Catholic Moral Teachings and the Ten Commandments

Key Terms in Catholic Moral Teaching

• Human Dignity: The value and worth that we share because God created us in His image and likeness.
• Modesty: The virtue by which we think, speak, act, and dress in ways that show respect for ourselves and others.
• Chastity: The virtue by which we use our human sexuality in a responsible and faithful way.
• Moral Decision Making: The process by which we make choices between right and wrong, good and evil, eternal life and sin; for any act to be morally good, its object (nature), intention (purpose), and circumstances (consequences or results) must all be good.
• Natural Law: The law of God within us, which is known by human reason.
• Justice: Respecting the rights of others and giving them what is rightfully theirs; a cardinal virtue.
• Ten Commandments: The laws of God's covenant, given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai.
• Greed: An excessive desire to have or own things.
• Cursing: Calling on God to do harm to someone.
• Lie: To speak or act falsely with the intention of deceiving others.
• Perjury: The act of making a false oath.
• Adultery: Infidelity in marriage; unfaithfulness to one's husband or wife.
• Atheism: A sin against the First Commandment in which one rejects or denies God's existence.
• Free Will: God's gift to human beings of the freedom and ability to choose what to do.
• Poor in Spirit: Depending on God and making God more important than anyone or anything else.
• Conscience: Our ability to know the difference between good and evil, right and wrong.
• Holiness: A participation in God's goodness and a response to God's love by the way that we live.
• Blasphemy: A thought, word, or act that makes fun of or shows contempt or hatred for God, the Church and the saints, or sacred objects.
• Temperance: A cardinal virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and helps us to bring our desires into balance.

The Meaning of the Ten Commandments

1. Through the First Commandment, God reveals that He is the one and true God.

2. Through the Second Commandment, God reveals that His name is sacred, or holy.

3. Through the Third Commandment, God reveals that we must keep a day holy for the Lord.

4. The Fourth through Tenth Commandments recognize the fundamental rights of all human beings and our obligation to respect those rights by loving each of our neighbors.

5. The Fifth Commandment is based on the truth that all life is sacred, created by God.

6. The Sixth Commandment obliges married couples to be faithful, both physically and emotionally, to each other until death.

7. The Seventh Commandment obliges us to show respect for the goods and property of others.

8. The Eighth Commandment obliges us to thank God for what we have, to work for what we need, and to help others to have what they need.

9. The Ninth Commandment calls us to protect our own feelings and intentions.

10. The Tenth Commandment obliges us to thank God for what we have, to work for what we need, and to help others to have what they need.