Editor’s Note: Due to the pandemic, we were unable to hold weekly classes for 22 tenth-grade Confirmation students. So instead of using our regular text, Catholicism & Life, which covers the Commandments and Sacraments, we prepared a series of 14 lessons on the material, with a summary of each commandment and sacrament along with some questions to answer, and sent them to the students to complete and return to us. To their credit, they did complete the assignment, and we were able to discuss the material with them at a retreat a few weeks before they were confirmed.
It occurred to us that this material might be of interest to our readers, so we are passing the lessons along for whatever use you can find for them, even if it’s just for your own edification. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well, so please send them along and we will interrupt this series to answer them.
Special Course On Catholicism And Life — I
Many people think that going to Heaven will be easy, but Jesus said that we must do four things to get to Heaven. First, we must love God over and above everything and everyone. Second, we must also love other people, since God created them, too. That’s why we call God “our” Father. If He is “our” Father, then other people are our brothers and sisters.
Second, Jesus said that if we really love Him, we must keep His Commandments — all ten of them. We will look at each Commandment in detail. Third, we must receive the sacraments which Jesus gave us to help us get to Heaven. The sacraments are seven special ways in which God gives us the grace (or spiritual help) we need. Fourth, we must reach out to our brothers and sisters through the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.
Remember that Jesus said, “Whatever you do for the least of your brothers and sisters, you do for me.” In other words, if we show love and concern for others, we show love and concern for Jesus, and our reward will be Heaven. If, on the other hand, we ignore the needs of our brothers and sisters, that is the same as ignoring Jesus, and our punishment will be Hell, what Jesus called “the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).
Real love is not just saying that we love someone, it is doing things for them to prove our love. It is deeds, not words, that count. We prove our love of God by praying, going to Church every week, receiving Holy Communion, trying to avoid sin, or going to Confession if we do sin. We prove our love for our neighbor by carrying out the Corporal Works of Mercy. They are to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the sick, shelter the homeless, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead.
We are also concerned about family and friends getting to Heaven, so we try to help them through the Spiritual Works of Mercy. These works are to warn the sinner, instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, comfort the sorrowful, bear wrongs patiently, forgive all injuries, and pray for the living and the dead. It is not always easy to warn someone about the sins they are committing since we, too, are sinners, but we must do so with love and patience. Nor is it easy to forgive someone who has wronged or injured us, but Jesus forgave even those who nailed Him to the cross, and He said that if we do not forgive others, His Father will not forgive us.
To help us accomplish these works of mercy, Jesus gave us seven sacraments to strengthen us and make us holy. Most of us have already received the Sacraments of Baptism, Penance, and First Holy Communion. This year you will receive the special Sacrament of Confirmation to make you stronger Catholics so that you will never abandon the Church, or deny your belief in God, no matter how much pressure is put on you by other people, or by the culture in which we live.
So if you really want to go to Heaven, this is what you have to do. It won’t be easy, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy. So let’s promise to do our best this year to learn what God wants us to do and then ask the Holy Spirit, when He comes to us in a special way at Confirmation, to give us His gifts of Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Counsel (Right Judgment), Fortitude (Courage), Piety (Reverence), and Fear of the Lord to help us stay close to God in this life and be happy with Him forever in Heaven
List Of Answers:
BAPTISM
COMMANDMENTS
DEAD
DEEDS
DOUBTFUL
CONFIRMATION
GOD
HOLY COMMUNION
HOMELESS
HUNGRY
IGNORANT
IMPRISONED
INJURIES
LIVING
NAKED
NEIGHBOR
PENANCE
SICK
SINNER
SACRAMENTS
SORROWFUL
THIRSTY
WRONGS
Quiz:
Jesus said we must keep the __________________________ to get to Heaven.
One great commandment is to love _____________ with all our heart.
The second is to love our ________________ as ourselves.
True love is expressed more by _______________ than words.
The chief corporal works of mercy are seven: to feed the ___________, give
drink to the ______________, clothe the __________, visit
the______________, shelter the _______________, visit the
_____________________, and bury the _________.
The chief spiritual works of mercy are seven: to warn the _______________,
instruct the ________________, counsel the ______________,
comfort the ____________________, bear _____________________patiently,
forgive all _________________, and pray for the ____________
and the dead.
Christ gave us seven _________________________ to help us get to Heaven.
Name the sacraments you have received already____________________________________.
________________________________________.
Name the sacrament you will receive this year _________________________.
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