ARTICLE 3 - THE CHURCH, MOTHER AND
TEACHER
2030 It is in the Church, in communion with all the baptized, that the Christian fulfills
his vocation. From the Church he receives the Word of God containing the teachings of
"the law of Christ."[72] From the Church he receives the grace of the sacraments that
sustains him on the "way." From the Church he learns the example of holiness and
recognizes its model and source in the all-holy Virgin Mary; he discerns it in the
authentic witness of those who live it; he discovers it in the spiritual tradition and long
history of the saints who have gone before him and whom the liturgy celebrates in the
rhythms of the sanctoral cycle.
2031 The moral life is spiritual worship. We "present [our] bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God,"[73] within the Body of Christ that we form and in
communion with the offering of his Eucharist. In the liturgy and the celebration of the
sacraments, prayer and teaching are conjoined with the grace of Christ to enlighten and
nourish Christian activity. As does the whole of the Christian life, the moral life finds its
source and summit in the Eucharistic sacrifice.
I. MORAL LIFE AND THE MAGISTERIUM OF
THE CHURCH
2032 The Church, the "pillar and bulwark of the truth," "has received this solemn
command of Christ from the apostles to announce the saving truth."[74] "To the
Church belongs the right always and everywhere to announce moral principles, including
those pertaining to the social order, and to make judgments on any human affairs to the
extent that they are required by the fundamental rights of the human person or the
salvation of souls."[75]
2033 The Magisterium of the Pastors of the Church in moral matters is ordinarily
exercised in catechesis and preaching, with the help of the works of theologians and
spiritual authors. Thus from generation to generation, under the aegis and vigilance of
the pastors, the "deposit" of Christian moral teaching has been handed on, a deposit
composed of a characteristic body of rules, commandments, and virtues proceeding
from faith in Christ and animated by charity. Alongside the Creed and the Our Father,
the basis for this catechesis has traditionally been the Decalogue which sets out the
principles of moral life valid for all men.
2034 The Roman Pontiff and the bishops are "authentic teachers, that is, teachers
endowed with the authority of Christ, who preach the faith to the people entrusted to
them, the faith to be believed and put into practice."[76] The ordinary and universal
Magisterium of the Pope and the bishops in communion with him teach the faithful the
truth to believe, the charity to practice, the beatitude to hope for.
2035 The supreme degree of participation in the authority of Christ is ensured by the
charism of infallibility. This infallibility extends as far as does the deposit of divine
Revelation; it also extends to all those elements of doctrine, including morals, without
which the saving truths of the faith cannot be preserved, explained, or observed.[77]
2036 The authority of the Magisterium extends also to the specific precepts of the
natural law, because their observance, demanded by the Creator, is necessary for
salvation. In recalling the prescriptions of the natural law, the Magisterium of the
Church exercises an essential part of its prophetic office of proclaiming to men what
they truly are and reminding them of what they should be before God.[78]
2037 The law of God entrusted to the Church is taught to the faithful as the way of life
and truth. The faithful therefore have the right to be instructed in the divine saving
precepts that purify judgment and, with grace, heal wounded human reason.[79] They
have the duty of observing the constitutions and decrees conveyed by the legitimate
authority of the Church. Even if they concern disciplinary matters, these determinations
call for docility in charity.
2038 In the work of teaching and applying Christian morality, the Church needs the
dedication of pastors, the knowledge of theologians, and the contribution of all
Christians and men of good will. Faith and the practice of the Gospel provide each
person with an experience of life "in Christ," who enlightens him and makes him able to
evaluate the divine and human realities according to the Spirit of God.[80] Thus the
Holy Spirit can use the humblest to enlighten the learned and those in the highest
positions.
2039 Ministries should be exercised in a spirit of fraternal service and dedication to the
Church, in the name of the Lord.[81] At the same time the conscience of each person
should avoid confining itself to individualistic considerations in its moral judgments of
the person's own acts. As far as possible conscience should take account of the good of
all, as expressed in the moral law, natural and revealed, and consequently in the law of
the Church and in the authoritative teaching of the Magisterium on moral questions.
Personal conscience and reason should not be set in opposition to the moral law or the
Magisterium of the Church.
2040 Thus a true filial spirit toward the Church can develop among Christians. It is the
normal flowering of the baptismal grace which has begotten us in the womb of the
Church and made us members of the Body of Christ. In her motherly care, the Church
grants us the mercy of God which prevails over all our sins and is especially at work in
the sacrament of reconciliation. With a mother's foresight, she also lavishes on us day
after day in her liturgy the nourishment of the Word and Eucharist of the Lord.
