Confirmation Class Guided Notes: Teacher Copy
10 Commandments
Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
[Jesus] said to him: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 22:34-40
What do the Ten Commandments teach us?
● The Ten Commandments show us our need for God’s mercy. ● The Ten Commandments show us how to live a life of love. ● The Ten Commandments show us how to grow in holiness.
How can the Ten Commandments be divided?
● Commandments 1-3 > Love God
● Commandments 4-10 > Love Neighbor
Love God Commandments 1-3
“I am the Lord thy God, thou shall not 1 > Respect God have any gods before Me.” “Thou shall not take the name of the 2 > Respect God’s name Lord thy God in vain.” “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath 3 > Respect God’s day day.”
Love Neighbor Commandments 4-10
4 “Honor thy father and mother.” > Respect Authority
5 “Thou shall not kill.” > Respect Life
6 “Thou shall not commit adultery.” > Respect Marriage
7 “Thou shall not steal.” > Respect Property
“Thou shall not bear false witness 8 > Respect Truth against thy neighbor.” “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s 9 > Avoid Lust wife.” “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s 10 > Avoid Greed goods.”
1st Commandment: Respect God “I am the Lord thy God, thou shall not have any gods before Me.”
I am the Lord ● God is our Creator - we are his creatures ● Our lives must be lived in submission to God if we are to discover meaning, purpose and happiness in life ● Our highest goal should be to serve God and do His will
No other gods before Me ● All forms of idol worship are condemned ● Idol = an object, person, or desire that we value above God ○ In ancient days people would carve wooden statues and pray to it, offer sacrifices, and worship it as a deity ○ In modern times we are more likely to make idols of money, power, popularity, sex/romance, entertainment, possessions
You keep this commandment by… ● Humbling yourself before God and acknowledging His authority ● Practicing your faith, trusting in God, and seeking to do His will
You break this commandment by… ● Allowing anything in life to become more important to you than God ● Practicing any superstitious activity (astrology, fortune-telling) ● Practicing any false religion or holding beliefs contrary to the faith 2nd Commandment: Respect God’s name “Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”
The name of the Lord ● When Moses asked God His name, God said: “I AM” ● The Jewish people have long avoided ever speaking the name of God revealed in the Old Testament (“Yahweh”) ● Any name for God (God, Lord, Father, Jesus Christ, etc.) is deserving of our highest reverence and respect
“In vain” ● “In vain” = in the wrong way, in an inappropriate way
You keep this commandment by… ● Ensuring that any words you speak about God are made with the highest care and respect ● Showing similar respect for the name of the Virgin Mary and the names of the saints
You break this commandment by… ● Using the name of God or Jesus Christ in a careless way, as a sign of anger or surprise, coupled with profanity, etc. ● Saying prayers to God thoughtlessly or without reverence
3rd Commandment: Respect God’s day “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work.”
The Sabbath Day ● In the creation account in Genesis, God created the world in six “days” and rested on the seventh (“Sabbath” = rest) ○ Jews celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday (7th day) ○ Christians celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday in honor of Christ’s resurrection - also called the “Lord’s Day” ● The “Sabbath” is a sign of our dependence on God ● On the Sabbath we stop our routine work and turn our attention more fully to God through worship, prayer and rest ● I like to think of it as God requiring us to take one vacation day every week.
You keep this commandment by… ● Participating in Mass every Sunday (or Saturday vigil) ● Avoiding unnecessary work on Sunday ● Taking time to rest, enjoy leisure with your family or community
You break this commandment by… ● Skipping Mass on Sunday ● Engaging in unnecessary work that keeps you from worship, rest and leisure with your family/community 4th Commandment: Respect Authority “Honor thy father and mother.”
Father and Mother ● The commandment recognizes the fact that God has put legitimate authorities in our lives - first and foremost, our parents ● The Christian family (“Domestic Church”) is called to be a community of faith, with parents as the leaders of that community
Honor... ● This commandment sets expectations for both parents and children ● Children must be respectful, obedient1, and show gratitude toward their parents for the care that they provide ● Parents must assume the responsibility of caring for their children and leading the family with diligence, love and patience
You keep this commandment by… ● Speaking respectfully to your parents (and about your parents) ● Following any instructions given to you by your parents ● Offering the same respect and obedience to any legitimate authority: other family members, teachers, coaches, police, government, etc.
You break this commandment by… ● Showing disrespect or disobedience to a person in authority
1 Our obedience to God comes before our obedience to parents. If a parent commanded us to sin, we must refuse (if possible) out of obedience to God. The same is true for any earthly authority.
5th Commandment: Respect Life “Thou shall not kill.”
