On the Love of God The First Tablet of the Decalogue Lesson 9

Love as a human reality The Greeks have several words to express love: – Eros: affection kindled by physical beauty; intoxicated god-sent madness (theia mania); impulse to philosophical contemplation of the world and existence; exaltation as a result of contemplation of divine beauty; passionate joy (in Sophocles). – Philia: friendship, fellow feeling; solidarity among human beings, spouses, countrymen, people in general.

– Agape: Christian love. – Storge: familiar love. – Philanthropia: benevolent kindness; love between sexes. – Philadelphia: brotherly love. The Greeks rarely spoke about sex. Sex was not the issue to them. They were concerned about Eros. The Greek word for sex is Phylon (a zoological term). The Latins were the same as the Greeks. Their concern was not Sexus but Amor which embraces the sensual, spiritual, supernatural and mental dimensions of love.

Other Latin words used for love are: – Dilectio: selection, choosing – Affectio: passion, i.e., passive nature of love – Caritas: expensive, valuable, priceless. (it is love in its highest form). Basic meaning is an act of the mind which is evaluation. – Pietas: mercy, pity. – Studium: loving concern and desire to be at the service of someone; desire to serve. St. Thomas said: “Omnis dilectio vel caritas est amor, sed non e converso.” (S.Th., I-II, 26:3)

In English, like and love are used to express love, though love expresses a deeper commitment. It is possible to love a person although there are many things about that person that one does not like. Like and likeness: as in amor and amare related to the Greek hama (at the same time), like and likeness are related to the Latin similis (same). There is a link between love and likeness: love includes and is based on a preexistent relation between the lover and the beloved. Love creates unity. To be fond of : the Mediaeval English word is

fonned, a past participle which means enchanted, bewitched. To be fond of suggests a kind of fascination of the mind. When we love, we are stirred, changed. We suffer, we are in turmoil. Is love a rapture over the beloved, being rapt by the beloved? Rapture means being carried away by force, transporting one out of oneself.

In Russian, – Lubovatsia means to love with the eyes. It is a form of loving that becomes a reality through seeing (seeing someone beautiful). As regards beauty, Plato said that the quality that makes a thing the object of possible love is beauty. Hence, only the beautiful is loved. We can’t help loving what is beautiful. (Pulchum est quod visu placet). – Blagost means the love of God for mankind.

In Tagalog, we have the words – Pag-ibig: root is ibig (like), and from ibig we also have kaibigan. – Mahal: expensive, precious, valuable. In French, we have the words -Amour: love in general as affection profonde -Sentiment d’affection: erotic love. -Cheri: expensive; valuable, precious.

To love God above all else The virtue of religion: it is a part of the virtue of justice that helps us maintain our relationship with God to whom we owe our existence. By the virtue of religion, we acknowledge God within the context of worship. Since God sent his Son Jesus to save us from our sins, we must respond appropriately. It must be a response to believe in Him, trust in his help and to love Him.

Worshiping God The worship of God is a practical exercise of the 3 theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Love. Believing, trusting and loving are 3 basic attitudes found in personal relationships. Cultivating and practicing them help us mature as persons. For us Christians, the 3 theological virtues infused in us by the Holy Spirit in Baptism make it possible for us to believe in, hope in and love God.

Worship of God 3 theological virtues

Faith Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe in all that He has revealed to us, and that the Holy Church proposes for our belief because He is truth itself (CCC 1814). Faith is our response to God’s revelation. It is a free human act: a personal adherence of the heart and soul to God’s self-revelation.

Faith without deeds is dead faith. (James 2:14)

Faith widens our knowledge because we get to know the divine truths beyond the grasp of our natural reason. Our belief is based on God’s authority. We cannot be saved without faith (Mk 16:16). Faith does not contradict reason. Once we accept the truths of Faith, we should seek to understand and defend these truths. Our Faith must be a Faith that seeks understanding.

Our response to God’s revelation involves 2 basic attitudes: – 1) receiving it with humility; – 2) cultivating it intellectually. Once Faith is known and its content understood, we have 2 additional duties: – 1) safeguarding it; – 2) spreading it. Faith must be lived and experienced. It must inform our thoughts, words and actions. Faith without deeds is dead faith (James 2:14)

Sins against Faith Voluntary doubt disregards or refuses to hold what God has revealed as true. Involuntary doubt hesitates in believing or overcoming difficulties connected with the faith and fails to attempt to dispel them. Atheism is the refusal to accept God’s existence. Heresy is the obstinate denial by a baptized person of some truths that must be believed with divine faith. Example is Nestorianism.

Apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith. Example is a Catholic who becomes a Muslim. Schism is the refusal to submit to the Pope or be united with the Church subject to him. Example is the Anglican Church (England) that separated from Rome in the 16 th century during the reign of King Henry XVIII.

Hope Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire and await from God eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit to merit it and to persevere to the end of our earthly life. Hope responds to the aspiration to happiness God has placed in our heart.

Hope is fundamental to overcoming life's challenges.

It directs us to our real happiness. Hope keeps us away from discouragement. It opens our heart in expectation of eternal happiness. It keeps us from selfishness and lead us to the happiness of love. The first commandment infers that the Christian should have trust in God and foster hope in eternal life.

Sins against Hope Despair is the loss of trust in God because of doubt in his fidelity or his interest in each of us. Presumption can occur in 2 ways: 1) when one expects salvation without personal effort or 2) when one trusts solely in one’s effort without the help of the Holy Spirit. Hope includes fear of punishment if one offends God. A child’s trust does not negate a father’s justice.

Charity Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God (CCC 1822). Christian love has 3 objects: God, neighbor, and self. We should love God because He is our Creator, our Father and our Savior. Our love for Him is our response to His love for us “for He first loves us.” (1 Jn 4:19).

Sins against God’s love Indifference is the refusal to reflect on the prior goodness and power of God’s love. Ingratitude is the refusal to acknowledge and return God’s love. Lukewarmness is failure or hesitation in responding to divine love, and can imply refusal to obey the prompting of charity.

Acedia is the refusal of the joy God gives, and it causes one to be repelled by divine goodness. It is a form of depression that leads to discouragement. Hatred of God opposes the love of God, denies his goodness, and curse him as the one who forbids sin and inflicts punishment. It is a result of pride.

Jesus said: “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you. By this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Jn 15:9,12) Genuine love of God leads to the love of neighbor. The Christian is asked to love others as he loves himself because he is created in the image and likeness of God.

The virtue of Religion The virtue of religion helps us render to God the worship, devotion, honor, and service that God deserves. The requirements of justice lead us to give God the honor and worship due him. This virtue regulates the relationship between God and us.

This is basically fulfilled through prayer and especially in the sacrifice of the Mass. A summary of the acts belonging to the virtue of religion is commonly found in the Mass: adoration, atonement, petition, and thanksgiving. The virtue of religion is essential to Christian life. Its practice at times requires heroic effort because of secular society. A Christian should be ever more vigilant in the protection of her faith and the growth of the virtue of religion.

Sins against the virtue of religion Idolatry is the elevation of other realities to the state of gods, thereby making them take the place of the real God. These realities could be power, pleasure, state, money, etc. Superstition is any belief or practice that renders false worship to God, or attributes supernatural or magical powers to certain objects or ritual actions. It has many forms.

Money Pleasure Power Possessions RelationsWork

Divination is the prediction of the future or the revelation of the unknown through the so-called paranormal means like recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead, horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omen and lots, clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums. All these contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone (Cf. CCC 2116).

Magic is the desire to know and control the occult forces that supposedly influence the world. Witchcraft is one of the most common and seriously sinful forms of this evil. “All practices of magic and sorcery, by which one attempts to tame the occult powers, so as to place them at one’s service and have a supernatural power over others –even if this were for the sake of restoring their health- are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion.

These practices (of magic) are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible.” (CCC 2117). Irreligion is the absence of, indifference towards or hostility towards religion. Sins of irreligion include: – Tempting God : testing, in word or deed, the goodness and power of God. – Sacrilege: disrespect for sacred persons, places and things. – Simony: the buying or selling of spiritual powers or gifts.

Loving God’s Holy Name As the Supreme Being and Creator, God is owed such reverence and devotion that his very name is sacred. In the New Testament, St. Paul emphasizes the importance and power of God’s name in the person of Christ: “Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”(Phil 2:9-11)

The title “Lord” indicates divine sovereignty, the recognition of Jesus as God. It is the duty of every Christian to avoid the irreverent use of God’s name and to accord the name of God devotion and praise. “Respect for his name is an expression of the respect owed to the mystery of God himself and to the whole of sacred reality it evokes. The sense of the sacred is part of the virtue of religion…the faithful should bear witness to the Lord’s name by confessing the faith without giving way to fear (cf. Mt 10:32; 1Tim 6:12). Preaching and catechizing should be permeated with adoration and respect for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (CCC ).

