It is said in the Catholic Bible that God gave a man named Moses two tablets on a mountain in the Sinai (Sigh-Ni) Peninsula called Mount Sinai. On the tablets were ten commandments God wanted His people to live by. It is said that if you live by these commandments you will have eternal life with God in heaven.
Anyway, back to the story. I will start from the beginning.
The Israelites were following Moses to escape from being slaves in Egypt. God was working through Moses to bring them to the promise land, which was Canaan (Cay-Nan). When the possession stopped at Mount Sinai, God called Moses up to the top of the mountain. God bestowed upon Moses the Ten Commandments, which are still a very important aspect of the Catholic religion.
Moses stayed up on the mountain for a long time in prayer with God. When he came down, the Israelites started worshiping false gods, thinking that Moses had abandoned them. In the middle of a large circle stood a giant, golden calf. Moses got very upset and threw the two tablets on the ground. They shattered into millions of tiny pieces.
I would like to share with you, this week, the Ten Commandments and what they all mean to the Catholic religion.
1. I am the LORD your God, you shall not have any strange gods before Me.
Many religions, such as the ones practiced by the Egyptians or Greeks, worship many gods. But, as Catholics, we believe there is only one true God. We do not believe that one god is for the sun and the other for the moon. We believe that our God is the creator of the world and everything in it, including the solar system.
2. You shall not worship false images.
This commandments means that we shall not let any materialistic object come between us and God. It is believed by the Catholics that we should never make anything more important than God.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
My priest told my class that if we say "Oh my God" then that is not taking the name of God in vain -- neither is saying "Jesus Christ." But, then what exactly does it mean?
4. Keep the LORD's day holy.
Like in the story of creation, God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh. God wants us to relax on Sunday, but we are also obliged to go to church then, too. It is our obligation to attend church on Sundays.
5. Honor your mother and father.
God gave us our mother and father as guiders of our Catholic faith. We should never disobey them or doubt them.
6. Thou shall not kill.
Human life is the most important organism on this planet! It should be treasured by everyone on this earth whether you are Catholic or not. What would you have if you did not have life. If you did not live? We believe that life is a gift from God and that it should be protected.
7. Thou shall not commit adultery.
This commandment is basically the same as the first and second, but it is very important to our God that we always stay true to Him. God has no weaknesses, but he has one thing that shakes Him more than anything: our lack of trust in Him.
8. Thou shall not steal.
We should not take something that is not ours. Even if you are borrowing a pencil, you should always ask or else that would be stealing. Or you could be stealing a bag of chips from a drug store.
9. Thou shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
This commandment is a giant problem we are having in today's society. There are many divorces, broken alliances, and girlfriends/boyfriends or husbands/wives cheating on each other. You shall not want another man's wife or another woman's husband.
10. Thou shall not covet your neighbor's goods.
Once again, God is telling us not to steal. The commandments said two or three times are the ones God emphasizes.
Well these are the commandments God has giving us and even though we may make mistakes, God forgives us. He will show mercy upon those who have done wrong and they shall enter the Kingdom of God.
Well here we are again with another lesson on being a Catholic.
Have a nice weekend, everyone!
-dalygirl
"We live in preparation. We live for us. We live for each other. We live for God. This is the Catholic foundation."
Editor's Note: It is important to remember that the Ten Commandments differ slightly from one sect to another. For example, the wording and the order might be slightly different between the Catholic faith and the Protestant faith. Although, the basic understanding of the commandments remains the same.
