Commandments (4, 5, 7, 8, & 10) 5 min: Opening prayer 10 min: Recap Original sin: (focus points) Why did Adam and Eve s sin end up affecting us? Sin and death entered the whole world through Adam and Eve, and their sin affects us all. As a matter of fact, everyone s sins affect all of us in some way, we are connected. Example: If a guy is in his basement watching a very violent or sexually inappropriate movie (or video game) how does that affect the rest of us? It changes the way he thinks and treats others (consciously or unconsciously). Slowly over time he gets immune to the violent or sexual nature of it and starts to believe that its okay. How many men really understand their role of protecting the dignity women? Doesn t our society treat women like objects instead of daughters of God? Or what about the view point that someone is superior to others if they can intimidate them? How about a girl that reads a steamy romance novel or watches a soap opera, she starts to view these unhealthy relationships as the norm and accepts that that is how she should be treated by others, instead of being respected and protected by men. Another - our culture tells us its okay to live together before marriage actually its encouraged. Yet we know that it is a mortal sin - how has that mindset to live together been accepted in our culture? Because little by little, every day, over time we have been exposed to endless movies, TV shows, books, music, etc that lead us to think differently about things - that ware us down and tell us over and over that its okay, that its no big deal. Its like a cancer and we are all effected! What goes into the mind will eventually come out what are you putting into your mind? Can one be a true Christian without admitting one s sinfulness? The bottom-line problem that affects us all is sin, and it is important to admit we have a problem with sin in order to be healed from it. What are two types of sin? Venial & Mortal What is a Venial sin? An offense against God, it is a less serious sin that weakens but does not deprive us of sanctifying grace; basically it does not destroy our relationship with God. If we die with Venial sins on our soul we need to be purged of that sin before entering Heaven.
What is a Mortal sin? It is a serious matter; it severs destroys cuts off (make sure they are clear on that! ) our relationship with God. If we die with even one Mortal sin on our soul, we will spend eternity in Hell without God. What three things are necessary for a sin to be mortal? 1. Serious matter 2. Knowledge that the act is seriously wrong you have to know that it is wrong! 3. Full consent of the will you have to freely choose to do it! **Let s spend some time trying to understand better our own sin. 10 min: The Greatest Commandment Read Matthew 22:34-40 The Greatest Commandment We talked earlier in the year on the first three Commandments, and how they specifically relate to God, and how we honor our relationship with Him. Now in the next two classes we will focus on the remaining commandments. Which relate to how we live, function, and treat each other. The Ten Commandments are ten rules that God gave us so that we don t hurt others or ourselves. It s no different than our parents. They love us and want to protect us; they know how vulnerable we are. We are young and sometimes we don t know what is best for us. We sometimes can t see the big picture, we get focused on what we want and don t necessarily think things through. It is also just like society, there are rules that we need to follow whether it is in regards to school, driving, work, etc. They are meant to protect and help our society function without chaos. Think about driving on a freeway going 70 miles per hour in heavy traffic. It is a wonder that more accidents don t happen; it is because we all know the certain rules that need to be followed to keep everyone safe and alive. In our current culture we tend to view rules as a negative, restricting our freedom; and something to be challenged. But in reality rules are a very necessary and positive part of how we live our lives. We need to change the way we look at rules and our attitudes about them. In truth when we follow the rules they give us freedom. If you don t follow your parents rules you might be grounded, if you don t follow traffic laws you may lose your license. These are just a few examples of consequences for not following the rules. With these examples there can be an immediate - visible - real consequence for not following the rules. However with God the consequences may not be easily connected. They may be hidden, not evident, or not even perceived. What I mean is that you may not understand how your actions are affecting you or others, short term and long term.
