Offenses Against the First Commandment Idolatry (the worship of false gods) Superstition, divination (attempts to unveil what God wants hidden by calling up demonic powers, consulting horoscopes, the stars, or mediums, palm reading, etc.), and magic

17 The First Commandment and the Theological Virtues Avoiding Offenses Against the First Commandment Irreligion tempting God, sacrilege (profane or unworthy treatment of the sacraments, other liturgical actions, and persons, places, and things consecrated to God.), and simony (the buying or selling of spiritual goods.) Atheism (denies God s existences) and agnosticism (claims ignorance about God s existence claiming it cannot be proved.)

18 The First Commandment and the Theological Virtues Avoiding Offenses Against the First Commandment Forms of non-belief in God:! Humanism a belief that defies humanity and human potential to the exclusion of any belief in or reliance on God.! Freudianism claims belief in God is mere wishful thinking! Materialism a belief that the physical, material world is the only reality, and that spiritual existence, values and faith are illusions.

19 The Second Commandment You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.! This commandment stresses the importance of respecting God s name.! By respecting God s name, we show respect for the mystery of God himself.! By taking care of how we invoke God s name, we recognize that some things are sacred and holy.! This commandment also underscores the holiness of our own name because we are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

20 The Second Commandment Avoiding Offenses Against the Second Commandment Breaking promises made in God s name Blasphemy (hateful, defiant, reproachful thoughts and words, or acts against God, Jesus, his Church, the saints, or holy things.)

21 The Second Commandment Avoiding Offenses Against the Second Commandment Taking the Lord s name in vain: swearing (misuse of God s name in making false promises, cursing other people, or using God s name frivolously), perjury (when one fails to keep a promise sworn under oath or when one takes an oath with no intention of keeping it.), obscenity (indecent, lewd, or offensive language, behavior, appearance, or expressions), cussing (an informal word that means the same thing as cursing, the calling down of evil on someone), and vulgarity (tasteless or coarse behavior or language).

22 The Third Commandment Remember to keep holy the Lord s day.! This commandment stresses the value of play (recreation) and prayer on the Sabbath day.! It is important to use this day as a day to praise, worship and adore God. Sabbath is our small gift to God in thanksgiving for all of his gifts.! For Christians, the Sabbath is Sunday, commemorating Easter and the beginning of the week.

23 The Third Commandment Why We Go to Mass! We go to Mass to give as well as receive.! Jesus wants us to come together to experience him in the Eucharist, his scriptural word, and in each other.! As a community of believers, we thank God together through the Eucharist.

24 Vocabulary! Faith! Hope! Charity! Covenant! Decalogue! Voluntary doubt! Incredulity! Heresy! Apostasy! Schism! Despair! Presumption! Agape! Caritas! Idolatry! Divination! Sacrilege! Simony! Humanism! Materialism! Blasphemy! Swearing! Obscenity! Cussing! Vulgarity