A. Back ground:
Last 2 sundays of this lent, we identified the need to fast, for our own health & happiness.(Identify clearly the difference between fasting and starving). In doing fasting we have to regulate our will. In order to do that we have to first understand the christian belief that God has created you to lead a Happy Life. Also we should be clear, that human cannot provide all solutions to the problems/disagreement arising in this world, where only God can provide. Through your life experience and knowledge, you should be able to convince your self about these 2 factors. Once you are convinced you will Bow Down to Nobody other than Eucharist!.
To day reading sums up to leading
(1)your behavior according to 10 commandments
(2)your life according to God's Will
(3)avoid 7 vices(Anger,sloth, lust,pride,envy, avarice,gluttony)
(4)Bow Down(worship) only to Eucharist.
Catholicism believe God is creator of world &guides destiny of each person,WORSHIP to be given God.
B. Preamble for to days reading:
B.1 Is there any uniform method to know about God!
All humans are different to each other. This is with respect to their physical and mental character. Similarly, human will get to know about God, in different methods, connected to their different experience.
God spoke through prophets, similar to train humans in reaching to Him. Also HE forecasted the arrival of Jesus. Around 1600 years before to Jesus, He gave 10 commandments, the rule to follow. When you get a rule, it is easy for you to enjoy your freedom. Freedom means what you ought to do, not what you can do. Always freedom goes with a rule to follow!. Then God send HIS beloved Son, to show the path to reach HIM, through same law+message of Love. Before to Jesus God was direct, but after jesus' resurrection God became indirect, the method to reach God has completely changed!. Hence the message of God may reach you in different ways! May be through life experience,accident or sickness etc
B.2Difference between respect and worship
Both humans and animals who are known to think and reason out, think highly of certain things, be it material or be it ideas, over others. Higher the things they place over others more value and more important it is over others. With this comes in, Regard and Respect, terms more associated with non-material things. There are so many ways whether humans or animals show their regard and respect. As an example, in Asian societies students stand up when the teacher enters the class.
Higher the regard and respect for the entity the manner in which the respect is shown is greater and it follows that the entities which is valued highest is regarded and respected highest and such show of respect is the highest.
In populations where they believe that a certain entity is the creator of the world and/or that entity in facts guides the destiny of us all such entity gets the highest respect and the highest show of such respect can be termed as worship. There are prescribed methodology of worship depending on the social agreements of such population.
There are populations which pays the highest respect to persons who are deemed to have found the way to emancipation. Such discoverers are also worshiped by such populations.
Clearly if there is no respect or regard then there can be no worship.
Therefore in short worship is the highest form of showing the highest respect. Respect is in the thought. Worship is an action.
Hence to worship God, one should be clear that
(1) He experience the importance and value of God to his life
(2) He should acquire enough knowledge to be aware about his own life and it's dependency towards God!.
B.2 10 commandments:
10 commandment is the basic rule given in the Christianity.(Catholic version)
(1) Thou shalt have no other Gods before Me
(2) Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
(3) Keep holy the Sabbath Day
(4) Honor thy father and mother
(5) Thou shalt not kill (means only HUMANS)(reason: 10 commandment exist before to JESUS, during that time one of the method of WORSHIPPING GOD was, slaughtering of animals, spreading of blood over the offering table.)
(6) Thou shall not commit adultery
(7) Thou shall not steal
(8) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor
(9) Thou shall not covert thy neighbor's wife
(10) Thou shalt not covert thy neighbors goods
Note: Observation: there are 3 parts, com 1- 5 God & you, com 6-8 deals personal to you, com 9-10 deals with you & society.
Is there any prescriptions, for the matters which fall outside 10 commandments?. A vast area, where you can experience God's will towards you lies in this area. If any body ask you to carry a load for 1 mile, carry it 2 miles happily. Is one example. One should train patience,handing your fears and sorrows in this area. Major difference in Catholicism lies in this area!.
B.4 THE LIVING OF FAITH: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS:(Morality)
Articles 1691 through 2557 of the catechism of catholic church looks at all 10 commandments as the spring board for moral teaching and ethical behavior for the believers. There is a difference in numbering between the ten commandments cited by the catholics and Lutherans and the once cited by the other protestant traditions. The Bible itself never assigns a number to any one of the 10 commandments. They are listed twice in the scripture, in Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21
The Bible does not number the commandments, who did and how? REMEMBER, it was not until 1205 A.D that sephen langton, archbishop of Canterbury, divided the books of the Bible into chapter numbers, and it was another 350 years(in 1555 A.D) before Robert Stehanus the Bible chapters into verses. The original texts were written with no chapter,no verse, and no punctuation.
St Augustine(354-430A.D), bishop of Hippo, was the first to assign numbers to the ten commandments. Because idolatry is the worship of false gods, he presumed Exodus 20:4/Deuteronomy5:8("Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image") was just a continuation of Exodus 20:3/Deuteronomy5:7("Thou shalt have no other God's before me"). In other word they belong in the same paragraph.
Origen and some Greek fathers of the church saw injunction against graven images and idols a separate commandment from the one forbidding worship of other Gods. This point of view would become the position of the Anglican, Calvanist, and Presbyterian churches. Hence, both systems counts the same first commandment as the same(no false Gods) but the catholic-luthern numbering(thanks to Augustine) counts number 2" Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" where as the other system numbers that commandment as number 3. And it goes on, each one being one number different from the other until the very end. Then it is catch up time. The catholics-lutherens system divides Deuteromomy 5:21/Exodus 20:17 into 2 separate commandments, number 9 being" Thou shalt not covert thy neighbor's wife" and number 10 being" Thou shall not covet thy neighbors goods". The anglican-calvanist systems keeps them together as number 10.
C.Today's reading:
Exodus says(Ex:20:1-17)"..I am the lord your God,who brought you out of the land of egypt...you shall have no God's except me..you shall not bow down to them..sabbath day keep it holy..honor your father and the mother..not kill..not commit adultery..not steal..not bear false witness..not covert your neighbors house.."
Paul says(1cor 1:22-25)"..Christ is the power and wisdom of God.."
Jn says(2:13-25)"..before jewish passover..in temple..making a whip..drove them all..destroy this sanctuary,in 3 days I will raise it up.."
All readings reminds (1) basic foundation of christianity start with 10 commandments(2) worshiping of God is primary rule(3) with Jesus same rule remains with the change of operation from 'eye to eye' now offer your other cheek(4) with christianity, you have to search for God's directing trusting that he leads your life happily(5) importance of chasing away 7 vices residing in your life(6) allow God to lead your happy life, trusting that he is your sole source of happiness(7) after you are happy, transfer that happiness to the society.
D. Conclusions:
Fasting and regulating 'your will' is the major discipline that you have train your self, in order to have healthy life. This is irrespective of any religion. You will see even non christians, if they develop good health is having a disciplined life with regard to food and with regard to morality. Today for catholics, the starting point of Christianity
(1) to know how christianity develop
(2)what are the basic law to follow
(3) with jesus what is the change enforce. Jesus guaranteed easy method of achieving happiness. Today is the first theory lesson that you will get to know to lead towards that Happiness!
GBU
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