The First Commandment Believe in the True God

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The First CommandmentBelieve in the True God

• USCCA Chapter 25
• Thursday, June 05, 2014

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June 5, 2014

1. The Ten Commandments are laws revealed to us by
   God to guide the morality of our actions. These
   Commandments work together with

1. Grace, Gods life in us, which helps us to reject
   temptation and sin and which leads us to growth
   in holiness.
2. Theological and Cardinal virtues, which develop
   in us habits for holiness and goodness.

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June 5, 2014

1. The Ten Commandments are laws revealed to us by
   God to guide the morality of our actions. These
   Commandments work together with

1. The reception of the Sacraments, which give us
   Gods grace.

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June 5, 2014

1. The first three Commandments address our
   relationship with God the last seven concern our
   relationship with each other.

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June 5, 2014

1. The First Commandments calls us to have faith in
   the true God, to hope in him, and to love him
   fully with mind, heart, and will (USCCA p. 341.)

1. The First Commandment is the foundation for all
   the Commandments.
2. Through Divine Providence, God leads us at every
   moment of the day to Himself.

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June 5, 2014

1. The First Commandments calls us to have faith in
   the true God, to hope in him, and to love him
   fully with mind, heart, and will (USCCA p. 341.)

1. The virtue of religion, related to the virtue of
   justice, is the virtue of giving God His due,
   which is our entire lives and worship of Him.

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June 5, 2014

1. The theological virtues, which help us to love
   God above anything else, are

• Faith. Faith is a personal response the Lords
  Revelation of his holiness, love, beauty and
  transcendence. Sins against faith include
• i. Hesitancy to believe
• ii. Heresy
• iii. Apostasy
• iv. Schism

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June 5, 2014

1. The theological virtues, which help us to love
   God above anything else, are

• Hope. Hope fills us with the confidence that God
  is guiding us towards eternal life. Sins against
  hope include
• i. Presumption
• ii. Despair

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June 5, 2014

1. The theological virtues, which help us to love
   God above anything else, are

• Love. Love is the desire for the good for the
  other, the love Jesus had for us on the Cross.
  Sins against love include
• i. Indifference
• ii. Ingratitude
• iii. Lukewarmness
• iv. Spiritual Sloth
• v. Hatred of God

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June 5, 2014

1. Other sins against the First Commandment include

1. Idolatry, the worship of false gods.
2. Atheism, the denial of Gods existence.
3. Agnosticism, the claim that nothing can be known
   about God.

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June 5, 2014

1. Just as Moses reacted to God with awe, we are
   called to respond to the Lords holiness through
   conversion.

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For Discussion

1. Read the Prayer of the Heart meditation on p.
   348 of the USCCA. How does prayer help us to
   live the First Commandment?
2. How does our culture both support and weaken our
   ability to love God? What cultural philosophies
   help or hinder our love of God?
3. How have the Sacraments of the Church help you in
   living the moral life of Christ?