LOVE OF GOD

a) Testimony
b) Salvation
c) Sins against religion
d) Sins against faith
e) Sins against hope
f) Sins against charity
g) Sin of blasphemy
_________________________________

a) Testimony

        To Christian, having known Jesus, can stay quiet, we have to let everyone know what we know. This is what being his witness is all about: telling people what we have seen and heard.

        We have to give Christian testimony:

-to our families: bring up our children in faith and a life of prayer;
-at work: defending what is fair, true, and honest professionally;
-to our friends: leadin
g a healthy, pure life with good habits and hobbies.

b) Salvation

        The gospel tells us the story of a young man who approached Jesus and he asked Him, "Master, what do I have to do to reach eternal life?" Jesus answered him, "If you want to live, you must keep the commandments".

        So salvation means earning eternal life. God gives everyone a first life, with a first death (bodily). Life everlasting must be earned, no not everyone achieves this. Those who haven’t kept the commandments will be punished by God with their second and definitive death (of the soul).

        The afterlife includes:

-heaven, a new heaven and a new earth, which God is already preparing for us for when this first world comes to an end, and evil no longer exists. It will be a universe which is new and better than the one he originally made;

-hell, everlasting condemnation, a place of cries and teeth gnashing, a place for those who have lost who will never be able to overcome it. It’s a place of eternal torment with no way of turning back;

-purgatory, a transitory state for the purification of sins, in order to be our cleanest when we go to see God and all that is his

c) Sins against religion

        The commandments were written by God’s hand on stone tablets and given to the Jews (which today is the Church). These show us how to live a moral life (horizontally) and what we can reach in the afterlife (vertically).

        The 10 Commandments:

-are eternal. Nobody can change them or reduced them. They will last till the end of times;
-are for everyone. They don’t excuse anyone because of their color, race, culture, age or illness;
-are in our hearts. We
are all born with them inside of us and with the hope to live through them.

        Sins against religion are:

-atheism: living completely without God;
-agnosticism: refusing to believe in God;
-paganism: living as if sin doesn’t exist;
-polytheisms: adoring false gods;
-tempting God: testing God’s attributes;
-superstition: believing in occult nonsense;
-witchcraft: manipulating supernatural power;
-spiritualism: invoking the devil (palmistry, Ouija board…).

d) Sins against faith

        In order to love another person, we must first know them. The same thing happens with God: in order to love him, we must know him and trust him. This is done by:

-knowing our faith: the creed, the commandments, the sacraments and the Our Father;
-confessing our faith: through our words and our behavior;
-keeping the faith: av
oiding endangering the above.

        Sins against the faith are:

-apostasy: completely abandoning our faith;
-schism: separating from the Church;
-heresy: denying any truth of the faith;
-ignorance: refusing to recognize the Christian truths;

e) Sins against hope

        Loving God means that apart from knowing and trusting him, we must be able to hope in him, that he will do everything at the right time, with his infinite power and his infinite providence.

        The sins against hope in God are:

-presumption: abusing God’s kindness;
-desperation: doubting God’s kindness;
-scruples: believing that everything is a sin;
-incineration: burning dead bodies.

f) Sins against charity

        Loving God means that apart from trusting and hoping in him, we must trust, I hope in him with all our heart, soul strength. This is what the "eternal law and the prophet’s law" was all about.

        Nonetheless, the sins against the love of God are:

-idolatry: worshiping things that aren’t God;
-indifference: turning away from God’s consideration;
-ungratefulness: ignoring what God has done for us;
-coolness: living with a sick soul, only loving God out of interest;
-unpleasantness: hating God and all that is his;
-non-fulfillment: not keeping the other 9 commandments.

g) Sin of blasphemy

        This means perjuring against God and all that is his. These can attack:

        Against our righteousness:

-swearing: making God a witness of what we say;
-perjury: making someone a witness without needing to;
-promises: promising to do things in the future;
-scandal: inciting someone into having bad judgment.

        Against our courage:

-denial: renouncing God in public;
-cowardliness: not defending God in public;
-threat: making fear of God harmful.

        Against God:

-sacrilege: committing a mortal sin;
-blasphemy: not respecting God, the Virgin Mary or the saints;
-blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: denying God’s salvation, when we have experienced it.

        Against what belongs to God:

-simony: buying and selling religious objects;
-impieties: not worshiping sacred objects;
-infidelity: not respecting sacred objects;
-indiscretion: speaking about consecrated people;
-desecration: harming a sacred place.

        Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (denying God’s salvation when we have experienced it) will not be forgiven in this life or in the future one.

 

Mercaba Eds 
Diocese of Cartagena-Murcia 
General Diagram of Mercaba's Youth Catechism