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 TOPIC 30
THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT

Reference: Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2197-2246

Supplementary reading: https://opusdei.org/en/article/topic-30-the-fourth-commandment-the-family/

 THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT

Honor your Father and Mother

The Family, Man’s social nature Duties of Children

man’s entry point into society and respect for authority

Duties of Parents Duties of Civil Authorities Duties of citizens

in regard to civil authority
 Honor your Father
and Mother
A commandment on the family right after the 1 st 3 (love of God) and at the
start of the next 7 (love of neighbor)

◦ Man is the only creature on earth “made unto God’s image”

cf Gen 1: 27
◦ called to live in communion with God and with one’s neighbor.

◦ The Family:
◦ the 1st setting where the person first experiences what it means
to be loved for his own sake and learns to love other persons
for their own sake as well.
◦ ”The original school of love”
St. John Paul II

Reason:
Families are built on Marriage and Conjugal Love.
◦ Conjugal love  parental love  filial love  fraternal love
 The Family,
man’s entry point into society
The family, the basic cell of society,
prior to any recognition by public authority

◦ God endowed the family with its fundamental constitution,

viz., a man and a woman joined in marriage, together with their children.

◦ Marriage and family life are ordered to the good of the spouses
and to the procreation and education of children.

◦ Harmonious social life, fruit of strong family values.

◦ In Christ, the family becomes the domestic church,

the 1st community where faith, hope and charity in Christ is first lived.
 Man’s social nature
and respect for authority
The 4th commandment also obliges us to honor
all who legitimately exercise authority in any society

◦ God created man a social being

those in legitimate authority are instruments
of God’s Providence in the governance of men.

◦ Why the 4th commandment expressly mentions

respect for parental authority:
◦ it is the most basic form of authority and affects all men;
◦ they cooperate with God in a special way:
upon them depends our man’s most basic goods
–our life and upbringing as persons
◦ it shows us the order of charity: “charity begins at home.”
 Duties of Children
◦ Filial piety
respect, gratitude, and obedience
in all their reasonable directives.

◦ Fostering fraternal love among the siblings:

love, forgiveness, and respect

◦ Adult children:
although the duty of obedience ceases
with their emancipation, not so with regard
to respect and reverence
◦ willingly seek their advice,
accept their just admonitions
◦ provide material, moral, spiritual assistance
especially in times of sickness, loneliness, old age;
understanding, and forgiveness
◦ grave duty of children to see to it that their parents have the
opportunity to receive the Last Sacraments when they are
gravely ill
 Duties of Parents
Parents participate in the fatherhood of God.
Cf. Eph 3:15

◦ They cooperate in a unique and irreplaceable way

with God’s providence in the proper upbringing of their children.

◦ They are the primary educators of their children,

especially in their moral and spiritual formation.

◦ Education by example: spouses must honor one another.

◦ “’Honor your father and mother’ means ‘Honor your children’”

St. John Paul II

◦ Selection of the school.

Prudent advice in choice of profession and state in life.
 Duties
of Civil Authorities
All in public authority should
seek the interests of the community
before their own interest
and allow their decisions to be inspired
by the truth about God, about man,
and about the world.

◦ Exercise authority as a service

to the common good.

◦ Respect fundamental human rights

◦ Exercise just hierarchy of values, enact just laws, and

practice distributive justice.

◦ Respect the principle of subsidiarity.

 Duties of Citizens
in regard to Civil Authority
Those in legitimate authority
should be regarded as representatives of God
CCC 2238-2243; 2256
Cf. Rom 13:1-2;
cf 1 Pt 2:13-17.

◦ Citizens are to offer loyal collaboration

for the right functioning of public and social life.

◦ Love and service of one’s homeland, the right and duty

to vote, payment of taxes, the defense of one’s country,
and the right to exercise constructive criticism.

◦ A citizen is obliged in conscience not to obey the laws

of civil authorities when they are contrary
to the demands of the moral order

“We must obey God rather than men”

Acts 5:29
 TOPIC 30
THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT

Reference: Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2197-2246

Supplementary reading: https://opusdei.org/en/article/topic-30-the-fourth-commandment-the-family/