Wednesday, February 27, 2013

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



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

(Comp 442 repetition) 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.
“In brief”
(CCC 2133) "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your strength" Deut 6:5). (CCC 2134) The first commandment summons man to believe in God, to hope in him, and to love him above all else.    
To deepen and explain
(CCC 2086) "The first commandment embraces faith, hope, and charity. When we say 'God' we confess a constant, unchangeable being, always the same, faithful and just, without any evil. It follows that we must necessarily accept his words and have complete faith in him and acknowledge his authority. He is almighty, merciful, and infinitely beneficent…. Who could not place all hope in him? Who could not love him when contemplating the treasures of goodness and love he has poured out on us? Hence the formula God employs in the Scripture at the beginning and end of his commandments: 'I am the LORD'" (Roman Catechism 3, 2,4).    
Reflection
(CCC 2087) Our moral life has its source in faith in God who reveals his love to us. St. Paul speaks of the "obedience of faith" (Rom 1:5; 16:26) as our first obligation. He shows that "ignorance of God" is the principle and explanation of all moral deviations (cf. Rom 1:18-32). Our duty toward God is to believe in him and to bear witness to him. [IT CONTINUES]  

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

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