Decalogue, the theological virtues and sins against them,

and the types of prayer   

I. The Decalogue (or ten words)

First Tablet: Love of God	Second Tablet: Love of Neighbor
1. I am the Lord you God, you shall not have strange gods before me. 2. You shall not take the name of the Lord you God in vain. 3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s day.	4. Honor your father and your mother. 5. You shall not kill 6. You shall not commit adultery 7. You shall not steal 8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor’s wife. 9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. 10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

Note the priorities in the order of the second tablet: family, life, the transmission of life, goods, truth, and desires.

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II. The First Commandment

The first commandment requires that God’s people nurture the theological virtues and guard against the vices or sins which oppose them; worship God alone, pray regularly, and offer sacrifice to him; keep the promises and vows made to God; exercise the religious freedom that belongs to them as a natural right and, within reason, to respect the religious freedom of others.

Certain of these obligations or their component parts are set forth below

A. The theological virtues and the sins against them:

Theological Virtues	Definition	Sins against
Faith	The virtue by which we believe God and all that he has revealed.	Deliberate doubt, unbelief, heresy, apostasy, schism
Hope	The virtue by which we desire and trust that God will give us eternal life and all that we need to attain it.	Presumption Despair
Charity	The virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.	Indifference, ingratitude, lukewarmness, sloth or spiritual indolence, and that hatred of God which comes from pride.

Prayers which express the theological virtues:

Act of Faith – see Compendium p. 191

Act of Hope – see Compendium p. 191

Act of Love – see Compendium p. 191

The Act of Contrition is on the same page.

Be able to:

1. distinguish between involuntary and deliberate doubt, name which is sinful, and discuss appropriate responses to involuntary doubt.

2. define both presumption and despair, and name the two different kinds of presumption.

3. define the terms heresy, apostasy, and schism. (See Glossary in the CCC).

B. Worship, Adoration, Prayer, and Sacrifice.

Worship and adoration are synonyms.

To adore is to acknowledge God as God, Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists. To adore God is to offer the first act of the virtue of religion

 

It is strictly forbidden to adore or worship any other person or thing – that is, to offer another the homage that is due to God alone.

 

There  are different kinds of prayer:

 

Adoration: in which one bows before God in humble recognition of his God-ness.

Praise: by which we glorify God for his attributes: his goodness, his mercy, his love and so forth. Thanksgiving: in which one thanks God for benefits received: family, health, and the blessings of one’s life.

Supplication: by which one begs the things one needs to be faithful to God and to navigate the difficulties of this life.

Petition or intercession:  by which one beseeches God for the needs of others.

Sacrifice:  is a fundamental response of the virtue of religion. In the Christian context this is not a matter of offering animals or cereal fruits to God, as was done in the Old Testament, but of offering to God the spiritual sacrifice of one’s whole life and being in union with Christ; offering with attention of mind and heart the sacrifice of the Mass – which is the sacrifice of Calvary re-presented in the assembly of the faithful; and offering the sufferings of each day and/or giving up legitimate pleasures and offering these to God in union with the sacrifice of Christ.

C. Freedom of Religion, see Compendium #444.