LESSON 27 —First Commandment
I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange gods before Me.
The following “Updates” effect this lesson:
Advanced Course Manual, pp. 180-181, insert the following underlined words and delete the crossed out words. It should read:
- The highest form of prayer is adoration.
- The highest form of adoration is sacrifice.
Prayer. The highest form of prayer is adoration adoration is prayer. Again, with the coming of Christ, our prayer of honor and praise of God can be addressed to the Redeemer, who is our God. Our prayer of gratitude for blessings received, of mercy for pardon because we have offended the Divine Majesty, and of petition in asking for everything we need—all can be directed to Jesus Christ…
Sacrifice. The highest form of adoration prayer is sacrifice. Why? Because when we sacrifice we not only address God in word and thought, but we offer up to Him something that is precious to us to acknowledge Him as our First and Final Cause. With the coming of Christ, sacrifice reached a sublimity that was never seen before. We believe that God became man in order that, as man, He might be able to sacrifice Himself to the heavenly Father for the redemption of the world…
If you have the Pocket Catholic Catechism (this book is no longer given with the Advanced Course), on p. 228, insert the following underlined words: Sacrifice. The highest form of the prayer of adoration is sacrifice. This is the willing surrender of something precious to God. As with adoration, there are two basic forms of sacrifice. There is the sacrifice of submission.
Read the following references to further clarify the central ideas of this lesson. Look in other places as well as these; this is not an exhaustive list of the resources needed to answer the questions.
Father Hardon’s Catholic Catechism
Page 296, paragraph 3
Pages 298-305 (First Commandment)
Father Hardon’s Question and Answer Catechism
#545-578 (First Commandment)
Revised Basic Course Manual
Pages 58-63 (First Commandment)
Scripture
1 Corinthians 11:27-30
Acts of the Apostles 8:18-24
Exodus 6:7
Catechism of the Catholic Church
#2083-2141 (The First Commandment)
#2111
Glossary: Superstition
Modern Catholic Dictionary Vocabulary –
Review the following terms in your Modern Catholic Dictionary reference book (or online version at TheRealPresence.org – go to the bottom of the page, click on “Dictionary”).
Adoration
Blasphemy
Fortune-telling
Idolatry
Sacrifice
Sacrilege
Satanism
Simony
Superstition
Tempting God
See Dr. Fisher’s, A Catechetical Dictionary for the CCC.
Review the following terms for a clearer understanding of the terms.
Self-Sacrifice