Catholic Faith Refresher Course

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT

"I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before me." Ex.20:2-3

DIRECTIONS TO THE STUDENT

The very purpose of your existence is to adore God. All creatures are made by God to show forth the glory of the Creator. Religion demands first of all the adoration of the Creator. In this lesson you should understand what the adoration of God means and how you are to adore your God. You must also understand how people sin against their obligation to adore God.

A. YOUR FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT DUTY IS THE ADORATION OF GOD

In the First Commandment God tells men: There is a God. I am God. I am your Maker and you must adore Me. No matter how much you do for others, or how great you are in the eyes of the world, if you do not recognize God as your supreme Lord and Master, you are a failure. Try to realize this: you must adore God -this is the whole purpose of your existence.

The First Commandment commands you to adore God and not to adore any other being (person or thing).

B. TO ADORE GOD MEANS TO ADMIT TO GOD THAT HE MADE YOU AND THAT YOU DEPEND ON HIM ABSOLUTELY FOR EVERYTHING

To adore God means to acknowledge God as your supreme Lord and Master. You adore God because God is perfect, without limit; of God.

The respect you give the Blessed Virgin Mary is not adoration: the respect you give your parents, your employers, your government is not this kind of respect, it is not adoration, because none of these has infinite perfection. You adore only God.

C. YOU ADORE GOD IN SEVERAL WAYS

You adore God, that is, recognize God as your supreme Lord and Master, by living continually in His presence, by keeping His Commandments, by doing the duties of your state in life (for example, your duties to your family). You adore God by fasting during Lent, by abstaining from meat on Friday, by good example, and especially by prayer.

Are you praying? Early in the instructions you had a lesson on prayer. Go over the lesson on prayer again -at least the most important parts of it: what prayer is, the kinds of prayer, the necessity of prayer, for whom we should pray, for what we should pray, and are our prayers always answered. Remember the words of Our Lord: "And all things whatsoever you ask/or in prayer, believing you shall receive." (Matthew 21 :22)

Parents must teach their children to pray and must give good example to their children by praying themselves.

D. THE ONLY WAY YOU MAY ADORE GOD IN PUBLIC IS IN GOD'S TRUE CHURCH

Attending services of other faiths tells God that you are turning to His enemies, the false churches. Even worse than this, it shows that you are beginning to lose the true Christian faith. You soon slip back into the easy-going ways of a false religion. You will give bad example to people who know you have become a Catholic, and who know that your life should be different.

People who belong to these churches are frequently in them because of ignorance. We do not judge them, we do not condemn them. They have been cheated out of graces and truths which you have received. Pray for them.

E. QUITTING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS ONE OF THE MOST TERRIBLE SINS

A person who leaves the Catholic Church does so usually because he is attached to some sin. No one ever quit the true Church to lead a better life. He left because he became more and more involved in some sin, perhaps a secret sin. If he gives you some other reason for leaving the Church, he is probably not telling the truth. No Catholic can be sincerely converted to a false religion.

Following is the usual pattern in one's leaving the Church: some Commandment is difficult, (for example, the Sixth Commandment) the person becomes disgusted with himself, then begins to miss Mass. Gradually he becomes very "broad- minded" about religion: he insists that one religion is as good as another; he pays no attention to the laws of fasting and abstinence he does not mortify himself. He no longer prays -he has nothing left, no religion.

When you are in sin or have a serious habit of mortal sin, leaving the Church is no solution. It is the same as running away from the physician when you are sick.

F. DENYING A TRUTH TAUGHT BY THE CHURCH

The Church teaches only what Christ and the Holy Spirit have given her to teach. The Church teaches no error: nor does she teaches. Therefore, it is a serious sin to deny the marriage laws, or the authority of the bishop or pastor, or any of the Christian obligations which have been explained to you. You have been thoroughly prepared for the true faith; you have been instructed; you will soon take the Profession of Faith under oath. Then you will be baptized, go to confession and receive Our Lord in Holy Communion. After all of this you will never again have reason for serious doubts. In case of difficulties about the Faith, you can always see a priest

G. JOINING THE MASONS OR ANY FOREIGN SOCIETY

The Church does not forbid the existence of any legitimate organization. The Church tries to keep peace with all organizations and she does keep peace with almost all of them. The Church does not forbid all secret societies, but the church does forbid secret societies whose secrets are not manifested to the Church and government. Because many Masons really do not openly oppose the Catholic Church does not mean that the organization itself is not an enemy of the Church.

It's just as foolish to say that Masonry is not against the Catholic Church as it would be to say that the Ku Klux Klan is not against Negroes. Because of the nature and purpose of Masonry a Catholic cannot be a Mason.

The Catholic Church forbids Masonry because Masonry rejects God's Revelation. because Masonry intends to destroy the Catholic Church and because the oath required of all Masons is evil.

H. COMMUNISM

Any Catholic who joins the Communist Party is automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church. The reason is that Communism is against God and His Church. When the Iron Curtain was more prevalent, the Communists killed thousands of Catholic priests and nuns, and destroyed thousands of Catholic churches. schools and hospitals. Not only is Communism against God, but it also denies the rights of man.

I. SUPERSTITION

Superstition is giving equal adoration to material things as should be given to God. Anyone who puts belief, trust and confidence in superstitious practices is breaking the First Commandment. Why? Because he acts as though creatures had power that belongs to God alone.

J. FAITH HEALERS

Faith healing began with false religions. When the Catholic Church was put out of certain countries, the people had no Blessed Sacrament, no strong religion to turn to in time of trouble and sickness. The sick began to go to the king or someone else of importance.

King Charles I of England is said to have touched 90,000 sufferers. Another man, Greatrakes the Stroker, stroked the affected parts of sick people to cure them and made a huge business out of it. In our own day there are hundreds who travel the country pretending to possess the healing powers. Whoever gives his hard earned money to a man to do what only God can do should be in a mental care facility. The faith healers who use the Bible and religion to deceive people. are committing a terrible sin; and you commit a serious sin by taking part in such services. God did not give the power of healing to the Blessed Virgin; God did not give it to the priest to whom He has given the power of forgiving sins and bringing Christ Himself down on the altar. In the name of common sense, how can some believe that a faith healer has such a power?

When you are sick or in trouble, go to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament Get down on your knees and pray. Ask the priest to say the Prayers for the Sick over you. Don't bring down God's anger or men's laughter by being ignorant and superstitious. There is money to be made in pretending to cure people. Everyone is looking for a cure; and the ignorant are deceived and give their money. It is a mortal sin to go to a faith healer.

K. ASTROLOGY

Astrology pretends to tell the future events by the position of the stars. Astrologers often give double meaning predictions to fool you. For example. one may tell you: "Great things may happen to you in the month of January ." Therefore. if anything great happens to you in January .the astrologer will be right; or if nothing great happens. he will still be right. Pope Sixtus V said: "The astrologer cannot know the things of the future nor the hidden things of the past; all they do is to dispense nonsense and lies." All the newspapers in the United States claim to form the minds of the people. to be great educators and inspirers of action. and yet some of them go down to one of the lowest forms of superstition. astrology.

To participate in Astrology is a mortal sin.

L. PALMISTRY , CRYSTAL GAZING, OUIJA BOARD

Palmistry, crystal gazing, reading tea leaves, the use of Ouija board are superstitious. The person who believes in them puts himself in the class of the ignorant and foolish; and even worse. he puts himself in mortal sin. ..For the Lord abhorreth all these things -and/or these abominations He will destroy them at thy coming." (Deut.18:12)

M.  SPIRITUALISM OR SPIRITISM

Spiritualism or spiritism is a good example of the nonsense of superstition. Spiritualists foolishly claim they can communicate with the dead.

About a hundred years ago, spiritualism was started in the United States by two little girls, the Fox sisters. They rapped on the floor to their mother, who was a silly old lady. The mother thought it was spirits. She brought in the neighbors. Soon the girls began to charge the neighbors money to talk to the spirits. Ultimately, the girls were prosecuted and went to jail. A few great men were deceived, for example, Arthur Conan Doyle.

Don't be a fool with your money; above all, don't sin mortally by going to spiritualists.

N.  DREAMS

A few special people, like St. Joseph, were told by God to believe in certain dreams. But we are not among these few. God has not told us to believe in dreams, in fact, to believe habitually in dreams is a serious sin condemned by God in the Bible.

" For dreams have deceived many and they have failed that put their trust in them." (Eccles.34:7) "You shalt not divine nor observe dreams." (Luke 19:26) "Neither let there be found among you anyone. ..that consulteth soothsayers, or observeth dreams and omens.'. (Deut.18:10)

The Bible says that people who believe in dreams get into other foolish and sinful things. We must fear God and forget our dreams: "Where there are many dreams, there are many vanities. and words without number; but do thou fear God." (Eccles. 5:6)

O. VENIAL SINS OF SUPERSTITION

Venial sins of superstition are chain prayers, lucky and unlucky numbers, lucky rings, coins or emblems, superstitious use of votive lights, and lucky or unlucky practices. Catholics must be particularly careful to avoid the superstitious use of Catholic medals. Whoever acts as though these articles had power which belongs to God alone commits a sin. To draw lots, play cards or dice is not superstitious.

P. SINS AGAINST RELIGION

A person sins against religion in two other ways, namely by tempting God and by sacrilege. Tempting God means demanding from God something you have no right to expect, for example, putting yourself deliberately in unnecessary temptation and asking God to take care of you. A sacrilege is the abuse of a sacred person, place or thing; for example, a priest, a church, a rosary .Thus, theft of church property is a sacrilege. A sacrilege can be a mortal or a venial sin, depending on how serious the abuse of the sacred object or person is.

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW OF THIS LESSON

1. What does "adore" mean?

Tell if the following actions are mortal or venial sin or else no sin at all:

...Sing and pray in a Protestant church?

...Spiritualism?

...Attend a funeral for a friend in a Protestant church?

...Put confidence in dreams?

...Chain prayers, lucky and unlucky numbers, lucky rings, coins, emblems and other superstitious practices?

...Read the Protestant Bible and books?

...Quit the Catholic Church?

...Join the Masons or the Communists?

...Put trust and confidence in faith healers, astrology, palmistry, crystal gazing, horoscopes and the like?

...Deny the truths taught by the Catholic Church?

...Playing cards?