Christian Moral Life: The Beatitudes and the Ten Commandments

-God created us to know, love, and serve him in this life and to be happy with him forever in the afterlife The Beatitudes -Jesus shared them at the Sermon on the Mount -Show us how to fulfill our desire for happiness and teach how we should live in order to reach our eternal destiny of union with him

The Beatitudes -Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven -Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land -Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied -Blessed are the merciful, they will be shown mercy

The Beatitudes -Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God -Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God -Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

1. How can living the Beatitudes bring happiness? 2. Which Beatitude do you believe is most essential for the world to practice? 3. Why do you think Jesus’ preaching of the Beatitudes in Matthew is set on a mountain, while in Luke it is set on a plain?

I, the Lord, Am Your God, You Shall not Have Other Gods Besides Me -practice the virtues of faith, hope, and charity -Theological virtues lead us to the moral virtues and to the virtue of religion. -helps give to God what is his just due - reverence, love, and worship -Apostacy -Despair

Condemns the worship of false gods and these sins: 1. Superstition 2. Idolatry 3. Divination4. Irreligion 5. Sacrilege6. Simony 7. Atheism8. Agnosticism

You Shall Not Take the Name of the Lord, Your God, in Vain -Through Baptism, the Lord makes our name holy -Outlaws any wrong use of God’s name or the names of Jesus, Mary, or any saint -Taking of an oath shouldn’t be necessary for a Christian -Perjury -Blasphemy

Remember to Keep Holy the Sabbath Day -Related to two truths in the Old Testament - God “rested” after he completed the work of creation -God gave the Chosen People the sabbath day as a sign of the covenant he made with them -Catholics are obligated to go to Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation -Best way to make the Sabbath holy is to receive God in the Eucharist

1. What are some superstitions you have practiced? 2. Do you think it is sinful to read the daily astrology charts? Would it be sinful to take them seriously? 3. What are some ways that people your age search out spiritual meaning for their lives? 4. Give some examples of the “false gods” people worship today. 5. Would it be wrong for you to work on Sunday if you do not have to? Why or why not?

Honor Your Mother and Father -Charity begins at home -Domestic Church - family, community of faith, hope and charity that teaches virtue, respect, and love -Both parents have to respect and provide for their children and children have to respect their parents and eventually provide for them as they age

You Shall Not Kill -Teaches respect for the sanctity of human life -all direct and intentional killing is a violation -Does not condemn killing in self defense -as a last resort - individuals must always use bloodless means to defend if at all possible -War must be reasonably avoided at all costs

You Shall Not Kill -Strictly Outlaws: 1. Direct Abortion 2. Intentional Euthanasia, which is murder 3. Suicide 4. Scandal 5. Immoral Medical Procedures

You Shall Not Commit Adultery, You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor’s Wife -teach us how to use our sexuality in accord with God’s plan -exercise virtues of chastity, purity, and modesty to live moral lives -Chastity -married couples should be faithful to each other, single people, religious and vowed life, and engaged couples should refrain from sexual relations

-Virtues of purity and modesty help us combat lust Lust - vice of a disordered craving for or enjoyment of sexual pleasure, apart from how God intended us to use our sexual powers -Virtue of purity helps in the struggle against lust by attuning our minds and hearts to God’s holiness in all aspects of our lives -Purity requires modesty, a virtue that protects the mystery of persons and their love

Lust leads to these sinful abuses of God’s gift of sexuality: -Masturbation -Fornication -Pornography -Prostitution -Rape -Homosexual Activity

-Sexual Intercourse and all acts leading to it, express the total commitment of love between a mane and a woman in marriage -Sexual intercourse in marriage has two purposes: -unitive -procreative -Couples may abstain from sexual relations or employ Natural Family Planning -Artificial Means of birth control and Sterilization are condemned

-Children are a gift of marriage -May use moral methods of increasing fertility -Donating sperm or eggs, human cloning all contradict God’s plan for bringing forth new life -Couples with difficulty having children are encouraged to adopt or serve others in creative and compassionate ways

Following acts go against God’s intention for marriage: Adultery Divorce Polygamy

You Shall Not Steal, You Shall Not Covet Anything That Belongs to Your Neighbor -Seventh commandment teaches us to be good stewards of our material possessions -related virtue of temperance teaches us that we should not become too attached to our belongings -Tenth commandment teaches that when we covet the goods of others we might commit immoral acts -outlaws greed, avarice, and envy

-Encourage justice for all people Types of justice: -Commutative Justice -Legal Justice -Distributive Justice

-Social Justice - applies the teachings of Christ and the Church to the political, economic, and social orders -Social teaching involves three elements: -principles for reflection, criteria for judgement, guidelines for action -condemnation of any political, social, or economic system that is contrary to the dignity of the human person is a fundamental theme of Catholic social teaching

You Shall Not Bear False Witness Against Your Neighbor -Teaches the value of truth-telling -Calls us to avoid the following: 1. False witness in court and perjury 2. Rash judgement 3. Detraction-reveals faults of someone else without a good reason -People do not always need to know everything

1. It is better to let 1,000 guilty persons go free than to condemn to death an innocent person. Agree or disagree? 2. What support should the Church as a Christian community provide to teens who are contemplating an abortion? 3. In light of all the evidence showing the high correlation between smoking and cancer, is it immoral to smoke? Why or why not? 4. What would our society define as immodest clothing for girls? For guys?