Our Catholic Faith

Living What We Believe

CHAPTER 9
Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
 Guidance
 Called to Happiness
 Love God: The First Three Commandments
 Love Your Neighbor: The Fourth through
Tenth Commandments
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
Guidance
Good laws, rules, and regulations are formed in
part to help keep us safe
 We violate the Ten Commandments at our
own risk
 In the Beatitudes, Jesus offered a deep
examination of the Christian life of love
and service to others
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
Called to Happiness
Does God really want us to be happy?
 Yes, God wants us to be happy
 Only God’s goodness and love can satisfy our hunger for
true happiness
 From the beginning of creation, God desired humans to
share in his divine nature
 Jesus left us a “blue-print”
for happiness: we are to keep
his commandments and live
the Beatitudes
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
Called to Happiness
The Beatitudes
 The Beatitudes complete the
promises that God made to
Abraham
 They show us how to fulfill our
desire for happiness
 They teach us how we should live
in order to reach our eternal
destiny of union with him
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
Called to Happiness
The Beatitudes Blessed are they who hunger
Blessed are they who mourn, for and thirst for righteousness,
they shall be comforted. for they shall be satisfied.
Jesus blesses those who Jesus blesses those who know that
mourn over injustices only God’s righteousness can fulfill
and evils committed against us.
God’s people in need.
Blessed are the meek, for
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the land.
theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus treated others with gentleness
Jesus wants us to recognize our and compassion –
spiritual poverty – everything we are we too should be patient with
and everything we have are gifts the weaknesses of others.
from God.
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
Called to Happiness
The Beatitudes Blessed they who are persecuted for
the sake of righteousness, for theirs
Blessed are the clean of is the Kingdom of heaven.
heart, for they will see God. Suffering for faith in Jesus is
A person with a clean heart a great sign of love for him
has a single-minded commitment to and if we remain faithful to
God. him, he will reward us with
eternal happiness in Heaven.
Blessed are the merciful,
they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the
Our forgiveness of others, peacemakers, for they will
especially our enemies, is a be called children of God.
sign to the world of a merciful God Christians are, and must
who loves everyone. be, peacemakers.
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
Love God: The First Three Commandments
First Commandment: I, the Lord, am your God.
You shall not have other gods besides me.
• Make God the top priority in our Violations
lives by practicing the theological • Heresy • Superstition
virtues • Apostasy • Idolatry
• Worship God and share our • Schism • Divination
faith with others • Presumption • Sorcery
• Despair • Irreligion
• Practice the virtue of religion
• Ingratitude • Sacrilege
• Prayer • Simony
• Spiritual
laziness • Atheism
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
Love God: The First Three Commandments
Second Commandment: You shall not take the
name of the Lord, your God, in vain.
• Honor God’s name through praise, Violations
reverence, and adoration • Perjury
• Our names are also holy • Blasphemy
• Forbids the wrong use of God’s name • Swearing an oath with
an intention to break it
or the names of Jesus, Mary, or any
• Use of swearing,
saint cursing, vulgar language
• Keep promises and vows and always
be true to our word
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
Love God: The First Three Commandments
Third Commandment: Remember to keep holy
the Sabbath day.
• The purpose is to praise God for his Violation
works of creation and to thank him • Willfully missing Mass
• God gives this commandment to all people
for them to have a day of rest and recreation
• We acknowledge the one we are totally dependent on
• Jesus brought new meaning to the Sabbath observance – we
worship, praise, and thank God for the gift of the Son
• Catholics are obliged to go to Mass on Sundays and
Holy Days of Obligation
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
Love Your Neighbor: 4th – 10th Commandments
Forth Commandment: Honor your father and
your mother.
• Family is the domestic Church Violation
• Parents should: respect children, • Societal laws that conflict
with God’s will or God’s law
educate them in the Catholic faith,
loving home, unconditional love
• Behaviors from children: thankfulness, respecting, obey, meeting
the physical and spiritual needs of aged parents, treat siblings with
respect and love
• Respect and obedience is due all proper Church and other
authority figures
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
Love Your Neighbor: 4th – 10th Commandments
Fifth Commandment: You shall not kill.
• Human life is sacred from the Violations
first moment of conception until • Direct abortion
natural death • Intentional euthanasia
• We show respect for God’s gift • Suicide
of life by eating healthy, getting • Scandal
proper exercise and rest, avoiding • Immoral medical procedures
harmful substances, etc.
• Any direct and intentional killing of a human being is a violation
• Killing in self-defense is morally permissible as a last resort
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
Love Your Neighbor: 4th – 10th Commandments
Sixth and Ninth Commandments: You shall not
commit adultery. You shall not covet your
neighbor’s wife. Violations
• God gave us the gift of sexuality so that • Lust
married couples can share their love and • Masturbation
cooperate with God in bringing forth new life • Fornication
• Exercise the virtues of chastity, purity, • Pornography
and modesty • Prostitution
• Married couples should be faithful to • Rape
each other • Homosexual activity
• • Adultery
Chastity requires lifelong self-control
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
Love Your Neighbor: 4th – 10th Commandments
Sixth and Ninth Commandments: You shall not
commit adultery. You shall not covet your
neighbor’s wife. Further Violations
• Adultery
 Both commandments support
• Divorce
the institution of marriage
• Polygamy
 Sexual intercourse in marriage
has two purposes: unitive and
procreative
 Children are a gift of marriage
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
Love Your Neighbor: 4th – 10th Commandments
Seventh and Tenth Commandments: You shall
not steal. You shall not covet anything that
belongs to your neighbor.
• God created the goods of creation for everyone Violations
• Do not become too attached to belongings • Greed
• Avarice
• Justice calls us to respect the property of others
and to share our things
• Envy
• Jesus teaches that poverty of spirit is the way to combat
sinful attitudes
• Keep promises and do not break contracts
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
Love Your Neighbor: 4th – 10th Commandments
Seventh and Tenth Commandments: You shall
not steal. You shall not covet anything that
belongs to your neighbor.
Types of justice
Social justice
Legal justice applies the teachings of Christ and
concerns our duties as citizens and the Church to political, economic,
what we owe the government and social orders

Commutative justice Distributive justice

regulates relations between deals with the obligations the
individuals community has to its citizens
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
Love Your Neighbor: 4th – 10th Commandments
Eighth Commandment: You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbor.
• Teaches that truth-telling is a matter of Violations
justice • Lying
• We respect other people, their • False witness
reputations, their right to privacy • Perjury
• Governments and entertainment • Rash judgment
industries are to use the media • Detraction
responsibly and not for propaganda or • Calumny
to promote immoral behavior
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
VOCABULARY
 Heresy (239) Simony (240)  Abortion (246)
 Apostasy (239) Atheism (240)  Euthanasia (246)
 Schism (239) Humanists (240)  Chastity (247)
 Presumption (239)  Communists  Modesty (247)
 Despair (239) (240)  Lust (247)
 Superstition (239)
Agnostic (240)  Perjury (254)
 Idolatry (239)
Oath (241)  Rash judgment
 Divination (240)
 Sorcery (240)
Perjury (241) (254)
 Irreligion (240) Blasphemy (241)  Detraction (254)
 Sacrilege (240) Cursing (241)  Calumny (254)
 Murder (245)
 Chapter 9 Christian Moral Life:
The Beatitudes and Ten Commandments
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels
with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the
nations 
will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one
Matthew 25:31-40

from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are
blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you
gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger
and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you
cared for me, in prison and you visited me.‘ Then the
righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you
hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did
we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe
you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?‘ And
the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever