A Journey Through the Catechism (The First through Third Commandments)
We continue with our Pastor Column series through the Baltimore Catechism, and we turn now to the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh articles: “On the First Commandment” and “On the Honor and Invocation of the Saints,” and “On the Second to the Third Commandments.”
Q: What is the First Commandment?
A: The First Commandment is: “I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange gods before Me.”
Q: How do we adore God?
A: We adore God by faith, hope, and love, and by prayer and sacrifice.
Q: How is the First Commandment broken?
A: The First Commandment is broken by giving to a creature the honor that belongs to God alone; by false worship; and by attributing to a creature some perfection that belongs to God alone.
Q: Are sins against faith, hope, and charity also sins against the First Commandment?
A: Sins against faith, hope, and charity are also sins against the First Commandment.
Q: How does a person sin against faith?
A: A person sins against faith: 1. By not trying to know what God has taught; 2. By refusing to believe all that God has taught; 3. By neglecting to profess one’s belief in what God has taught.
Q: Are we obliged to make open profession of our faith?
A: We are obliged to make open profession of our faith as often as God’s honor, our neighbor’s spiritual good, and our own spiritual good requires it.
Q: What are the sins against hope?
A: The sings against hope are presumption and despair.
Q: What is presumption?
A: Presumption is a rash expectation of salvation without making proper use of the necessary means to obtain it.
Q: What is despair?
A: Despair is the loss of hope in God’s mercy.
Q: Does the First Commandment forbid the honoring of the saints?
A: The First Commandment does not forbid the honoring of the saints but rather approves of it because by honoring the saints (who are the chosen friends of the Lord) we honor the Lord Himself.
Q: Does the First Commandment forbid us to pray to the saints?
A: The First Commandment does not forbid us to pray to the saints.
Q: What do we mean by praying to the saints?
A: By praying to the saints, we mean that we are asking for their help and intercession.
Q: Does the First Commandment forbid us to honor their relics?
A: The First Commandment does not forbid us to honor relics because relics are the bodies of the saints or objects directly connected with them or with the Lord Himself.
Q: Does the First Commandment forbid the making of images?
A: The First Commandment does forbid the making of images if they are made to be adored as false gods, but it does not forbid the making of them to put us in mind of Jesus Christ, His Blesse Mother, and the saints.
Q: Is it right to show respect to eh pictures and images of Christ and His saints?
A: It is right to show respect to the pictures and images of Christ and His Saints because they are the representations and memorials of them.
Q: Is it allowed to pray to the crucifix or to the images and relics of the saints?
A: It is not allowed to pray to the crucifix or images and relics of the saints because they have no life, no power to helps, and nose sense to hear us.
Q: Why do we pray before the crucifix and the images and relics of the saints?
A: We pray before the crucifix and the images and relics of the saints because they enliven our devotion by exciting pious affections and desires, and by remind us of Christ and of the saints, that we may imitate their virtues.
Q: What is the Second Commandment?
A: The Second Commandment is: You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain.
Q: What are we commanded by the Second Commandment?
A: We ar commanded by the Second Commandment to speak with reverence of God and of the saints, and of all holy things, and to keep our lawful oaths and vows.
Q: What is an oath?
A: An oath is the calling upon God to witness the truth of what we say.
Q: What is a vow?
A: A vow is a deliberate promise made to the Lord to do something that is leasing to Him.
Q: Is it a sin not to fulfill our vows?
A: Not to fulfill our vows is a sin, mortal or venial, according to the nature of the vow and the intention that we had in making it.
Q: What is forbidden by the Second Commandment?
A: The Second Commandment forbids all false, rash, unjust, and unnecessary oaths, blasphemy, cursing, and profane words.
Q: What is the Third Commandment?
A: The Third Commandment is: Keep holy the Sabbath day.
Q: How are we to worship God on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation?
A: We are to worship God on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation by attending Mass, by prayer, and by other good works.
Q: What is forbidden by the Third Commandment?
A: The Third Commandment forbids all unnecessary surveille work and whatever else may hinder the due observance of the Lord’s Day.
Q: What are servile works?
A: Servile works are those that require labor of body rather than the work of the mind.
Q: Are service works of Sunday ever lawful?
A: Servile works are lawful on Sunday when the honor of God, the good of our neighbor, or necessity requires them.
~ Fr. Lewis