Killing ● Human life is sacred, from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death ● Human life is sacred because we are formed in God’s image, and God is sacred… we derive our infinite worth from God ● The word “kill” refers to the intentional and unjustified taking of another person’s life ● Situations such as legitimate self-defense, protection of others, or accidental (unintentional) death would not apply ● Jesus taught that hating a person is an act of murder, even if you don’t resort to physical violence
You keep this commandment by… ● Caring for the health of your own body ● Doing everything in your power to respect and protect the lives of others
You break this commandment by… ● Condoning or participating in the unjust killing of a human: murder, abortion, euthanasia, suicide, drug-abuse, unjust war, etc. ● Harboring anger and hatred toward another person in your heart
6th Commandment: Respect Marriage “Thou shall not commit adultery.”
Adultery ● God created humans in His own image as “male and female” - equal in personal dignity, yet dependent upon one another ● God designed the two sexes to be physically, morally and spiritually complementary - it is only together that a husband and wife can create the harmony required for a family to thrive ● The sexual union within marriage exists for the good of the spouses and for the transmission of life ● This unique bond between husband and wife is sacred and precious; any abuse of our sexuality breaks this commandment
You keep this commandment by… ● Practicing chastity - the virtue of self-mastery in the area of sexuality (a virtue that requires prayer and persistence to acquire!) ● Protecting your own purity and the purity of those around you ● Living faithfully with your spouse, should you become married
You break this commandment by… ● Treating others as objects for your sexual gratification ● Engaging in sexual activity outside of a lawful marriage ○ Masturbation, Fornication, Homosexuality, Adultery
7th Commandment: Respect Property “Thou shall not steal.”
Stealing ● God gave humanity the responsibility to care for and protect the land and resources of the natural world ● It is lawful for a person to own land or resources as private property; however the goal of ownership must always be the common good ● We have a moral obligation to respect the private property of others ● We violate this commandment through any act of theft or withholding what is rightfully due to another person
You keep this commandment by… ● Recognizing and honoring the division of property within society ● Paying workers a fair wage and providing appropriate benefits ● Providing care and assistance to those in poverty ● Caring for the environment and natural resources of the world
You break this commandment by… ● Taking the property of others without permission ● Failing to return borrowed property ● Intentionally failing to meet the expectations of an employer ● Misusing or abusing the environment or natural resources which are a common possession of all humanity 8th Commandment: Respect Truth “Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
Bearing false witness ● “False witness” = lying ● Respect for the truth is fundamental to our faith; we live in a world where people refuse to believe the truth about God, which is the only source of purpose and happiness in life ● We have a God-given responsibility to speak the truth, live the truth, and share the truth in all aspects of life ● Satan is described as the “father of lies” - to tell lies and live out lies is to align yourself with Satan and to reject God
You keep this commandment by… ● Always seeking to communicate the truth in your words and actions ● Developing the virtues of honesty and integrity ● Seeking true wisdom, which is a gift from God
You break this commandment by… ● Speaking, writing or sharing lies in any form ● Spreading rumors about others ● Making unjust judgements about others (without knowing the facts) ● Using social media in a way that misrepresents who you are, who others are, or to spread inaccurate information (!) ● Engaging in dishonest speech (boasting, flattery, etc.) 9th Commandment: Avoid Lust “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife.”
Covet ● “Covet” = intense desire ● Humans are a “composite” being - both spirit and body ● Because we are weakened by original sin, our physical (body) impulses and desires can easily become disordered ● We are called to strive for purity of heart, of body and of faith ● This commandment recognizes that sin begins in the mind and in the heart: in our thoughts, our desires, our imaginations ● Through the virtue of chastity we seek to master our thoughts and desires, especially in matters of sexuality and purity
You keep this commandment by… ● Having a pure intention to love people rather than use people ● Disciplining the mind to reject impure thoughts ● Practicing the virtue of modesty in your dress, actions and speech
You break this commandment by… ● Entertaining lustful thoughts for another person ● Treating others as sexual objects in your thoughts or conversations ● Seeking pornography or any situation or form of media that promotes immodesty and encourages lust ● Dressing, acting or speaking in an immodest way 10th Commandment: Avoid Greed “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s goods.”
Covet your neighbor’s goods ● The “lust of the eyes” goes beyond sexual matters; it includes any disordered passion or desire for wealth and possession of this world ● This commandment condemns greed in all its forms, where we make idols of money and possessions and allow them to rule us ● Notice that this commandment is first broken in the mind and heart
You keep this commandment by… ● Desiring God above all created things ● Cultivating the virtue of poverty - where we become willing to let go of any personal possession (including money) out of love for God
You break this commandment by… ● Entertaining desires for someone else’s possessions ● Allowing a desire for money and possessions to fill your thoughts and control your actions ● Allowing thoughts of greed, jealousy and envy to control you ● Consider how the music you listen to relates to the 9th and 10th commandments… does it promote lust and greed? If so, then it should be avoided.
Note: Source material for this lesson is CCC 2052-2557