In our last lesson, we talked about honoring the saints. We learned the difference between worshiping God and honoring the saints. In this lesson, we will talk about the second and Third Commandments of God from The Ten Commandments. The Second Commandment of God is “Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” The Third Commandment is “remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.” Let's start off with a few questions for you to think about during this lesson.
How can we honor God's name?
How can we keep Sunday holy?
How did the Lord keep the Sabbath holy?
Let's get right into this lesson with a reading from the Holy Bible. This will be from St Luke's Gospel chapter 4 verses 15 and 16, and also 31 and 32.
He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read…
Jesus then went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee.s He taught them on the sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority.
In that reading we see Jesus going to the synagogue and preaching and teaching on the Sabbath day. The Jewish people had one great temple. That Temple was in the city of Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, sacrifices were offered on the great feasts during the year. Every Jewish person was expected to go to Jerusalem during the year. If they could not make it to the great temple throughout the year they were expected to go there during the great feast of the Passover. During the rest of the year that Jewish people would worship God in their own synagogue.
Every city, village, or town had at least one synagogue. In the synagogue, the people would get together to preach, sing hymns, and learn all about God's teachings and his Commandments. The people learned primarily from each other and also through the rabbis. The rabbis were the official teachers at the synagogue. Jesus was a Jewish person and he most definitely went to the synagogue all the time. There he preached and learned about God. After he reached 30 years old he really began to do the work for which he came to Earth. Jesus began teaching about God the Father. He went from place to place from synagogue to synagogue from town to town, village to village to preach about his Father, God.
You may be asking yourself, if the Sabbath was on a Saturday in the Jewish tradition, and Jesus was a Jew, then why do we worship God on Sunday. That is a very good question so if you had that in your mind I'm glad that you were thinking about it. The reason that we go to Mass and worship God on Sunday is that Jesus gave the Apostles the authority to change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. The reason they changed it was because Sunday was the day that Jesus rose from the dead. This change was made to remember the day of his resurrection, Easter Sunday. Another special thing happened in the Church’s history on a Sunday. The Holy Spirit came to the Apostles after Jesus ascended to heaven on a Sunday.
We are expected to worship God by taking part in the Holy Mass. You are expected to take part in the Mass by paying attention to what's going on, praying, and really learning about God. By going to Mass, we are living the Third Commandment, to keep holy the Lord's Day. Remember the Lord's day is Sunday which is the Christian Sabbath.
Let's read The Lord's Prayer which is otherwise called the Our Father. “Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil.”
In this prayer that Jesus taught us to pray it says “Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name.” Hallowed is another word for Holy.
The Second Commandment says “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain”. The Third Commandment is “Keep holy the Lord's Day”. By praying the Our Father we are reminded to keep holy the Lord's Day and that God the Father’s name should only be spoken of in a holy way. We should not use his name by cursing or by using it in bad ways. We should only use God's name in good and holy ways. Again, the Second Commandment is Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. You may be tempted to say bad words using Jesus's name or God's name, however, please remember that Jesus’s name and God's name are Holy and only should be used in holy ways. We are really expected, by the Second Commandment, to always speak of God with reverence. Reverence means giving special honor when we are talking about God or using God's name.
I talked a little bit about cursing, so what is cursing. When you say bad things and you are cursing you are really calling down evil spirits on to the person you are cursing. I know you've heard it before when someone might say something bad about someone and they use a curse word. If the person is really thinking about what they are saying they would realize they are actually wanting evil to come to that person. The Third Commandment is to keep holy the Lord's Day. We know that Jesus kept holy the Lord's Day which was the Sabbath. The Apostles changed that day to Sunday.
By the Third Commandment, we are also expected to keep holy the Lord's day which means to pray and go to Mass on Sunday and not to do anything that is really hard work on a Sunday. We should rest, pray, concentrate, and focus during Sunday on prayer and being with God as much as possible. There are some people who have to work on Sunday such as doctors and people who we need on Sunday. Of course, it's not bad for them to work on a Sunday. Anyone who has a chance to take Sunday would certainly benefit in many ways.
Let's hear a little bit more from the Bible. This reading from the Bible is about swearing and using curse words. This is from the gospel of Saint Matthew chapter 5 vs 33 -37.
“Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.”
Let's read a little bit more from The Gospel of Saint Matthew from chapter 5 verses 21 through 24. In this reading, we will read about what Jesus said about cursing or wishing evil on another person.
“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
We have one more reading to do so let's read from the Gospel of Saint Matthew chapter 21 verses 12 and 13. This is about what Jesus said to those who did not show proper respect in the Temple.
Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those engaged in selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And he said to them, “It is written: ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of thieves.”
Those were some very informative readings from the Bible. I hope that you enjoyed them.
Do you have any questions for me?
Student: Was the synagogue a Jewish place of worship?
Yes, it was the place where the Jewish people went to worship and to pray to God to learn about God.
Student: Did Jesus ever go to the synagogue?
Absolutely. Jesus was a very good and faithful Jewish person. He followed the Jewish laws and he went to the synagogue all the time as he was supposed too.
Student: Was Saturday ever the Lord's Day?
Saturday was the Sabbath in the Jewish faith. This was the day that the Jewish people were to go to honor, pray, and worship God.
Student: Do we have to go to Mass on Sunday?
Yes, we do because now the Lord's day has been changed. It was changed to Sunday by the Apostles right after Jesus died and rose from the dead. If we are to honor the commandment to keep holy the Lord's Day we must attend Mass on Sunday. We must go to worship and pray together as a church community at Mass on Sunday.
Student: Is all work permitted on Sunday?
Servile work is prohibited. Servile work is really hard work that you need to do with your body or your mind. This kind of work is forbidden except in certain circumstances. Sometimes servile work is absolutely necessary for the community or for the family, such as doctors or air traffic controllers. In those circumstances, servile work is not forbidden.
Student: What day did the Apostles change the Sabbath to?
They changed the Sabbath to Sunday from Saturday. Saturday was the Sabbath and now Sunday is known as the Lord's Day.
Student: What does the Second Commandment tell us?
The Second Commandment tells us not to take the name of God in vain. This means to only use the name of God in holy and reverent ways, such as when you are praying or saying good things about God. We should never ever use the name of God in a derogatory or a bad way or say bad things about God or use his name when you to talk bad about other people.
Student: What does the Third Commandment tell us?
The Third Commandment tells us to keep the Lord's Day holy. We are commanded by God in the Third Commandment to keep holy the Lord's day by going and participating in Holy Mass on Sunday.
Student: What's the best way to worship God?
The best way and the most ultimate way to worship God is to go to Holy Mass. Please make sure you are going to Holy Mass every Sunday and more often is possible. Going to mass is not only a commandment of God but it is also good for your soul to be enriched and to help you get to heaven.
In our next lesson, we will continue to talk about the Commandments. As you go through this next week remember that Sunday is coming up. Make sure to go to Mass and do more than you normally would do this Sunday for God. Say God bless you to somebody, say an extra prayer for somebody, or read something from the Bible and something about the saints.
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