“You Shall Love the Lord Your God with All Your Heart, with All Your Soul, and with All Your Mind”

434 “Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16).

To the young man who asked this question, Jesus answered, “If you would enter into life, keep the commandments”, and then he added, “Come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:16-21). To follow Jesus involves keeping the commandments. The law has not been abolished but man is invited to rediscover it in the Person of the divine Master who realized it perfectly in himself, revealed its full meaning and attested to its permanent validity.

CCC 2052-2054, 2075-2076

435 How did Jesus interpret the Law?

Jesus interpreted the Law in the light of the twofold yet single commandment of love, the fullness of the Law: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

CCC 2055

436 What does “Decalogue” mean?

Decalogue means “ten words” (Exodus 34:28). These words sum up the Law given by God to the people of Israel in the context of the Covenant mediated by Moses. This Decalogue, in presenting the commandments of the love of God (the first three) and of one's neighbor (the other seven), traces for the chosen people and for every person in particular the path to a life freed from the slavery of sin.

CCC 2056-2057

437 What is the bond between the Decalogue and the Covenant?

The Decalogue must be understood in the light of the Covenant in which God revealed himself and made known his will. In observing the commandments, the people manifested their belonging to God and they answered his initiative of love with thanksgiving.

CCC 2058-2063, 2077

438 What importance does the Church give to the Decalogue?

The Church, in fidelity to Scripture and to the example of Christ, acknowledges the primordial importance and significance of the Decalogue. Christians are obliged to keep it.

CCC 2064-2068

439 Why does the Decalogue constitute an organic unity?

The Ten Commandments form an organic and indivisible whole because each commandment refers to the other commandments and to the entire Decalogue. To break one commandment, therefore, is to violate the entire law.

CCC 2069, 2079

440 Why does the Decalogue enjoin serious obligations?

It does so because the Decalogue expresses the fundamental duties of man towards God and towards his neighbor.

CCC 2072-2073, 2081

441 Is it possible to keep the Decalogue?

Yes, because Christ without whom we can do nothing enables us to keep it with the gift of his Spirit and his grace.

CCC 2074, 2082

442 What is implied in the affirmation of God: “I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:2)?

This means that the faithful must guard and activate the three theological virtues and must avoid sins which are opposed to them. Faith believes in God and rejects everything that is opposed to it, such as, deliberate doubt, unbelief, heresy, apostasy, and schism. Hope trustingly awaits the blessed vision of God and his help, while avoiding despair and presumption. Charity loves God above all things and therefore repudiates indifference, ingratitude, lukewarmness, sloth or spiritual indolence, and that hatred of God which is born of pride.

CCC 2083-2094, 2133-2134

443 What is the meaning of the words of our Lord, “Adore the Lord your God and worship Him alone” (Matthew 4:10)?

These words mean to adore God as the Lord of everything that exists; to render to him the individual and community worship which is his due; to pray to him with sentiments of praise, of thanks, and of supplication; to offer him sacrifices, above all the spiritual sacrifice of one’s own life, united with the perfect sacrifice of Christ; and to keep the promises and vows made to him.

CCC 2095-2105, 2135-2136

444 In what way does a person exercise his or her proper right to worship God in truth and in freedom?

Every person has the right and the moral duty to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and his Church. Once the truth is known, each person he has the right and moral duty to embrace it, to guard it faithfully and to render God authentic worship. At the same time, the dignity of the human person requires that in religious matters no one may be forced to act against conscience nor be restrained, within the just limits of public order, from acting in conformity with conscience, privately or publicly, alone or in association with others.

CCC 2104-2109, 2137

445 What does God prohibit by his command, “You shall not have other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2)?

This commandment forbids:

Polytheism and idolatry, which divinizes creatures, power, money, or even demons.

Superstition which is a departure from the worship due to the true God and which also expresses itself in various forms of divination, magic, sorcery and spiritism.

Irreligion which is evidenced: in tempting God by word or deed; in sacrilege, which profanes sacred persons or sacred things, above all the Eucharist; and in simony, which involves the buying or selling of spiritual things.

Atheism which rejects the existence of God, founded often on a false conception of human autonomy.

Agnosticism which affirms that nothing can be known about God, and involves indifferentism and practical atheism.

CCC 2110-2128, 2138-2140

446 Does the commandment of God, “You shall not make for yourself a graven image” (Exodus 20:3), forbid the cult of images?

In the Old Testament this commandment forbade any representation of God who is absolutely transcendent. The Christian veneration of sacred images, however, is justified by the incarnation of the Son of God (as taught by the Second Council of Nicea in 787AD) because such veneration is founded on the mystery of the Son of God made man, in whom the transcendent God is made visible. This does not mean the adoration of an image, but rather the veneration of the one who is represented in it: for example, Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Angels and the Saints.

CCC 2129-2132, 2141

447 How does one respect the holiness of the Name of God?

One shows respect for the holy Name of God by blessing it, praising it and glorifying it. It is forbidden, therefore, to call on the Name of God to justify a crime. It is also wrong to use the holy Name of God in any improper way as in blasphemy (which by its nature is a grave sin), curses, and unfaithfulness to promises made in the Name of God.

CCC 2142-2149, 2160-2162

448 Why is a false oath forbidden?

It is forbidden because one calls upon God who is truth itself to be the witness to a lie.

CCC 2150-2151, 2163-2164

449 What is perjury?

Perjury is to make a promise under oath with the intention of not keeping it or to violate a promise made under oath. It is a grave sin against God who is always faithful to his promises.

CCC 2152-2155

450 Why did God “bless the Sabbath day and declare it sacred” (Exodus 20:11)?

God did so because on the Sabbath day one remembers God’s rest on the seventh day of creation, and also the liberation of Israel from slavery in Egypt and the Covenant which God sealed with his people.

CCC 2168-2172, 2189

451 How did Jesus act in regard to the Sabbath?

Jesus recognized the holiness of the Sabbath day and with divine authority he gave this law its authentic interpretation: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

CCC 2173

452 For what reason has the Sabbath been changed to Sunday for Christians?

The reason is because Sunday is the day of the Resurrection of Christ. As “the first day of the week” (Mark 16:2) it recalls the first creation; and as the “eighth day”, which follows the sabbath, it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by the Resurrection of Christ. Thus, it has become for Christians the first of all days and of all feasts. It is the day of the Lord in which he with his Passover fulfilled the spiritual truth of the Jewish Sabbath and proclaimed man’s eternal rest in God.

CCC 2174-2176, 2190-2191

453 How does one keep Sunday holy?

Christians keep Sunday and other days of obligation holy by participating in the Eucharist of the Lord and by refraining from those activities which impede the worship of God and disturb the joy proper to the day of the Lord or the necessary relaxation of mind and body. Activities are allowed on the Sabbath which are bound up with family needs or with important social service, provided that they do not lead to habits prejudicial to the holiness of Sunday, to family life and to health.

CCC 2177-2185, 2192-2193

454 Why is the civil recognition of Sunday as a feast day important?

It is important so that all might be given the real possibility of enjoying sufficient rest and leisure to take care of their religious, familial, cultural and social lives. It is important also to have an opportune time for meditation, for reflection, for silence, for study, and a time to dedicate to good works, particularly for the sick and for the elderly.

CCC 2186-2188, 2194-2195