Oaths and Vows An oath is the invocation of the divine Name as witness to the truth. There are 2 kinds of oaths: – Assertory oath: when God is called on as a witness to the truth of what is being said, as when a witness in court takes an oath to tell the truth and nothing but the truth calling on God as witness. – Promissory oath: when God is called on as a witness to what one intends to do in the future, as when an newly elected public official takes an oath to fulfill the duties of his office.

Conditions for the lawful use of oaths 1) Truth. An oath may not be taken to support a lie. When one lies under oath, one commits a perjury. 2) Necessity. An oath should be taken with discretion, out of necessity and not for superficial things. God should not be called as witness to a trivial matter. 3) Justice: An oath should be taken for something morally good. One may never take an oath to do evil.

A vow is a deliberate and free promise made to God concerning something good which is possible and better. The virtue of religion requires that it be fulfilled. Conditions for making a vow are: – 1) Promise: it is the intention before God to complete the conditions of the vow. – 2) Deliberate: it must be the result of careful consideration and decision as it is a commitment to God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. – 3) Free : it must be taken with complete consent.

Sins against the Holy Name of God Irreverence: it is using the name of God, saints and holy things without proper honor and respect. Blasphemy: it is speaking contemptuously of God and his perfections and of the saints. It is particularly grievous when directed against the Blessed Mother. Blasphemy is an intrinsically evil act.

Perjury: to make a promise without any intention of completing it, or to lie under oath. Besides blasphemous words and gestures, there are also blasphemous attitudes: those that mock God and ridicule any manifestation of Christian signs.

The name of God should be respected. The use of his name in oaths and vows puts the person in God’s presence in a special manner. The best rule for respecting God’s name is to use it only to give him honor or when law requires it.

Keeping Holy the Lord’s Day The obligation of Catholics to take part in the Sunday Eucharistic celebration has two origins: – The obligation of giving worship to God one day during the week, particularly on the Lord’s Day. – The importance of the Eucharist which actualizes and testifies to the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and renew the sacrifice of Christ.

Sunday is the day on which we celebrate the heart of the redemptive mission carried by Jesus Christ. For this reason, it occupies the center of the Faith: it is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed. It is the fount from which all her power flows. The Mass is the sacrifice of Calvary rendered sacramentally present on our altars.

Given the real importance that the celebration of the Eucharist has for the Church and for the Christians, the Church asks the faithful to actively participate in its weekly celebration. In this way, the faithful fulfill the obligation to worship the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Code of Canon Law declares: Sunday, on which by apostolic tradition the paschal mystery is celebrated, is to be observed in the universal Church as the primary holy day of obligation. (CIC 1246).

On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are obliged to participate in the Mass. They are also to abstain from such work or business that would inhibit the worship to be given to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, or the due relaxation of mind and body. (CIC 1247). The 3 holy days of obligation in the Philippines are Dec. 8, Dec. 25, Jan. 1.

Fulfillment of the Precept of Attending Mass The faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants and the sick) or dispensed by their own pastor (CIC 1245). Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin (CCC 2181). The Sunday requirement can be fulfilled by attending Mass on Saturday afternoon or evening.

The obligation to rest The worship of God also included rest on the Sabbath day (Ex 20:8-11) because – Rest facilitates the worship of God by eliminating the obstacles that one’s professional occupation might pose. – The need for rest is a requirement of the human condition. Rest replaces lost energies and makes time for other activities that cultivate the human spirit.

Work vs. Leisure Work 1. Always produces something. 2. Is active, moving, doing. 3. Is a means to an end. 4. Changes the world. 5. Focuses on parts of reality. 6. Things happen. 7. Occurs in the sphere of everyday space and time. Leisure 1. May produce nothing. 2. Is receptive, resting. 3. Is its own justification. 4. Celebrates the world. 5. Focuses on the whole. 6. YOU happen. 7. Transcends space and time.

Consequently, work that does not permit Mass attendance on Sundays or holy days of obligation should be avoided. Likewise, work that may tire or fatigue an individual is also forbidden. It is necessary to recover the festive dimension of Sunday as a day of prayer and good works. Christians should proclaim happiness in the face of the serious problems of our times.

End