10 min: Activity: Break up the class into 5 groups and give each group one of the commandments (4 th, 5 th, 7 th, 8 th, or 10 th ). They can use the Compendium to look up the commandment. They need to discuss: How this commandment is about love and not a restrictive rule What the short term consequences are What the long term consequences are How does it affect their eternity 50 min: Discussion from Activity: Each group will then take turns sharing with the class for each commandment below then the teacher will elaborate with the material below for each commandment starting with the 4 th commandment. 4 th Honor thy Father and Mother (10 min) Students: Have the group share the results of their discussion. (Page 134 136 in the Compendium) Teacher lesson: This is a commandment about the family, and being a productive member of the family that God gave you. It is about how we treat those that we live with. Read: Ex 20:12 & Deut 5:16, Lk2:51, Mk 7:8-13, Eph 6:1-3 This commandment follows the first three that teach us how to respect, honor, and love God. The 4 th commandment is expressed to children about their relationship to their father and mother; making clear that after God we should honor our parents. It is foremost about being in right relationship with them. The mother and father are the foundation of the family unit and are the life and well-being of society. The family is the basic structure and without it society falls apart. So how do we honor our parents: by listening to them, doing as they ask whether you want to or not, not talking back or fighting with them. Being a productive member of the household, doing your share of household responsibilities, doing your schoolwork, not wasting the family s financial resources (for example: not wasting food or water, turning off lights, not wanting excessive material goods.) I realize that these sound negative but it s about trusting that they do know and want what is best for you; that they are a person that is trying their best to give you what you need most. Having compassion for them and recognizing that they have strengths and weaknesses, good days and bad days just like you do. Can you see that by being a cooperative, productive, and respectful member of the family that will bring peace and unity to your home. This commandment also deals with the family unit and how you honor, respect and love your siblings. It is about treating others as you want to be treated the golden rule - MT 7:12. Do you pick fights with your siblings; are you patient with your siblings? Do help to promote peace in the home or do you like to stir things up?
You are also a part of a larger family, the church you belong to, and the whole family of God meaning society. If we practice being respectful and helpful with our family this would naturally lead to a productive and successful life outside in the world, and we all want to be successful. So what does that mean? You are responsible for following the rules or laws, respecting authority, taking care of the earth, helping the poor, the young and old, the sick, and the handicapped, respecting the dignity of the human person, to evangelize - sharing the Word of God. Eph 4:2-3 All of this promotes freedom, security, the well being of others, and peace in our society. Short term consequences: Family - lack of peace, feelings of anger, resentment, division, stripped of privileges and stricter rules loss of freedom, embarrassment and guilt of our actions. School low grades, detention, teachers not treating you with respect, (respect is earned) suspended, expelled Work no promotions, co-workers don t respect you, getting the worst shifts, hours, or tasks, fired, loss of income which means loss of freedom and fun no movies, new clothes, electronics, etc Society loss of driver license, jail time Long term consequences: they all come down to being unhappy, not being respected, and less freedom Family - not being on speaking terms with their family, hatred, not feeling loved School No diploma, no education low paying jobs, less money to do what you want! Work less marketable no one wants to hire you, not being able to get a job Society jail time, having a criminal record, being an outcast and living on the street 5 th - Thou shall not kill (10 min) Students: Have the group share the results of their discussion. (Page 137-141 in the Compendium) Teacher lesson: (CCC2258) "Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, 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." 56 Read Ex 20:12, Deut 5:17, Mt 5:21-22, Gen 9: 5-6 It is very natural or in your nature to defend yourself, to fight for your life. We also fight through an illness to live and become healthy again. It is also in your nature to protect life. If you see someone
drowning your natural reaction would be to help them. When someone dies we feel a loss and sadness even when we don t even know the person. The 5 th Commandment is pretty clear about the physical death of the body. That we should protect it at all costs from conception to natural death. That life is a gift and grace from God that needs to be respected. So this includes: Abortion, euthanasia, genocide, gendercide (aborting a baby due to the unwanted gender of the baby), murder, and suicide. This does not only fall to the person directly responsible but also those who are indirectly encouraging, supporting, or just simply standing by and allowing the act or action to occur. At a different level this commandment speaks about the killing of the soul, the heart, and the self esteem of another person. (Ref. CCC 2302-2305) Examples would be: Anger, revenge, hatred, bullying, gossip, calling names, pointing out the flaws, failures, and weaknesses of others that should be kept a private matter. Speaking truths about someone that are unnecessary to attract attention to yourself at the expense of others. Short term consequences: Killing the body: jail time complete loss of freedom Killing the soul/heart: Damaging someone virtue and integrity, low self esteem, resentment, division, depression, anger, alienation Long term consequences: Killing the body: jail, suicide Killing the soul/heart: Drawing someone into spiritual death (losing their faith in God), anger, revenge, resentment, suicide, murder, school shootings, the long term consequences can become bodily death. 7 th - Thou shall not steal (10 min) Students: Have the group share the results of their discussion. (Page 145-148 in the Compendium) Teacher lesson: This commandment is very obvious; we are not to take things that do not belong to us. What else does it mean? We are to give an honest days work. Whether that means at home doing tasks (without pay), at school (giving your best to your studies and homework), while volunteering (with a good attitude), or at your place of employment (do you do your work or do you slack off wasting time, make personal phone calls, text, surf the internet, etc.) Do you respect contracts between you and others? Do you pay your debts or do you have an attitude that if you can t pay you will just file for bankruptcy leaving your debt for society to handle? Do you make good choices? This also means that employers should give a fair wage and proper work conditions for their employees. It is a sad fact that slavery still exists in or world in the forms of human trafficking - taking the poorest of the poor and making them false promises and then selling them, this includes women and children and this happens in our own country.
