1. 8.1 Morality: A Response to God’s Love
Chapter 8
The Decalogue
©Our Sunday Visitor Curriculum Division

2. Chapter Overview
God’s gift of the Decalogue to the Israelites is also a gift to us.
The first commandment affirms the importance of adoring the one, true God and rejecting false gods.
The second commandment calls for speaking and acting with reverence toward God.
The third commandment reminds us to set aside the Lord’s Day for prayer, worship, rest, and recreation.

3. V Vocabulary
Decalogue (p. 142): Literally “ten words,” refers to the Ten Commandments.
Acedia (p. 149): Not caring, apathy, boredom.

4. V Vocabulary
Superstition (p. 151): Attributing magical power to certain practices (i.e. rubbing a rabbit’s foot, carrying a lucky coin) or things (i.e. crystals, tarot cards, statues). “Reliance on such power, rather than trust in God, constitutes an offense against the honor due to God alone, as required by the first commandment” (Catechism, Glossary).
Blasphemy (p. 154): Speech or action that shows disrespect or contempt for God or persons or things dedicated to God.

5. 8.3 Review 1. What is the literal meaning of “Decalogue”?
2. What was the condition of the Israelites when they received the Decalogue?
3. Why did leaders of the Israelites realize that they needed the laws God gave them?

6. Review
4. Besides freedom, what human characteristic did the Israelites lack while in slavery?
5. How did the law help the Israelites in their relationships with one another?
6. What did Jesus say about the commandments?

7. 8.5 Review 7. What is the first commandment?
8. How does someone create a false god?
9. Give an example to illustrate that someone proclaiming faith in the one, true God may be worshiping a false god.

8. Review
10. What three characteristics does Exodus associate with God?
11. Why does “loving” appear to be contradictory to “all-powerful”?
12. Give an example of slavery in the world today.

9. Review
13. Name three terms that describe ways we can stray from the first commandment.
14. What does the Catechism say is the starting point to curing acedia?
15. What does it mean to say that a sense of the sacred underlies all the commandments?

10. 8.8 Review 16. Name a way we would violate an oath.
17. What two types of activity are included in keeping holy the Lord’s Day?
18. Why is Sunday the Lord’s Day for most Christians?

11. 8.9 Review 19. Why is Sunday Eucharist not for individuals alone?
20. What does Saint Augustine mean by the term “holy leisure”?