Reading Assignment

Paragraphs 2167 thru 2410

Lecture

Lecture Text

PART THREE - LIFE IN CHRIST

SECTION ONE: MAN'S VOCATION: LIFE IN THE SPIRIT

    ARTICLE 3: THE THIRD COMMANDMENT

          I. The Sabbath Day

         II. The Lord's Day

             IN BRIEF

We ended our last session discussing the facts life is liturgy. Naturally, then it makes sense that in the original cycle of seven days one day would likewise be considered Holy. In that same way, the Mass, which is the culmination of all covenants, joins elements of all covenants into itself. It is particularly special then to celebrate it on the day of Rest, which after the resurrection of our Lord became both Sunday (as opposed to Saturday) and the Lord's Day. Leisure is a big part of this and is simply defined are not what work is meant to mean. Leisure is brought to its height in the liturgy, but other aspects of society need space not taken up by work in order to be properly formed and people themselves need rest in order to truly be human. As inconvenient as modern society may come to consider a day off, the reality we need it. It is also worth noting that we are finite in our emotional states and capabilities of endurance, even if the rest of the week is filled with events and efforts the rest proper to Sunday can be undermined by detoxing from stress highs. This Commandment is thus fulfilled in the temperance of work and its benefits and also being a steward of one's health and that of one's loved ones. 

  CHAPTER TWO: "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF"

    ARTICLE 4: THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT

          I. The Family in God's Plan

         II. The Family and Society

        III. The Duties of Family and the Kingdom

         IV. The Family and the Kingdom

          V. The Authorities in Civil Society

             IN BRIEF

As we have previously discussed concerning civil authorities, legitimate authority participates in the authority of the Father. However, much it is true for civil authorities and role models, it is truer for Parents who are concerned with the formation of new Christians. This can be a double-edged sword since the family is under attack by the enemy and was so from the beginning. A Mother and Father are called in their conjugal sacramental vocation to be open to the work of God in their fertility and love for each other. The family life is paramount psychologically speaking for the child, any familial brokenness must be carefully addressed and healed through the love of God or else the child(ren) will easily be led by the enemy in their brokenness and may well pass on the brokenness to their offspring. Every child, every human deserves, a mother and father who love each other and the child. Children owe their parents respect, gratitude, and just obedience/assistance. Parents have a duty to their children for every act of mercy. The child's formation in love and the truth of the Gospel requires all of this. In keeping with these obligations, the family communion and Domestic Church are fostered drawing all closer to God in love and mercy. This inner harmony of the family will produce, resonate with, and correspond to the external communion with the rest of society and all just authorities. Vocations are to be encouraged whether into Marriage, the Priesthood, or Consecrated Religious life.

    ARTICLE 5: THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT

          I. Respect for Human Life

         II. Respect for the Dignity of Persons

        III. Safeguarding Peace

             IN BRIEF

CCC 2318 "In [God's] hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind" (Job 12:10). Every human life from conception to Natural Death is willed for its own sake the God in whose image and likeness all are willed to be. Destruction of life is contrary to the will of the Creator of Life. Man in his fallenness chose death for himself, although it is just to experience consequences for our ill-fated decisions, God did not choose this for man and make it to be, but man did in abusing his freedom. Every human thus has the right to his/her own life, however difficult it is to endure. In God's providence, he makes all suffering well worth it, transformative, and redemptive for the individual and for all society since Christ came and participated in our suffering, we can join ourselves to him in ours. Abortion, Intentional Euthanasia, and Murder remove the opportunity for repentance for the individual and this opportunity for living out redemption. They are therefore the gravest of all sins. Suicide conforms to the same general problem, but is yet worse since the last act of an individual is a mortal sin. As with any sin, however, God's mercy is greater than our brokenness and infinitely so. There is no problem a creature may create however dire for the creature, that cannot be transcendents and fixed by the Creator. "The arms race is one of the greatest curses on the human race and the harm it inflicts on the poor is more than can be endured" (GS 81 § 3). This statement from the Second Vatican Council comes from the middle of the 20th Century when man's murder of His fellow man was hitherto never out done and we pray never will be. War in any form should be avoided by all non-sinful means. Christ's Gospel of life is a gospel of repentance and grace and mercy as well. True peace is found in human harmony not only the absence of murderous conflict. The Catechism discusses that for a war to be justly initiated the following criteria must be met:

In the case of any war, the moral law is still in force.

    ARTICLE 6: THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

          I. "Male and Female He Created Them . . ."

         II. The Vocation to Chastity

        III. The Love of Husband and Wife

         IV. Offenses against the Dignity of Marriage

             IN BRIEF

This subject is perhaps the most unpopular of our time to hear because the habitual breach of it is the core content of our society's grave moral problems. The Truth of the matter is God made us sexual creatures, in our fallenness we made ourselves to be slaves of desire which Christ died to free us from. Our lust is a great struggle for man since it is in the corruption of his heart, in which he already participates, and sexual desires naturally tend toward the greatest in intensity by comparison to other desires. In the Gospels, we hear Christ, say that from the beginning it was not so. Our sexuality is a fundamental part of us and abusing it is to abuse ourselves and others. Desires that do not conform to the vision of integrated and truly reproductive acts within complementary matrimony are by their nature a result of one's brokenness and pose a threat to one's good, Psychological, and therefore spiritual. In many cases where our brokenness lies, our disordered sexual desires come. Just as with the rest of our will and intellect touched by the deadly effects of our corruption and brokenness, we face disordered desires in every aspect of our lives whether it be murderous or lazy, contrary to prayer or willed prideful hardness of heart. "Non-straight" psychological desires are not sinful just as wanting to consume ice cream to solve ones problems is not sinful, it is actually willing acts to answer those desires as though they are conformed to the reality that undermines one's internal harmony with one's body and mind as well as with one's Creature who made us for far more than what even rightly ordered sexuality can offer us. i.e. communion with Him. Even should one fall into sin in these desires, Christ's mercy is available in the sacrament of confession. Even when we struggle greatly against desires contrary to our flourishing, no sin cannot be forgiven by God. All persons are called to live the fullness of life in virtue but that does not mean there will not be failure along the way, imperfection in living with God's grace, and great difficulty sanctifying ourselves in spite of our brokenness.


Compendium of the Catholic Church Reading

Questions 450-502

Questions answered by the Catechism and Compendium.

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