Although you may not be selling someone into slavery or outright steal things or shop lifting but do you take advantage of people in other ways? Have you borrowed something and not returned it, or copied music or movies disregarding copyright laws? Do you take advantage of friendships by using them for what they can do for you like getting a ride somewhere, etc. Does your word mean something? Do you have integrity, when you say you will do something do you follow through. Can you be trusted? This commandment also means caring for what we are given meaning the home you live in, your clothes, the vehicle you drive, any electronics you use. Yet even on a larger scale what about respecting other people s property? Have you ever destroyed or vandalized someone else s property? Do you respect the earth & God s creatures, do you recycle or are you wasteful? How do you spend your time? God has given you 24 hrs every day! How much time do you spend watching TV, video games, hanging out with friends, sports, or other activities? Although these things can be good to a degree, but are you spending any time with God? Are you giving God an adequate part of your day; meaning in relation to the amount of time you spend on your hobbies, activities, and friends - are you being selfish with your time? Or are you spending time bettering yourself, challenging yourself or growing into a better person. Are you helping others, volunteering, or praying and getting to know God more? Short term consequences: Direct stealing: jail time or criminal record difficultly getting a job, loss of income, loss of freedom, Indirect stealing: loss of friendships, lack of trust, wastefulness costs more money, things may be taken away or not replaced (cell phone or car), weak or shallow relationship with God. Long term consequences: Directly stealing: Becomes a habit or addiction, jail time no freedom, lousy or no job, no money, no self respect, depression, alienated from others. Indirectly stealing: no friendships, no trust, wastefulness costs more money therefore you may not be able purchase things, keep things, fix things, or things may be taken away. (like your home from the bank) No relationship with God. 8 th Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor (10 min) Students: Have the group share the results of their discussion. (Page 148 150 in the Compendium) Teacher lesson: 2 Tim 3:15-16 This commandment is a command to speak and live in truth! God is truth, His word and His laws are truth. His laws don t become outdated or irrelevant due to the falsehoods that our culture chooses to believe and promote. It s about our duty to live and witness to the life of Christ, to evangelize. We are to be truthful in all of our relationships and interactions. Do you misrepresent yourself, others, and what happened do you paint the truth differently to your advantage? Do you brag about yourself, glorifying yourself, put others down? Do you outright lie? Even a little white lie is a lie! It doesn t matter the size of the lie it is the harm suffered to the victim, the gravity of that lie may be
maybe unknown to you. You may not think it s a big deal but you have no idea what the person has had to endure due to your lie. Do you gossip? Gossip is lying about someone to bring attention to you, make yourself popular or important at the cost of someone else. (To be in the loop or in the know ) It is hurtful! If you have ever been the victim of gossip you know the pain of this sin. Think about this when you know people are playing games with you or lying to you, are you offended, hurt and maybe even mad? That is because it is a direct offense of truth and we are made in God s image of truth. How do we use our gift of speech and other ways of communication, is it appropriate? Does it glorify God? Are we building people up or pointing out their flaws? Do you blast people on Facebook? How do you represent yourself on Facebook? What are you saying when you text others? Eph 5:4 2 Thes 3:11 Jam 3:1-18 Short term consequences: To others: hurt and shame, bad reputation, loss of friends, anger Yourself: loss of friendships and the trust of others, guilt and regret of actions and words, sadness, low self esteem Long term consequences: To others: killing of their soul and spirit, no self esteem, it can ruin their life, depression, suicide Yourself: becomes an addiction you need to keep your untruthful reputation and lies hidden so you have to continue the lies and up the ante. Start to lose a