II. THE PRECEPTS OF THE CHURCH
2041 The precepts of the Church are set in the context of a moral life bound to and
nourished by liturgical life. The obligatory character of these positive laws decreed by the
pastoral authorities is meant to guarantee to the faithful the very necessary minimum in
the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor:
2042 The first precept ("You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy
days of obligation and rest from servile labour") requires the faithful to
sanctify the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord as well as
the principal liturgical feasts honouring the mysteries of the Lord, the
Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints ; in the first place, by participating in
the Eucharistic celebration, in which the Christian community is
gathered, and by resting from those works and activities which could
impede such a sanctification of these days.[82]
The second precept ("You shall confess your sins at least once a year.")
ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the sacrament
of reconciliation, which continues Baptism's work of conversion and
forgiveness.[83]
The third precept ("You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at
least during the Easter season") guarantees as a minimum the reception
of the Lord's Body and Blood in connection with the Paschal feasts, the
origin and center of the Christian liturgy.[84]
2043 The fourth precept ("You shall observe the days of fasting and
abstinence established by the Church") ensures the times of ascesis and
penance which prepare us for the liturgical feasts and help us acquire
mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart.[NT1]
The fifth precept ("You shall help to provide for the needs of the
Church") means that he faithful are obliged to assist with the material
needs of the Church, each according to his own ability.[NT2]
III. MORAL LIFE AND MISSIONARY WITNESS
2044 The fidelity of the baptized is a primordial condition for the proclamation of the
Gospel and for the Church's mission in the world. In order that the message of salvation
can show the power of its truth and radiance before men, it must be authenticated by the
witness of the life of Christians. "The witness of a Christian life and good works done in
a supernatural spirit have great power to draw men to the faith and to God."[88]
2045 Because they are members of the Body whose Head is Christ,[89] Christians
contribute to building up the Church by the constancy of their convictions and their
moral lives. The Church increases, grows, and develops through the holiness of her
faithful, until "we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."[90]
2046 By living with the mind of Christ, Christians hasten the coming of the Reign of
God, "a kingdom of justice, love, and peace."[91] They do not, for all that, abandon their
earthly tasks; faithful to their master, they fulfill them with uprightness, patience, and
love.
IN BRIEF
2047 The moral life is a spiritual worship. Christian activity finds its nourishment in the
liturgy and the celebration of the sacraments.
2048 The precepts of the Church concern the moral and Christian life united with the
liturgy and nourished by it.
2049 The Magisterium of the Pastors of the Church in moral matters is ordinarily
exercised in catechesis and preaching, on the basis of the Decalogue which states the
principles of moral life valid for every man.
2050 The Roman Pontiff and the bishops, as authentic teachers, preach to the People of
God the faith which is to be believed and applied in moral life. It is also encumbent on
them to pronounce on moral questions that fall within the natural law and reason.
2051 The infallibility of the Magisterium of the Pastors extends to all the elements of
doctrine, including moral doctrine, without which the saving truths of the faith cannot
be preserved, expounded, or observed.
The Ten Commandments
Exodus 20 2-17
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of
the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Deuteronomy 5:6-21
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of
the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage.
A Traditional Catechetical Formula
1. I am the LORD your God:
You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or
any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or
that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or
serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous
God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children to the third and the fourth generation of
those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to
thousands of those who love me and keep my
commandments.
You shall have no other gods before me . . . you shall not have strange Gods before me.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God
in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless
who takes his name in vain.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God
in vain . . .
2. You shall not take the name of the LORD your
God in vain.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days
you shall labor, and do all your work; but the
seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; in
it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or
your daughter, your manservant or your maidservant
or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your
gates; for in six days the LORD made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the
seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath
day and hallowed it.
Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy. . . 3. Remember to keep holy the LORD'S Day.
Honor your father and your mother, that your days
may be long in the land which the LORD your God
gives you.
Honor your father and your mother . . . 4. Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not kill. You shall not kill. 5. You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery. Neither shall you commit adultery. 6. You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal. Neither shall you steal. 7. You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your
neighbor.
Neither shall you bear false witness against your
neighbor.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your
neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall
not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or
his maidservant or his ox, or his ass, or anything that
is your neighbor's.
Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife.
You shall not desire . . . anything that is your
neighbor's.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods.
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