"Do not forget that holiness consists not in extraordinary actions, but in performing your duties toward God, yourself and others well." -St. Maximilian M. Kolbe
We are currently studying the Ten Commandments (Ex 20: 1-17, Dt 5: 6-22). This may seem like one of the more challenging sections of our textbooks as the commandments are at times viewed as a list of what is forbidden. It is true that the commandments prohibit some actions. But it is also true that the commandments encourage and even require some actions.
For example, the first commandment is,"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me." This commandment prohibits idolizing another and calls us to acknowledge and worship God astheGod. The second commandment forbids the misuse of God's Holy Name but also allows us to use His Name reverently. The third commandment rules out unnecessary work on the sabbath and enjoins us to celebrate the goodness of God- the highpoint of this day being the moment when we receive Him in Holy Communion at Mass.
But what is the purpose of the commandments?
To teach us how to get to Heaven.
A young man once asked Jesus what he had to do in order to have eternal life. Jesus responded by saying,"If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He goes on to state each of them. Then Jesus does something interesting. He sums up the commandments in saying,"You shall love your neighbor as yourself"(Mt 19: 16-19).
Later, at the Last Supper, Jesus says,"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another." Still later that night he says,"As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, your will remain in my love...I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete"(Jn 13:34, Jn 15: 9-17).
When we keep the commandments out of love, somehow they don't seem quite so burdensome. In fact, they become a joy.
But how can the commandments really become a joy? In a couple of ways. One, in love there is true freedom. We are made in the image and likeness of God who is Love itself. We were made for love. We are free when we live in love. This brings us joy. Two, keeping the commandments out of love prepares us for Heaven. In Heaven,"He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them"(Rev 21:4). In Heaven we are in the eternal presence of God. This also brings us joy.
Want more on the Ten Commandments?
Click on the link below and scroll to part three, section two to click the section you'd like to see :)
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM
"Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators. This role in education is so important that only with difficulty can it be supplied where it is lacking. Parents are the ones who must create a family atmosphere animated by love and respect for God and man, in which the well-rounded personal and social education of children is fostered. Hence the family is the first school of the social virtues that every society needs. It is particularly in the Christian family, enriched by the grace and office of the sacrament of matrimony, that children should be taught from their early years to have a knowledge of God according to the faith received in Baptism, to worship Him, and to love their neighbor. Here, too, they find their first experience of a wholesome human society and of the Church. Finally, it is through the family that they are gradually led to a companionship with their fellowmen and with the people of God. Let parents, then, recognize the inestimable importance a truly Christian family has for the life and progress of God's own people."
-Pope Paul VI, Gravissimum Educationis, 3