sense of what is truth, it can ruin your life 10 th Thou shall not covet thy neighbors goods (10 min) ****Catechist pre-read passage before class 2 Sam 11:1-26 & 12:1-12 Students: Have the group share the results of their discussion. (Page 151 in the Compendium) Teacher lesson: Mt 6:21 This is a commandment about the sins of jealousy, greed, and lust. This commandment summarizes and completes all of the other commandments. If we are jealous of others and their goods then we can easily be lead to break the other commandments. Jealousy can confuse our intentions. Here is why. It follows that if you lust after things you break the first three commandments because you are putting them before God; this is a form of idolatry. This can also lead to stealing because your greed or desire
for something can take over your rational thinking and you can make poor choices basically disrespecting all others for your own gain. (Your parents, friends, society, and God) The jealousy of the attention of others or a good reputation can lead us to gossip, lies, bragging, and wrong or inappropriate relationships. Here is an example of how the sin of greed, lust, and jealousy can snowball into a whole heap of sin! *Summarize for the class 2 Sam 11:1-26 & 12:1-12: King David was not using his time productively (wasting time), he wasn t doing his job and he got bored. After his nap and in his boredom he sees another man s wife and wants her (lust), even though he has his own. He starts to talk and ask about her (gossip) to find out about her. He then uses his position of power to bring her to him and sleeps with her (adultery) and she becomes pregnant. Then David starts to play games, he calls for Uriah (her husband) and tries to get him to be with his wife so that Uriah won t know the baby isn t his own. It doesn t work so then David gets Uriah drunk and pretends to be his friend (lying and manipulation) and to get him to go to his wife it doesn t work. So now to cover up his sin of adultery and the escalating or increasing mess he is in, he sends orders to the commander for Uriah to placed in the front line of the battle and then pull back so Uriah is killed along with many others (murder, deceit, misuse of power). In the end, David does repent and is forgiven by God and is in good favor with God, but the cost was great to David and others. There was never peace again in his household or in his kingdom, the baby died, relationships were harmed. (Trust and respect of others lost). How do you think he thought of himself? (Guilt and shame) It s easy to see how things happened in the story of David, it is not as easy to see it in our own lives unless we take the time to stop and really think about what we are doing and how our actions affect our life and the lives of others. 1 John 2: 3-6 In conclusion, can you now see that rules are made in love and for your protection, protection of others, and for your eternal salvation? Can you look at the rules and commandments differently now? Can you see that rules actually enhance your freedom rather than take it away? Extra time: Go to Adoration Journal question -What are the consequences of the choices in your life? How are they affecting others or your own life? Is this how you truly want to live? - Can you look at the rules and commandments differently now? Closing prayer
Student Activity Each group takes one of the commandments (4 th, 5 th, 7 th, 8 th, or 10 th ). Discuss: How this commandment can be seen out love and not a restrictive rule What the short term consequences are What the long term consequences are How does it affect your eternity Use the Compendium to help understand the commandments better. Later each group will then take turns sharing with the class their points of discussion for each commandment. 4 th Honor thy Father and Mother Page 134 136 in the Compendium 5 th Thou shall not kill 137-141 in the Compendium 7 th Thou shall not steal Page 145-148 in the Compendium 8 th Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor Page 148 150 in the Compendium 10 th Thou shall not covet thy neighbor s goods Page 151 in the Compendium
The greatest commandment YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. (MT 22:34-40) This breaks the Ten Commandments into two categories. In regards to God I AM the Lord, your God, you shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain Remember to keep holy the Lord s day In regards to others 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 possessions