Catholic Replies

• 3 years ago

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. See the postal mailing address and email address at the bottom of this column.

Special Course On Catholicism And Life – IV

The Third Commandment (“Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day”) reminds us of our obligation to set aside Sunday as a day to worship the Lord and to rest from unnecessary work. The Bible says that God created the world in six days, and then He rested on the seventh day. To the people of Israel, the seventh day of the week was Saturday, so that was their day to worship God (they called it the “Sabbath”).

Not long after Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven, His followers, the apostles, changed the day of worship to Sunday because that was the day that Jesus rose from the dead. In the Acts of the Apostles (chapter 20, verse 7), the book of the Bible that tells us about the first thirty years of the Catholic Church, it says that the apostles gathered to “break bread,” that is, to celebrate Mass, “on the first day of the week,” which was Sunday.

Jesus first gave us Holy Mass at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, when He blessed the bread and wine and changed them into His Body and Blood. He said, “This is my Body” and “this is my Blood,” and then told the apostles, who were the first priests, to do what He had just done “in memory of me.” That is why the priest says those same words every time we go to Mass and the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus.

If we are true believers in Jesus, the most important thing we can do on Sunday is to attend Mass and receive Jesus in Holy Communion. To deliberately skip Mass without a good reason (sickness or the care of loved ones or churches closed by a pandemic) is a mortal sin.

We should use Sunday as a day of rest and a time to stay away from work that is unnecessary. It is a good day to spend time with our families and to get ready for the coming week.

List Of Answers

APOSTLES

FAMILIES

MASS

MEMORY

MORTAL SIN

SUNDAY

SUPPER

UNNECESSARY

Quiz:

1. God wants us to set aside __________ as a day of worship and rest.
2. The ____________ changed the Lord’s Day from Saturday to Sunday.
3. The most important thing we can do on Sunday is to attend _______.
4. Jesus gave us Holy Mass at the Last ___________ on Holy Thursday.
5. He told us to attend Mass in _________________ of Him.
6. To deliberately miss Mass without a good reason is a ___________.
7. We should spend time with our ______________ on Sunday.
8. The Third Commandment forbids _______________ work on Sunday. The Fourth Commandment (“Honor your father and your mother”) reminds us of our duty to show love, respect, and obedience to our parents and to all who exercise authority in the name of God. Our parents are God’s representatives on Earth, and we should obey them in everything that is not sinful. Parents must not neglect their children’s spiritual life and have the responsibility to raise their children in the Catholic Church, to pray often with them, and make sure that they go to Mass and receive the Sacraments of Baptism, Penance, Holy Communion, and Confirmation.
   
   The family has been called the first and most vital part of society, for it is in the family that we first learn to love and get along with others, to be unselfish and serve others. If families are strong, then the society in which we live will be strong.
   
   Also under the Fourth Commandment is the virtue of patriotism, which means to love and defend one’s country and to make it, as the Pledge of Allegiance says, “one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.” We should take an interest in government, pray for those in public office, and vote only for those who uphold the law of God. No public official can work for or vote for a law that is immoral, such as one that would make the sin of abortion legal.

List Of Answers:

FAMILY

FOURTH

IMMORAL

PATRIOTISM

PRAY

REPRESENTATIVES

SINFUL

SPIRITUAL

Quiz:

1. The ______________ Commandment reminds us of our duty to show love, respect, and obedience to those who exercise authority in the name of God.
2. Our parents are God’s ____________________________ and our greatest benefactors.
3. Children must obey their parents in everything that is not _______.
4. Parents must not neglect their children’s ______________ life.
5. The______________________ is the first and most vital unit of society.
6. The virtue of ____________ means to love and defend one’s country.
7. A politician can never vote for a law that is ____________.
8. We should _____ often for our public officials and Church leaders.